Chicks that wont eat chick starter!

[Mel35]

Hey Fam,

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on a chick that wont eat chick starter. Over a week ago I had a chick hatch in the breech position, after an assisted hatching and putting him back in the incubator to dry off, it is very noticeable that he is VERY small compared to his counterparts. This little chick enjoys being warm CONSTANTLY but my issue is his eating. He will drink water fine but when offered chick starter he just flat out refuses to eat it. I have blended up egg yolk and some water to make for him to eat and he will nibble a little but nothing I feel would fill his crop and I also feel this can not be a constant feed for him. Plus he wont eat unless I spoon feed it to him Have I started something i shouldnt have started?!

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do here Will he eat chick starter in his own time? Do I just keep up with egg yolk and can he have it raw or do I cook it (Ive been cooking it)? I have seen some post about syringe feeding him, how do I know if this is the right thing to do? He is just SOOOO little!!

Any and all advice welcome.
Thanks

 

[Debbie292d]

Oh my, that one is little. It looks pretty healthy though so in the five days he must've gotten food/water.

Just sprinkle some crumbles around on the floor and he'll eventually start eating.

Does it walk okay? It appears to have a slight curly toes issue, nothing I'd probably worry about yet.

 

[Mel35]

Oh my, that one is little.

Just sprinkle some crumbles around on the floor and he'll eventually start eating.

Does it walk okay? It appears to have a slight curly toes issue, nothing I'd probably worry about yet.

Debbie292d: When I say tiny, I mean REALLY tiny. He doesn't even have that much fluff. Just feathers.

He walks OK, in the beginning he could not hold his head up - his neck is as thin as a fruitbox straw be he seems to hold it up now, he is sometimes a little unsteady on his feet, but he can walk around. When we was born his toes were WAY worse then that, his other foot seems to have straightened out a lot but one is definitely curly. I have tried strapping them and making little chook shoes but he just kicks them off or because his feet are so tiny and skinny they wont stay stuck on.

 

[Debbie292d]

When we was born his toes were WAY worse then that, his other foot seems to have straightened out a lot but one is definitely curly.

Aha, okay. How we fix feet is to cut a piece of thin cardboard from like a cereal box to the shape of the foot. We then use vetwrap to affix the feet to it. We have double-sided tape to put on the top of the cardboard so when we plant their foot on it, it sticks.

This shows another way. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-with-tape-picture-tutorial-and-video.75247/

You might try grinding the crumbles. They may be too big for him. Sprinkle some of the ground ones around. I'd have thought he was a FTT (failure to thrive) but he's sure doing well considering!

You could also put crumbles in a small dish and get them wet. The other chicks will like those too. It's just another option we provide chicks like as a treat.

 

[Mel35]

Aha, okay. How we fix feet is to cut a piece of thin cardboard from like a cereal box to the shape of the foot. We then use vetwrap to affix the feet to it. We have double-sided tape to put on the top of the cardboard so when we plant their foot on it, it sticks.

This shows another way. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-with-tape-picture-tutorial-and-video.75247/

You might try grinding the crumbles. They may be too big for him. Sprinkle some of the ground ones around. I'd have thought he was a FTT (failure to thrive) but he's sure doing well considering!

You could also put crumbles in a small dish and get them wet. The other chicks will like those two. It's just another option we provide chicks like as a treat.

Ah, got you! The double sided tape is what I was missing. Where abouts do you buy your double sided tape?

I have scrambled the egg for him just now and he seems to be nibbling away at that with the help of his emotional support buddy So that is a good sign. I did wonder if the crumble might have been too big so I might try the started in some water and see if that is something he will eat. The starter is medicated so I would like to try and get some of that into him.

I honestly thought I was going to wake up the next morning to find him passed and I have thought that every morning since - And for the first 3 nights he slept in my bed snuggled up to a teddy and with a hot water bottle. I didnt want to make that a habit either so once his ESB hatched he went under a heat lamp with him and they seem to be bonded together I did everything I thought possible for him to pull through and hopefully, together, we have done it!!

 

[Debbie292d]

Where abouts do you buy your double sided tape?

Gosh, I don't recall but we live in the boonies so no fancy office supply stores. We either got it at Walmart like in the school/office section or on Amazon.

Awe, I sure hope he keeps eating and drinking as then he should make it!

 

[Mel35]

Gosh, I don't recall but we live in the boonies so we either got it at Walmart like in the school/office section or on Amazon.

Awe, I sure hope he keeps eating and drinking as then he should make it!

Oh Nice! We're down in Aus. So we might get ours from a different place but a quick google should solve that!

I feel good about his progression but you just never know when/if its going turn, so fingers and toes crossed!

Thank you so much for your input!

 

[SourRoses]

When I used to have FTT chicks (one particular breed) they would do ok for a little while but show odd feathering (wing feathers grew but not much on the torso). They progressively fell behind their hatchmates until they couldn't hold their own for food/ water and would wind up acting chilly all the time until they passed (not coccidiosis).
For that breed / line it was the same symptoms in the 5% that showed it. My best guess was a genetic defect affecting their digestive tract.

What I'm trying to say though, is FTT is actually a catch-all term, comprising any uncertain condition causing them to fail to keep up with their peers.
Thus, the symptoms can be all over the place. Depending on what's actually wrong, some can recover completely, some survive but with impairments, and sadly many don't make it.
I remember crying and praying over these weak little chicks, but I learned to accept that it's not the best thing for them to push them past a decent recovery allowance.

It could possibly be a nutritional deficiency, possibly from the diet or stress on the hen who laid the egg.

Things I would try: vitamins... Including B complex and E, with the selenium that's already in the egg.
Probiotics, a good brand with tested viability after storage (I like Probios for this reason, but there are a few others, just not those little packets that are probably all dead).
I would also offer a small amount of very tiny chick grit.
You may be wondering, so I'll confess to having sorted the sizes of chick grit before.
Some studies indicate that giving grit early can help chicks develop their digestive tract health, even when none of their food requires grinding (Chick starter doesn't).
It could be either that the weight / shape of the granite grit exercises their crop muscles. Or it could be providing more surface area for beneficial bacteria to live. Or it could be both or something entirely different.
In the studies, chicks with early access to grit gained more mass than their counterparts eating the same food in the same quantity, which didn't require grit to digest.

Try also making sure that chickie is warmed up before you try to feed. I've noticed from nursing them through other ailments that a chilled chicken has little appetite.
If you get a little warm sugar water in the baby first, then put them back under the heat and return in 15-30 mins with food offerings, they tend to perk up more and show more interest in the food.
* I mostly used this with coccidiosis treatment, so no guarantee it will help with this.

Hoping for your success!

 

[Mel35]

When I used to have FTT chicks (one particular breed) they would do ok for a little while but show odd feathering (wing feathers grew but not much on the torso). They progressively fell behind their hatchmates until they couldn't hold their own for food/ water and would wind up acting chilly all the time until they passed (not coccidiosis).
For that breed / line it was the same symptoms in the 5% that showed it. My best guess was a genetic defect affecting their digestive tract.

What I'm trying to say though, is FTT is actually a catch-all term, comprising any uncertain condition causing them to fail to keep up with their peers.
Thus, the symptoms can be all over the place. Depending on what's actually wrong, some can recover completely, some survive but with impairments, and sadly many don't make it.
I remember crying and praying over these weak little chicks, but I learned to accept that it's not the best thing for them to push them past a decent recovery allowance.

It could possibly be a nutritional deficiency, possibly from the diet or stress on the hen who laid the egg.

Things I would try: vitamins... Including B complex and E, with the selenium that's already in the egg.
Probiotics, a good brand with tested viability after storage (I like Probios for this reason, but there are a few others, just not those little packets that are probably all dead).
I would also offer a small amount of very tiny chick grit.
You may be wondering, so I'll confess to having sorted the sizes of chick grit before.
Some studies indicate that giving grit early can help chicks develop their digestive tract health, even when none of their food requires grinding (Chick starter doesn't).
It could be either that the weight / shape of the granite grit exercises their crop muscles. Or it could be providing more surface area for beneficial bacteria to live. Or it could be both or something entirely different.
In the studies, chicks with early access to grit gained more mass than their counterparts eating the same food in the same quantity, which didn't require grit to digest.

Try also making sure that chickie is warmed up before you try to feed. I've noticed from nursing them through other ailments that a chilled chicken has little appetite.
If you get a little warm sugar water in the baby first, then put them back under the heat and return in 15-30 mins with food offerings, they tend to perk up more and show more interest in the food.
* I mostly used this with coccidiosis treatment, so no guarantee it will help with this.

Hoping for your success!

Hi SourRoses,

Thank you for your advice!

I would absolutely bank on it being SOMETHING, this tiny chick was one of 5 in the clutch of eggs. Mum sat on them until she hatched 3, then she abandoned the eggs so I placed them in the incubator, both the 3 she is raising and the 1 other that hatched, are healthy and strong, this little fella was a week late and tried entering the world the wrong way around! Would it be genetics if everyone else was healthy or is this an incubation issue? When I assisted his hatching he did have like a green slime inside the shell, could this have been a bacterial issue? I wouldn't have thought it would be from mum, my girls free range from sun up till sun down, they have top layer feed and they get the occasional treats. But I do understand there could be other stress factors and factors in general involved that I am unaware of so you might be right.

I have given him a B complex when he was first born, but I wasn't sure how long to give this to him as I read somewhere too much can have an affect on their organs, would you agree with this? Is giving them a little human B complex safe or are we talking B complex for chickens?

As you can see in this picture his wing feathers are growing but not much else has come through yet! I'm not sure now if this is a good sign or not. Is there a time in their illness that is safe to say they are going to make it? I know anything is possible at anytime though.

I will definitely try the chick grit! Can this be given even if its not needed? Is this offered with food or just in the brooder to have access anytime?

Warming him up first would make sense as I said in the beginning he his snuggled down in a pillow case almost all of the day. If he isn't nestled in, he is chirping away, nestle him in and he is as good as gold. His ESB on the other hand is awake and out most of the day.

I have read about the sugar water, do you happen to know the ratio's for this? Is it just sugar and water?

 

[SourRoses]

When I assisted his hatching he did have like a green slime inside the shell, could this have been a bacterial issue?

Ohh eek!
Was it by any chance just the regular small development waste that all hatched eggs have?
If it was definitely an unusual green slime, that sounds like a bad infection. Or maybe a decomposing twin who passed very early (suggesting this because blood products turn green).

Let's ask @Debbie292d if this could be mushy chick syndrome? I have no familiarity with that.

Sugar water: Prescribed amounts are all over the place. It's hard to get wrong, just add enough (dissolved) that the water will taste sweet and give them some quick energy. But not more sugar than water, like that scene in MIIB with the bug pretending to be a human, lol.
It helps to dissolve the sugar if the water is hot, but just like feeding a baby you should always check the temp is just warm before offering it. Cold water (and cold mash) can chill them down fast.

Grit: I offer it free choice in a separate dish. I don't sprinkle it on the feed because I don't want them to swallow too much while trying to eat.
Some folks express concern that young chicks may confuse grit with their regular feed and eat too much. I have never had that problem. But to hedge bets, you can try limiting the amount offered to a fish food strategy (add some, watch them devour it, add some more or let your instincts say when it's enough. Sorry I can't be more precise. I just let them decide. But I do check for scary looking long, jagged pieces.y different worry that has also never proved a problem. When they haven't had grit before they tend to get pretty excited to eat their inedible pebbles.
I believe in Aus they call it something different than Grit on the package. If you don't already have some. Just make sure it's insoluble rocks, like granite or similar. Not a calcium product like Oyster Shell, Coral, or Limestone (a soluble rock). I think it was northern Europe where they call that Grit
And yes, they can have it even when their feed does not require it.

B complex: It was good not to overdo it. Unfortunately I don't know the proper dosing or upper threshold for chicks. But as with other vitamins, you could try an on-again/off-again schedule... that helps the body purge excess. Something like 2 days off as a minimum, maybe 2-3 days on. (Disclaimer - I'm guessing loosely)

If someone has the proper dosing information then you wouldn't need to do that, but you would have to weigh him and do math (the hard part).
It is the same B complex as for humans.

Outlook timeline: I usually start to hope more when they show a marked improvement. Little improvements can be encouraging but if they show a big leap forward it's usually a sign they will recover.
From a chick I would be looking for good signs like running around in play rather than stress (wing flapping, trying to get a desired treat like a bug that flew in from another chick playing keep-away)... Eating enthusiastically and pooping a lot. Good feather development on the torso.
For bad signs... continued issues with temperature regulation. If they won't leave the heat area at all it if they still act cold even with extra accomodations to keep a really warm spot that the others can't stand.
Other concerning signs include persistent chittering sounds as if they want to be cheeping in complaint but don't have the energy to voice it loud. Inability to keep their eyes open. Difficulty standing or keeping balance. Letting their heads fall into uncomfortable positions while they sleep, including shavings poking the eye area, covering the nares, or twisting the neck.
Okay, making this list made me realize how many chickens I've watched slowly weaken and die (or need to be put down by my helper). Nevermind this part, let's look for the good signs!