Day old chick don’t like starter any advice?

[JustBabyMargo]

aw so sorry to hear that.. The sister of my remaining polish was also one of my favorite chickens, planning to get some polish hatching eggs when the time is right and if i have space.
All of them hatched this afternoon. I will be putting them in with the older chick tomorrow once they are walking better. To my surprise they ate right away. And they sure are attention seekers even with siblings. And now i got 4 peeping chicks when i go out of sight.
The all white one might have an eye problem with it’s left eye, rarely opening it. From inside the bator too.
The second chick, a light brahma (i think) is really active and keep stepping over its sleeping siblings. Im not sure if its a bit more dominant (not sure if they start this young) but it will peck the others if it wants a spot on my hands or to get them away and when eating. Not sure if its just curious but the others will scurry away.
The last chick looks like he has eyebrows
An update on the older one, shes eating lot more now. Im nervous with newly hatched chick and their first night since sometimes they just lay like they are lifeless. Hoping all goes well.
Here are some pics. (The brahma looks like she has a short beak because of the colouring and egg tooth.)
View attachment 2802551View attachment 2802555View attachment 2802560

Ooh that will be a fun project! Aww! They all sound super sweet! I hope it all goes well too and that’s good news about the older chick!

 

[Newbie to chix]

I read that adding an egg yolk (from hard boiled egg) is good for them and somewhat familiar

 

[Diveks]

Ooh that will be a fun project! Aww! They all sound super sweet! I hope it all goes well too and that’s good news about the older chick!

I have put them all together with no problems i first put the most active chick in which the other one just looked at so confused. Weirdly seemed annoyed sometimes with the others and kinds of ignores them. But i think she will be glad to have siblings in the long run. With the white chick, it acts a bit weird screaming at everything that touches it and rarely opens its eyes not sure if its blind i might start a thread on it if it persists for some help in raising a blind chick.

I read that adding an egg yolk (from hard boiled egg) is good for them and somewhat familiar

I am trying to give them occasional healthy treats so they have a somewhat varied diet and used to eating things when they go outside.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

I have put them all together with no problems i first put the most active chick in which the other one just looked at so confused. Weirdly seemed annoyed sometimes with the others and kinds of ignores them. But i think she will be glad to have siblings in the long run. With the white chick, it acts a bit weird screaming at everything that touches it and rarely opens its eyes not sure if its blind i might start a thread on it if it persists for some help in raising a blind chick.

I am trying to give them occasional healthy treats so they have a somewhat varied diet and used to eating things when they go outside.

That’s great news! I hope you figure out what’s going on with it’s eye. We have a hen who used to be like that though... She used to only open one eye and was super delayed! So she didn’t develop and do normal chick stuff until way later! She didn’t start scratching until she was like 5 months! Here is her now! Her name is Henri and she is a cream legbar! She is hardly delayed at all anymore! She doesn’t close her bad eye as much and actually keeps it open almost all the time!
This is her bad eye-

Here is her normal eye-

 

[BigBlueHen53]

At this age don't feed them anything except the chick starter. It has a little crushed grit in it. In a week or so or even later if you want to start them on anything else, first supply them with chick grit for their gizzards. They need it in order to digest their food and keep from getting an impacted crop. Good luck! They are so cute!

 

[Diveks]

That’s great news! I hope you figure out what’s going on with it’s eye. We have a hen who used to be like that though... She used to only open one eye and was super delayed! So she didn’t develop and do normal chick stuff until way later! She didn’t start scratching until she was like 5 months! Here is her now! Her name is Henri and she is a cream legbar! She is hardly delayed at all anymore! She doesn’t close her bad eye as much and actually keeps it open almost all the time!
This is her bad eye-
View attachment 2803422

Here is her normal eye-
View attachment 2803423

Precious girl you got there, hope my chick will grow up just fine. (Ill call all the chicks she for now cause im hoping at least most of them are hens) She rarely opens both her eyes and if she does its almost always the same eye. Im not sure how to determine if she is blind or not. She will aimlessly walk around the brooder kind of confused before i escort her back under the heating plate. Also when i or another chick touch her sometimes she will shreek and run, ill see if this presists.

At this age don't feed them anything except the chick starter. It has a little crushed grit in it. In a week or so or even later if you want to start them on anything else, first supply them with chick grit for their gizzards. They need it in order to digest their food and keep from getting an impacted crop. Good luck! They are so cute!

Ohh i see ill wait a bit. Always heard to wait until treats, but i never knew why, thanks!

 

[Diveks]

Hello ive came back to revive this thread because the chick seem to not be thriving and is now a bit smaller than the week olds. The chick is really thin and refusing the crumbs. She will only eat as much as it will keep her alive and im worried she is going downhill. How should i get her to eat more? Her crop is almost empty, picking up food but throwing it again. I might start a new thread about this, in detail.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Hello ive came back to revive this thread because the chick seem to not be thriving and is now a bit smaller than the week olds. The chick is really thin and refusing the crumbs. She will only eat as much as it will keep her alive and im worried she is going downhill. How should i get her to eat more? Her crop is almost empty, picking up food but throwing it again. I might start a new thread about this, in detail.

I’m sorry. I’m not sure what else to do! Please do start a new thread so that others can help you!

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Some of my chicks were like that too though. They would be all fine and then about a week later would just start going downhill and then die. I hope this doesn’t happen for you. I also had one that was going downhill until we fed them mash. Sometimes you need to force feed and sometimes they can do it themselves. I hope your chick ends up fine! Maybe try force feeding for a while? What I did was just put each individual piece inside of the chick’s mouth (by prying it open) then letting them swallow it. And hey she is now almost 3 months old and doing great! The one that we did mash for was a silkie bantam who had much trouble eating food so we gave him mash and he ate it himself! Try both see if they will take to either of them! Best of luck!

 

[Diveks]

Some of my chicks were like that too though. They would be all fine and then about a week later would just start going downhill and then die. I hope this doesn’t happen for you. I also had one that was going downhill until we fed them mash. Sometimes you need to force feed and sometimes they can do it themselves. I hope your chick ends up fine! Maybe try force feeding for a while? What I did was just put each individual piece inside of the chick’s mouth (by prying it open) then letting them swallow it. And hey she is now almost 3 months old and doing great! The one that we did mash for was a silkie bantam who had much trouble eating food so we gave him mash and he ate it himself! Try both see if they will take to either of them! Best of luck!

Ill try force feeding a bit since now the chick is only pooping water which makes me feel horrible. She looks hungry but is refusing to eat, i cluck for food she comes running but once she sees crumbs becomes uninterested. Maybe she needs a bit of a pickup before she will start eating more, what is your opinion on adding baby bird handfeeding formula to the mash for extra protein and fat since she is skin and bones now..