Chick eating problems!

[relos]

Dear all,

I have a mix of Polish and Hyline 1 week old chicks, the problem being with the Polish not eating the chick crumb feed and purposely dropping/kicking pine shavings into the water to soften them up and eating them (and occasionally feasting on poo too!). Their poo is coming out half water and a light mushy brown..

However the hyline's are eating machines munching up the chick feed no problem and already way fatter/larger than the Polish ones....should I get rid of the pine shavings and use straw for bedding??

P.S. The polish aren't weak but are the most lively & naughty out of the lot -always jumping on the others aswell as coming/sitting on my hand at every opportunity..

 

[PD-Riverman]

Dear all,

I have a mix of Polish and Hyline 1 week old chicks, the problem being with the Polish not eating the chick crumb feed and purposely dropping/kicking pine shavings into the water to soften them up and eating them (and occasionally feasting on poo too!). Their poo is coming out half water and a light mushy brown..

However the hyline's are eating machines munching up the chick feed no problem and already way fatter/larger than the Polish ones....should I get rid of the pine shavings and use straw for bedding?? Poop and straw don't mix good----so no.

P.S. The polish aren't weak but are the most lively & naughty out of the lot -always jumping on the others aswell as coming/sitting on my hand at every opportunity..

Different breeds of chicks do different things. The Polish have got to be eating if they are acting fine and they are a slimmer/smaller chick than some----so they want eat as much as some breeds. If you have "flake" pine shavings they should be fine, just raise your waterer up on a brick/similar.

As far as runny poop, do you have your brooder properly set-up? Heated to the proper temp just on one end and food and water on the other un-heated end?

 

[peopleRanimals2]

You could try putting them on paper towels for a week or so, until they learn to eat the food and not shavings. Good luck!

 

[relos]

@PD-Riverman That's what I thought, but yep got my thermostat/humidity (floor temp 32 C and 50% humidity) reader in there and the heat lamp up one end. The poop itself from the polish isn't runny but one part urine like water and the other 50% normal whereas the Hylines are bog standard normal poo..

@peopleRanimals2 might try that thanks..

 

[SueT]

I like to the moisten the crumbles for baby chicks....also I made a nipple waterer this time. It's marvelous and the water is always perfectly clean!
Bacteria in water can cause intestinal upset....
Here's a video of a couple of mine at 6 wks using the waterer. You can use it for chicks of any age and make it with various sized containers, small or large. It's an inexpensive and easy DIY project...

 

[PD-Riverman]

@PD-Riverman That's what I thought, but yep got my thermostat/humidity (floor temp 32 C and 50% humidity) reader in there and the heat lamp up one end. The poop itself from the polish isn't runny but one part urine like water and the other 50% normal whereas the Hylines are bog standard normal poo..

What it the temp on the un-heated end where the food and water is? Keep in mind their water for sure needs to stay away from the heat.
It was mentioned to moisten the crumbles-----I never tried that----I have probably brooded over 10,000 chicks in the last 3 years and never wet their feed. If I have really small chicks in a brooder I will grind their feed(chick starter) a little for the first few days so they can eat it easier.

 

[relos]

@SueT thanks that's a great idea with the water - also perhaps it could be that the chick crumbs are too large and maybe need more grounding as @PD-Riverman mentioned which I'll give a try