Feather loss in baby chicks

[Cholesterol man]

I have 10 week old baby chicks. they are not fully feathered yet but they are losing feathers. I have seen them fighting, bullying each other. They are also suffering from protein dificiency. What is the cause?

 

[hoppingchicks]

what type of feed are they on?
are they under a hen or are they incubated?
and are there any big chickens around?

 

[Cholesterol man]

They are in homemade feed because we can't find grower or starter feed. We feed them sour milk, grit, corn, millets, grass oatmeal, fruits and bread

 

[Cholesterol man]

There are not any adult chickens around and they are incubated

 

[hoppingchicks]

They are in homemade feed because we can't find grower or starter feed. We feed them sour milk, grit, corn, millets, grass oatmeal, fruits and bread

are they living inside or out on the grass? I have found that my chicks love moths and go absolutely crazy for crushed fat balls. plus, do you think they are going through a moult? I'm not very experienced with young chicks malting, but I have had a few hens and Cockrell go through it and they look terrible
hope some more experienced people get in touch
hoppingchicks

 

[hoppingchicks]

btw you said that they have a protein deficiency what symptoms have you seen?

 

[Cholesterol man]

Symptoms are slow growth

 

[hoppingchicks]

well high in protein is dried mealworms, grubs, flys and even scrambled egg

 

[NatJ]

well high in protein is dried mealworms, grubs, flys and even scrambled egg

Meat and fish are also high in protein, although they are usually expensive enough that we don't want to feed them to chickens.

I've read of people using cat food as a protein supplement.

Food sold for ducks, turkeys, or gamebirds might be an option (read the label to see. You probably want about 20% protein, and higher is fine if you use it as a supplement instead of a complete feed.)