Chicks not growing.

[JRobichaud]

Three weeks ago I got five chicks and two of them ended up being sick with difficult breathing. I separated them from the rest and brought them back to being healthy but they seemed to not have grown very much. Does anyone know why this would happen? The other three are about five time bigger then the two who were sick. Is there anything I should do?

 

[cnicho05]

Hello,

This could be a result of the sickness they suffered from. Sometimes, not in all cases, a sickness will stunt growth when it occurs at such a young age. Optimistically, I would suggest these chicks will begin to grow after their bodies have fully recovered from the damage caused by the sickness.

To help them along, I would make sure you are using high quality chick/starter feed with a high protein level. Secondly, I would invest in some nutritional supplements which can be purchased at most feed supply stores. These supplements come in the form of powder which can be added to your chicks water supply. Since this is not a medication, most supplements can safely be consumed by your healthy chickens as well as those which are stunted. Lastly, I would give them the time they need to grow. It might take them several months to finally catch up to the same size of your other birds or they may never grow to the same size.

P.S.
Are you sure these two are the same breed of chicks as this can influence size?

 

[JRobichaud]

Thank you for your reply. I have two Langshans and three Delawares. The two small one that are/were sick are Delawares. The healthy Delaware is as big as the Langshans now. I thought it might be because they were sick. Hopefully they will be ok now. I will purchase supplements as you requested. I don't want to lose them. Thanks again.

 

[gander007]

Try feeding them turkey grow as it is high in protein and a hard boiled egg is great also as it has niacin vitamin B-3 and high in protein all great for these problems ......