FirstTimeClucky
Songster
- Feb 13, 2017
- 186
- 203
- 136
About three weeks ago I bought three Silkie chicks. One was 6 weeks old, the others about 3 weeks. I've been picking each of them up every day or two, to tame them and get them used to being handled. They are getting noticeably bigger, but today I noticed their keel bones are sticking out, which I know means they're underweight.
They seem active, cheeping and scratching around. They're in a pen for now, with kiln dried pine shavings for bedding. They always have access to chick starter crumbles (non-medicated). They do eat them, I have to top up their feeder at least once a day. I've been trying to give them some chopped greens (mainly romaine lettuce) every day, but they won't touch them. They also ignore a piece of leaf clipped to the side of their pen. I also give them some dried mealworms every day.
For the most part their poop appears normal, but every so often one of them passes a small amount of thick brown, foul smelling liquid. I can see no signs of worms in their poop. I don't have any other chickens. I do have quail, but they are outdoors and the chickens are temporarily indoors until they get bigger. l always wash and disinfect my hands when I go from one species to the other, handling the chickens first.
Could they be sick? Could it be worms? I do have WormX which I have used on my pigeons, could this be used on the chicks or are they too young? (I also have Ivermectin for small caged birds) Could it be their diet? Is there something I could or should feed them to get their weight up? Or are they just going through a skinny "adolescent" phase?
They seem active, cheeping and scratching around. They're in a pen for now, with kiln dried pine shavings for bedding. They always have access to chick starter crumbles (non-medicated). They do eat them, I have to top up their feeder at least once a day. I've been trying to give them some chopped greens (mainly romaine lettuce) every day, but they won't touch them. They also ignore a piece of leaf clipped to the side of their pen. I also give them some dried mealworms every day.
For the most part their poop appears normal, but every so often one of them passes a small amount of thick brown, foul smelling liquid. I can see no signs of worms in their poop. I don't have any other chickens. I do have quail, but they are outdoors and the chickens are temporarily indoors until they get bigger. l always wash and disinfect my hands when I go from one species to the other, handling the chickens first.
Could they be sick? Could it be worms? I do have WormX which I have used on my pigeons, could this be used on the chicks or are they too young? (I also have Ivermectin for small caged birds) Could it be their diet? Is there something I could or should feed them to get their weight up? Or are they just going through a skinny "adolescent" phase?
