Chicks not growing fast enough??

[casportpony]

Hmm, that's kind of pricey. I'll look into it though, thanks.

It will last a long time though.

 

[chickens really]

Personally if it's not broken why fix it? They will be okay if eating and drinking as usual.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Personally if it's not broken why fix it? They will be okay if eating and drinking as usual.

Okay! You're right, I'm overthinking this. I just didn't really understand why they seemed to be smaller than the rest and was worried I was doing something wrong. I suppose it's fine considering that I'm not worried about processing date or anything like that (I mean, I'm going to eat the cockerels but don't care whether it's at 16 or 20 weeks).

 

[casportpony]

@LikeTurkeys, occasionally I get one like your chick, one that is substantially smaller than the rest. Most of the time they eventually catch up, sometimes they don't. The best thing to do is to weigh them every few days. If they are not gaining enough weight then something needs to be fixed. When I have one I am concerned about I enter their weight in a spreadsheet and plot their weight gains and losses on a graph. If the graph is flat or negative, I will treat the bird with whatever I think it needs, but as long as it's maintaining decent gains, I do nothing. Let me see if I can find an example graph for you.

 

[chickens really]

Okay! You're right, I'm overthinking this. I just didn't really understand why they seemed to be smaller than the rest and was worried I was doing something wrong. I suppose it's fine considering that I'm not worried about processing date or anything like that (I mean, I'm going to eat the cockerels but don't care whether it's at 16 or 20 weeks).

I wouldn't start adding things to healthy birds..they will grow ..

 

[casportpony]

@LikeTurkeys, do you have a food scale that you can weigh them on?

 

[1muttsfan]

Sometimes crossbred birds grow at a much more rapid rate, like the Cornish crosses used for meat birds. If all your BCM's are growing the same, and are normally active and eating well, with normal stools, they likely are growing normally for that breed. Looks like the one you posted is feathering in fine for that age. It may be like comparing apples to oranges.

 

[casportpony]

If all your BCM's are growing the same, and are normally active and eating well, with normal stools, they likely are growing normally for that breed.

Read this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-has-swollen-abdomen-not-responsive.1353790/

 

[1muttsfan]

Hope you don't loose any more

 

[LikeTurkeys]

@LikeTurkeys, do you have a food scale that you can weigh them on?

I would have to look for one, I don't think I have one on hand right now... I hope this isn't something that will spread to my other chicks. Thanks for your replies.