chicks stopped eating

[newwithchickens]

so i have recently got some black sex-link chicks from a local feed store i got them when they (12) were probablly about 2 weeks old have had them an aditional 2 weeks but now some (3) of the younger looking ones have stopped eating and one even died. i have had to force feed them with a syringe. im not sure why they dont wanna eat thier chick starter as all the others do and they were for the first week and a half. sorry about the lack of punctuation and spelling abilities

any help/suggestions would be much appreciated as i am fairly new to chickens

but i do love them!!!!

 

[SillyChicken]

did you provide grit? not sure if that would have helped....but a thought..

How were they acting before they died?

Whats their overall physical appearance? (poops etc)

 

[newwithchickens]

they all seem to be happy (execpt the ones that dont eat who are weak and lazy) but they still chirp and will walk up to me so i can pet them and stuff so. they are semi feathered but i have let them walk around a bit outside (on the warmer days) poops are healthy looking all seems to be normaly but thier lack of eatting. sometimes they will take a bite or two but then leave it alone havent given them any grit yet as i thought it wasnt to good for baby chicks maybe they need some?

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

That's very bizarre, what are you feeding them?

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Sorry, just noticed you already said chick starter. Is it moldy? I would try to give them a little mashed up hardboiled egg until you can figure out what the issue is. Sorry I'm not more help.

 

[newwithchickens]

i tried scrambled eggs then as the sun was shining let them roam in the yard some but they didnt move and barely pecked at all

let the others out after and they went on the hunt almost instantly

i dunno why they just refuse to eat

maybe a day or two outside from the other birds will help i dunno never had any baby anything that just didnt wanna eat

thanks for the hard boiled egg might try that tonight or some yogurt beats force feeding them i guess

 

[rcentner]

are you feeding them the same thing the place you got them was? Medicated feed? I was once told to always use vitamins in the chick water and I always do...don't really know if it helps though. Do they have diarrhea? Are they drinking? warm enough? pasty butt? so many questions, sorry

 

[newwithchickens]

same food normal poos they have been drinking sugar water with alittle help from me (puttin the water to thier beak) no pasty butt and we are keeping them inside the house (70 degrees) with a heating pad under them. and the questions are fine i just want the little ones to get better

 

[rcentner]

a heating pad will not do, chicks get their heat from above. A mother hen sits over top of them and that needs to be simulated. Heating pads don't warm up enough.A regular 75 watt bulb (not one of those energy saving fluorescents, they don't emit heat) will do. Suspend the light over top of the brooder, safe enough distance the chicks can't reach it, and they will go under the light when they are cold to warm up. Heat is essential to digestion of food. You can get a clip light at any hardware store and fashion a way to hang it over the brooder. At 2 weeks of age they need an overall temperature of 85 degrees. This ought to fix the problem, I suggest you buy/borrow a copy of raising chickens for dummies....very helpful, all that you need to know about raising chicks is in there (and on this board)

 

[newwithchickens]

well they are at 4 weeks (give or take a day or two) now and there is one heating pad below and one above them but the light idea would prob be better im thinking thanks for the info