Baby chick diarrhoea

[cheep!]

I recently bought (1 wk ago) 3 baby chicks from a local feed store they were approx 1 day old when I got them. They were shipped here (CA) from a hatchery in MO. I have been feeding them a standard medicated (amprolium)starter food and keep the air temperature contolled with a brooder lamp.

One of the chicks is not growing as fast as the others - she initially lost 2 grams in the first few days but now is gaining weight. She is otherwise bright, active and eating/drinking well. I occassionally see her pass very loose feces and also see loose feces with particles of undigested food in their cage and I am concerned that the diarrhea is not improving. I have seen 2 loose stools that are darker than the others - possibly due to blood? Should I consider diganostics or treatement trial of antibiotics? Or is this normal.

 

[artsyrobin]

I am dealing with this also- it was suggested i isolate the chick that has runny droppings, also, stress can cause this- last nite i held 'tiny' and she went to sleep, woke up and pooped normal... i also took chicks out of the brooder that were harassing her...

 

[damselfish]

Couple of thoughts:
1) if the chicks were vac'd for cocci, then the medicated feed is doubling up and can be potentially harmful (search for this on here, I can't remember what thread I read this on). Prob not the case if the rest are fine.
2) I'd leave her in unless she's getting picked on or appears sick, that's just my choice. Chicks do seem to have kind of runny "stress" poops for the first several days sometimes, and isolation is stressful for them as well. If it comes to that I prefer to isolate the picker rather than the pickee if possible.
3) many here suggest apple cider vinegar in the water, I haven't tried it myself.

Good luck, it probably all be fine.

 

[mstricer]

I give my chicks yogurt (plain) mix with oatmeal as a treat whenever their poo is yucky.

 

[gritsar]

You can check the pictures on this site to be sure what you are seeing is diarrhea and not just cecal poo, which is normal:

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

You might try taking your little chick aside once or twice a day and offer her a feeding all to herself. The bigger stronger chicks may not be giving her much of a chance to eat as much as she needs to. That's what I did with my runt.
Good luck!