Day old chick possibly ate and drank

[winglesschicken]

I was told that they are not supposed to eat until they're 3 days old.

Is anything going to happen to the chick because it possibly ate and/or drank?

 

[sourland]

They can go up to 3 days after hatching without eating, but eating sooner than that will not cause any problems.

 

[CindyinSD]

No. You should feed it and give it drink. You should be giving it chick starter. Put some marbles or pebbles or similar in the water dish for several days in case it falls in. Does it have a friend? They need at least one friend.

The story is that once they hatch, they can rely on the stored reserves from having absorbed the yolk for three days. Once they’ve eaten and/or drunk, they need nourishment and water available at all times.

 

[BDutch]

In a natural enviremont with a broody / mama chicken, its normal for chicks to start eating and drinking in between a few hours after hatching and two max. three days.

For a chick its better to drink and eat before it's 36 hours ( says a study from wageningen university in the Netherlands)

 

[Rothy_058]

Just to re-enforce the replies that have already been made here.....it's no problem at all for the chicks to discover food and water within a few hours of hatching... In my experience once the buggers cotton-on there's no stopping them! and they rapidly turn into poop making machines. depending on the number of chicks you're raising you will find you need to clean them out several times a day... cleanliness is absolutely paramount in the first few days...they will trample poop into their food dishes and water within hours...minutes even...of being cleaned out...it's not unlike raising a human baby...LOL

But your attentiveness to the task will reward you in a few weeks when the growing chicks begin to feather out and develop....its so rewarding , imho, to bring them on and see them grow into young chickens.

Keep us all informed on how you get on...

 

[winglesschicken]

Alright, thank you, everyone! I just put the little chick in with the rest of them and they're going crazy (in a good way)! Hopping all over the place to try the new things out. It seems they're picking up easily on how to eat and drink, with the help of the other chicks.