Chick that never learned how to eat

[Varglet]

You are giving the chick grit, right? Without it, he will have difficulty digesting anything other than the crumbles, no matter how small you chop it. I didn't see any mention of grit, but I'm also on mobile and could have missed it.

Just don't want something to happen after you've made so much progress.

 

[ochochicas]

To be honest, the chick doesn't eat well on his own. He has access to grit, water, and chick starter all the time. When I check him, his crop is always empty. I take him out (away from his friends) and put him on the table with a bowl of veggies that has chick starter and grit sprinkled over the top. He scratches and pecks, then stands in the bowl and scratches and pecks some more. He isn't necessarily pecking at food, he just pecks at nothing. He really is "special" and doesn't get the idea of pecking to eat. Either his light bulb is going to come on one day, or I'm just going to find him laying in the brooder suddenly. It takes him a half hour to eat the same amount of food a normal chick would consume in 5 minutes. Only time will tell what the future holds for him. He's still the size of a 4 day old chicks, very cute and sweet.

 

[Bridebeliever]

Yes, we did this as well, without ever reading about it.  We were trying to get our 3 year old babies to eat so we started pecking the floor with our finger and bingo, the chicks went nuts on food!  They are amazing instinctive little creatures.  "When raising chickens you must think like a chicken, not like a human!"  My new motto! 

I just had to quote my own quote her and say that they weren't 3 "year" old babies, they were 3 DAY old babies...sounded ridiculous!! LOL

 

[bluema]

Ha ha, knew what you meant from the contex.

 

[Bridebeliever]

Yeah, and then I said her instead of here in that post and I was like...

 

[SavorChick]

precious pic of him.  I'm so happy he's gaining weight and doing so much better.  You did a great job with him bless your heart.


Patty

+1

 

[3riverschick]

He's been getting vitamins since hatch. He is malnourished, however, since he has not been eating enough for a week. He ate a lot this morning and gained one gram since yesterday, so maybe we are moving in the right direction. We'll see if his coordination improves in the next couple of days.

Thanks for all the input.

Yes, I understand that. But he's getting the vitamins in a solution which needs to be digested. Clearly the bird has a problem with malabsorption of nutrients. Esp. if he is having trouble eating and drinking in the first place. That's why I recommended the Nutri-Drench. It doesn't need to be digested. It will bypass this chick's eating and digestion limitations and mainline directly into the bloodstream thru the tissues of the mouth, throat and areas it encounters before reaching the G.I. tract. This will give the chick energy and support its immune system. Just give it one drop by mouth.
Best,
Karen