Chick doesn’t like regular chick feed

[Aimsandchick]

Hi everyone - first post!

I have 4 one week old polish chicks and one is exhibiting unusual behaviour.

At about 5 days old she began incessant cheeping. There’s clearly something wrong but I’ve checked all the usual variables and everything seems fine. She eats and poos but weighs about a third less than the others.

Today I decided to try her with a teeny bit of scrambled egg which she devoured like I’d been starving her - and she finally stopped cheeping!

obviously I know she can’t live on scrambled egg so I wondered if anyone has come across this before and has any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Thunder344]

Try soaking her feed and then see if she will eat it. I have never had a chick that wouldn't eat chick feed. Also,

 

[Thunder344]

Oh i just remembered,
I have one girl, named Star. She is a salmon Faverolle, and is around 1-2 years old. She was waaaay lighter than all the other birds and wasn't getting enough to eat. I thought she was sick and started worrying, like any chicken momma. I started putting a dish of chicken pellets out into the one run she kept being bullied into and sure enough, she is now heavier than before and has a full crop when she goes to bed.
So Star kept being bullied and wasn't able to get any food. Maybe this chick is the same? Your chick might be bullied and can't eat enough food?

 

[Aimsandchick]

Try soaking her feed and then see if she will eat it. I have never had a chick that wouldn't eat chick feed. Also,

Thank you - worth a try! She does eat a bit of regular feed but apparently not nearly enough. I think she’s cheeping because she’s so hungry

 

[Aimsandchick]

Oh i just remembered,
I have one girl, named Star. She is a salmon Faverolle, and is around 1-2 years old. She was waaaay lighter than all the other birds and wasn't getting enough to eat. I thought she was sick and started worrying, like any chicken momma. I started putting a dish of chicken pellets out into the one run she kept being bullied into and sure enough, she is now heavier than before and has a full crop when she goes to bed.
So Star kept being bullied and wasn't able to get any food. Maybe this chick is the same? Your chick might be bullied and can't eat enough food?

Certainly possible but it’s not obvious- I’ll keep an eye on what they’re doing

 

[Mellowmalt]

my smallest one was chirping really loudly till I turned the heat right up, because he is smaller and has less body mass he seems to like a couple degrees hotter than the rest. Then because they are smaller they might get pushed away from the feed more making the problem worse. He could benefit from some added vitamins otherwise he will fall behind the others. Egg yolk is amongst the best vitamin rich food you can feed him. I've recently discovered bakers yeast is a great source of vitamins too and they seem to love it so if you can make a mash, add no more than 2% bakers yeast, to me it tastes sour but the chicks seem to love it in their feed. Cider vinegar is also a good source of vitamins and can be added to the water, just a few % also.

 

[Aimsandchick]

my smallest one was chirping really loudly till I turned the heat right up, because he is smaller and has less body mass he seems to like a couple degrees hotter than the rest. Then because they are smaller they might get pushed away from the feed more making the problem worse. He could benefit from some added vitamins otherwise he will fall behind the others. Egg yolk is amongst the best vitamin rich food you can feed him. I've recently discovered bakers yeast is a great source of vitamins too and they seem to love it so if you can make a mash, add no more than 2% bakers yeast, to me it tastes sour but the chicks seem to love it in their feed. Cider vinegar is also a good source of vitamins and can be added to the water, just a few % also.

Ah ok thank you, I’ll see if that makes a difference.