Chick not growing

[Bpcountry]

What I mean by hand feed her is literally take her out of the brooder and put the chick feed in your hand and let her eat it. Not only will you build a strong bond with the chick this way but you will have a good idea of how much she is really eating. I don't think that she needs syrnge feeding, but you can mix her feed with water making a paste and feed her that way. That might be going a bit too far that's probably not needed. You just need to get a good idea of how much she is really eating. If she is eating well then it is most likely that you got a bantam in with the mix. If she is not eating well then we know that we need to look to other possibilities.

So I sat down with her and hand fed her. The crop is full now. She ate like 20 to 30 peiced of the food. I have not seen it pop out like that since I brought her home. Could this be because she was starving from not getting much like the other chicks?

 

[AmazingRachel]

I had a cockerel splash barnevelder who was like that. He was half the size of the others until 6 weeks old and didn't reach the same size until 20 weeks. He was the last one that hatched and he hatched with a partially opened navel that soon closed up. Basically a runt. Your chick should be fine.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

So I sat down with her and hand fed her. The crop is full now. She ate like 20 to 30 peiced of the food. I have not seen it pop out like that since I brought her home. Could this be because she was starving from not getting much like the other chicks?

That is what it sounds like. You may need to feed her separately for a while at least till she gets big enough to compete.

Glad she has a full crop now. I bet it feels good. Also make sure she is taking in enough water.

 

[christwodog]

That is encouraging that she was eating enough to fill her crop. You could give her some hard boiled egg for some extra protein, plus they really love it. Good luck!

 

[Bpcountry]

That is encouraging that she was eating enough to fill her crop. You could give her some hard boiled egg for some extra protein, plus they really love it. Good luck!

I tried the egg, she wanted nothing to do with it. But i will keep trying it.

 

[christwodog]

I tried the egg, she wanted nothing to do with it. But i will keep trying it.

That's a first for me! I've never seen a chick turn down hard boiled egg! Usually there's a feeding frenzy when you put out some egg for them. At least she's eating her food!

 

[Bpcountry]

That is what it sounds like. You may need to feed her separately for a while at least till she gets big enough to compete.

Glad she has a full crop now. I bet it feels good. Also make sure she is taking in enough water.

How mich and hkw often would you suggest I feed her? I tried looking it up, but there is not a whole lot on the subject I could find with a straight answer.

 

[christwodog]

Depending on your schedule, I would try to feed her as often as possible, for as much as she wants to consume. They pretty much graze all day long, so I would try to give her as many opportunities as you can. She may start to eat more at the feeders with the others, if she feels stronger. I would also add an extra feeder or two, if you have space. Make sure she is getting to drink also, so that may require an extra water station. Best wishes!

 

[Bpcountry]

UPDATE!!!

Little Ethan (my son named her) has grown but not much! But over all seems to be ok.

 

[careeka22]

We have one like that too! It's our lavender orpington chick "he" is 1/3rd of the size of the others all hatched on the same day. But he is thriving, eating, drinking, running around. We think he has something called "retarded feather growth" because his wings are growing in strange. They say it corrects itself by weeks 8-12 so we shall see. Here he is next to one of our EEs around 3 weeks old.