diamondsilkies
Songster
Hi everyone,
I am raising 8 chicks for a friend (until they are coop ready). They are from a local feed store that I have purchased chicks from many times before. The chicks I get there are always very healthy and the staff there is very knowledgable. These chicks are about 5 weeks old now. I have them in an outdoor brooder set up that I have used for several years now. The only difference is the food. I usually get my feed from a different store but since we were there already, I decided to pick some up from the chick store. The staff recommended a fish protein-based food that I have never used before, but they said was very good.
The chicks all seemed healthy and alert when I brought them home. Several had issues with pasty butt, but only 1 (an EE named Eve) had reoccurring issues with it. There are two EEs in the batch. Both seemed about the same size when I first got them, but as time has passed, one (Eve) has been growing significantly slower than the second EE (and all the other chicks). All the chicks are standard-sized breeds, and Eve is about half the size of everyone else. She has some feathers coming in but still has much more baby fluff than the others.
Of course, at this age, she no longer has problems with pasty butt (that went away after the first week) and seems to be eating and drinking. She is much lighter than everyone else, but she doesn't seem any bonier than she would be at this size. She chases after the others when they fight over mealworms and runs around with everyone when I let them play in the garden. However, she does seem to sleep/sit down much more than everyone else and prefers to be held rather than forage. She also seems just a little less agile than everyone else, as if she was still a few weeks younger than she is.
I will get some pictures of her tomorrow. I tried giving her some egg yolk for protein the other day, but she didn't seem to care for it much (that being said, none of the other chicks did either). She doesn't seem like she's getting shoved around/excluded by the others, either, and there is plenty of space in their brooder. No one is preventing her from eating/drinking. Everyone else is about 1-2 weeks away from moving to their new coop, but I would be worried about her at night. Is there anything I should be doing for her to help her grow? Thanks in advance!
I am raising 8 chicks for a friend (until they are coop ready). They are from a local feed store that I have purchased chicks from many times before. The chicks I get there are always very healthy and the staff there is very knowledgable. These chicks are about 5 weeks old now. I have them in an outdoor brooder set up that I have used for several years now. The only difference is the food. I usually get my feed from a different store but since we were there already, I decided to pick some up from the chick store. The staff recommended a fish protein-based food that I have never used before, but they said was very good.
The chicks all seemed healthy and alert when I brought them home. Several had issues with pasty butt, but only 1 (an EE named Eve) had reoccurring issues with it. There are two EEs in the batch. Both seemed about the same size when I first got them, but as time has passed, one (Eve) has been growing significantly slower than the second EE (and all the other chicks). All the chicks are standard-sized breeds, and Eve is about half the size of everyone else. She has some feathers coming in but still has much more baby fluff than the others.
Of course, at this age, she no longer has problems with pasty butt (that went away after the first week) and seems to be eating and drinking. She is much lighter than everyone else, but she doesn't seem any bonier than she would be at this size. She chases after the others when they fight over mealworms and runs around with everyone when I let them play in the garden. However, she does seem to sleep/sit down much more than everyone else and prefers to be held rather than forage. She also seems just a little less agile than everyone else, as if she was still a few weeks younger than she is.
I will get some pictures of her tomorrow. I tried giving her some egg yolk for protein the other day, but she didn't seem to care for it much (that being said, none of the other chicks did either). She doesn't seem like she's getting shoved around/excluded by the others, either, and there is plenty of space in their brooder. No one is preventing her from eating/drinking. Everyone else is about 1-2 weeks away from moving to their new coop, but I would be worried about her at night. Is there anything I should be doing for her to help her grow? Thanks in advance!
