Chick Problems

[2cool4school]

Hello BYC community, I don't know if you remember me from the last post but I actually had to euthanize the chick with a deformed leg . Thankfully the rest have been doing fine. However, I'm a little worried about the rest of the flock as I have some abnormally huge chicks, and what seems to be abnormally small chicks. Not only this but what seems to be the smallest chick is balding on the top of her wings and has some balding on the side of her neck. Is this because the other chicks are pecking her?

Thanks, Isaac H.

 

[FunClucks]

From what you state, I'm questioning the quality of the genetics of the parent flock. If there are internal issues with the other chicks, they will show up over time. I would not raise chicks from that flock again - sounds like there are multiple problems.

The bald spots are less worrisome to me - sounds like another chick is plucking out the first chick's down. Just identify culprit and separate, or increase the size of your brooder. Could be a space or boredom issue. Not sure how old the chicks are, but bullying usually shows up once they're older.

 

[2cool4school]

Hey thanks for the reply, we got them on the 26th of last month when they were supposedly one day old. I'm assuming that they're almost four weeks by now. I also ordered 40 chicks and had gotten 42, which two died. The first died around day two I believe and the other one I euthanized because it was struggling to live. This is actually my first time owning chickens but from what I can tell they seem to have a lot of gene variation as they're all rhode island reds yet very in size and coloring so I'm not quite sure. This is the place I got them from https://www.idealpoultry.com/ . We also picked them up as they were not shipped to us (assuming right after they hatched.)

 

[FunClucks]

Hey thanks for the reply, we got them on the 26th of last month when they were supposedly one day old. I'm assuming that they're almost four weeks by now. I also ordered 40 chicks and had gotten 42, which two died. The first died around day two I believe and the other one I euthanized because it was struggling to live. This is actually my first time owning chickens but from what I can tell they seem to have a lot of gene variation as they're all rhode island reds yet very in size and coloring so I'm not quite sure. This is the place I got them from https://www.idealpoultry.com/ . We also picked them up as they were not shipped to us (assuming right after they hatched.)

How much space do they have in their coop and in their run? That's a lot of chicks.

Might want to take some pictures and post and see if you can get some folks more knowledgeable with RIR to weigh in on coloring and development. Take shots of chickens standing normally, in good lighting and in good focus, take full body shots from top and sides and also closer head shots showing combs and face. There's a section of this site where you can ask folks to identify breed and gender - they'd be too young to ID gender probably, but they're old enough folks could give you some input on breed and growth. I'd post pictures there, basically asking "are these RIR?" and "do they look healthy?".

I have a RIR mix that changed drastically from day one to 6 mo old. But then again, he's a mix.

Also, I'd suggest searching on this site for customer's experiences with Ideal Poultry. Might give you more information.

 

[3KillerBs]

Not only this but what seems to be the smallest chick is balding on the top of her wings and has some balding on the side of her neck.

Sometimes a chick with the slow feathering genes will outgrow it's down before the feathers come in. Here are a few cases among my chicks:

This is the place I got them from https://www.idealpoultry.com/

All my birds from Ideal have been in excellent health, though in any group there's always the change of a problem.

Could you show photos of your birds and your setup? With the dimensions of the space?

40 chicks of that age should have about 80 square feet -- at least an 8x10 space.

Also, there should be multiple feeders available, preferably enough that all the chicks can eat at the same time. Some of your smaller birds *might* be being bullied away from the feeders.

 

[2cool4school]

Hey, sorry for the late update! I've been building two A Frame chicken tractors and am almost done with the first. I've been keeping them in 2 rabbit cages about 3x3 each. Is this bad? I intend to finish the coop tomorrow so I can put them in and work on the second tractor. I don't know why but when I put two chicks outside they sat down and barely pecked at anything. Is this because it's around 68 degrees? I wouldn't think so as they are about 5 weeks now. (Born on the 26th of oct. I hope they're not sitting down because lack of leg muscle At the same time I see them running around their cage. I'm sorry if this didn't make sense but I've been doing a lot and can't seem to think straight. Thanks BYC, Isaac H.


P.S. my A Frame tractors are 8x12

 

[3KillerBs]

I've been keeping them in 2 rabbit cages about 3x3 each. Is this bad?

That is VERY, VERY small for that many chicks. They may be reluctant to explore because they're used to being so tightly confined.

I hope that their new housing is done quickly.