Chicks don't seem to be growing

[sbreagy97]

Hey Guys!
I ordered some baby chicks back in November of 2011. They are Rhode Island Reds, and Pearl White Leghorns. My friend and I ordered together, so the chicks are about the same age, but his are HUGE! They are almost the size of a full grown chicken. Where as mine, mine are still really really small. Am I not feeding enough?

Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys!
~Stephen

 

[KrisH]

What have you been feeding them? did you start out with chick starter? what brand of food? It is chicken food and not just scratch grain?

RobertH

 

[KrisH]

oh, and

 

[gamelife]

Try giving some high protein snacks once in awhile. I give mine scrambled eggs every now and then
and they love it. You could also supplement their water with some "save a chick" powder.
It has electrolytes and vitamins they need to grow healthy and strong. I would also give them
a pinch of shredded cheese too.
But not too much!
My chickens are spoiled.

 

[CluckyJay]

Rickets?

 

[sbreagy97]

I feed my chicks chick start and grow. I only didn't feed them chick start and grow for one week, but after I realized I was feeding them actual chicken food, I marked the two different foods to differentiate.

 

[kipper]

We split a chick order with friends 2 years ago. Ours grew, theirs did not.

We fed our pullets chick starter. they fed theirs scratch and cheap grains..

Their daughter came to visit us and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw our birds, saying "your chickens are giants!" They then changed their feed and they caught up in size somewhat.

Same breeds, same hatchery order. We even gave them some of the better looking chicks. Feed your birds well and they will grow.

 

[CluckyJay]

I read an article in some magazine about a girl who did that too. Hers didn't grow but the other girls did. It turned out there was I think, some sort of mix-up with the feed and the chicks got rickets. She had to put them all down. They were pretty bad off though and showing the rubbery beak signs.