Chicks Not Eating/Drinking

[AccentOnHakes]

I got four chicks from the feed store today:

2 Easter Eggers
1 Barred Rock
1 Rhode Island Red

For clarity, the EE's are both chipmunk, but one is larger and also darker on the body. The larger, darker one is called Kevin; the smaller, lighter one is Jalapeño.

Jalapeño and the BR have been eating and drinking on their own. The RIR seems to be the youngest, she is smaller and her wing feathers have just started coming in. This RIR will eat on her own, but not drink. Kevin will do neither. She /must/ know how to, as she looks to be the oldest of all four. She is the largest, and both Kevin and Jalapeño have tail feathers coming in. I have been dipping the RIR and Kevin's beaks into water.

How can I get Kevin to eat? Is she just stressed and taking longer to recover than the others? Thanks for any input.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Did you dip their beaks in the water before putting them in the brooder? Do you have some paper towels down over the bedding? It helps them to find the food better in the beginning. Good luck.

Edited to say: Sorry, I see you are dipping their beaks. Getting them to drink is more important right now than eating. You can put some sugar in the water for a little pick me up. I think it is 1 TBL to a gallon of water. They could just be stressed, but I would continue to dip their beaks every half hour or so.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!

(kinda)

Their bedding is newspaper(don't kill me

) so finding the food is not an issue.

I made a mush of crumbles and water together and all four are eating now, but I'm not sure if Kevin will eat dry crumbles and drink plain water by herself. She should be fine, because they are all kind of doing a combination of eating and drinking at the same time.

I didn't fill up the waterer all the way, because they won't drink that much in a day and it makes taking it out hard, because I almost always end up spilling the water when I try to do that. I don't think they'll need sugar now that they are all eating/drinking.

Mush seems to be a favorite treat all the time with chickens, no matter their age.

 

[seminolewind]

I'm always telling people that the chick starter crumbles are too big, and they should make them smaller-I use a rolling pin. People get to day 4-5 and wonder why the chicks died-they seemed to be eating........seemed to be.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Well, they survived at the feed store...right?

All four were seen eating and drinking by themselves this morning.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

I have the same problem with my two chicks, one I have seen eat and drink but she doesnt very often, while the other eats, but will not drink any water! I have tried dipping her beak in the water, sugaring it, mixing the food and water together but she continues to resist and I am worried because she has been panting! I have not had this problem with any of my previous chicks, and I am wondering if there is anything else that could be done?