Feeding new chicks

[sharone]

I may be overreacting, because my daughter came out of the womb starved and wanting to eat. I got new chicks last Thursday and I mixed up the green protien gel stuff. The chicks are not eating it. I have been giving them baby electrolyte and water with a dropper. I tried to get them to take the gel with the dropper, but no success.

When do new chicks usually begin to eat?

How long can they survive without eating?

Has anyone out there had chicks reject the protien gel?

Thanks!

 

[DouglasPeeps]

A couple of questions......

I know that you said you got new chicks on Thursday, but how old are they? Are you feeding them chick starter?

If they are "day olds", did you dip each of their beaks in water when you got them?

I rec'd my chicks in the mail, so they were 2-3 days old when they arrived. They just started eating the chick starter feed right away.

Sorry, I am not familiar with the green gel stuff.....

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

I dont feed mine the gel stuff.

But if you do have chick starter in there, take some and sprinkle it on a white paper towel, they will see it and start pecking at it.

Do this for awhile and then put it in a small dish.

Best of Luck

 

[MagsC]

All I did was put some chick starter in the brooder, dip their beaks in the water and they were okay from there. I have never heard of the gel?

 

[Opa]

I just place chick starter and water in front of them and they figure it out on the own. At about 10 days I start giving them a few chopped dandelions greens. They seem to thrive.

 

[Momma_Cluck]

wow... ours were day-olds and they scarfed the stuff down!

Make sure there is electrolytes and Vitasol (baby vitamins) in the water-- and get some chick crumbles or mash in there... then use your finger to "peck" at it-- they will follow suit!
(They just need Momma to show em where the food is!)

 

[sharone]

I got my chicks from Ideal and they were a few days old when they arrived. They don't seem interested in either food or water. They are weakening faster and faster and I am afraid that they will all be dead soon. I am suspecting that they must have been ill when I got them. I never heard of having such problems to get them to eat.

The green gel stuff is what Ideal recommended for starting them off. It is mixed with water and has vitamins and protiens for new chicks. My chicks do not seem to have any interest in it.

I have offered them soft scramble egg and they did not care about this either.

I am guessing by Monday or Tuesday, I am going to have lost the lot.

 

[sharone]

Update: half of my new chicks are dead now. I will try to save the rest. The problem is that I don't think they are strong enough now to give them chick starter. I will stick with the watered down gel food and feed them with an eye dropper.

Has anyone else gotten sick chicks from Ideal, or is this unusual?

 

[sharone]

RE: chick starter
Unfortunately I don't have any dry chick starter food on hand. I can go buy some on Monday and hope that the remaining chicks will eat that. The protein gel is supposed to work as chick starter food.

I tried dipping their little beaks in the gel food, as suggeted on this site, but that did not stimulate their eating. I did the same thing with water and they also do not seem interested in drinking.

Two seemed sick when they arrived and have since died. it could also be that they don't want to eat because they are sick.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Make sure they have plenty of water. Try Starter crumbles. I usually get the medicated Starter crumbles. I got my chicks from Ideal so far I have only lost one.