Found 8wk old chick dead in coop ?

[oliviaandjosh4]

i found my 8 wk old BLRW chick dead in the coop this morning. Last night when I went to lock the coop up she was the only one not up for the night and she was laying on the ground on her side. I didn't think much about it so I just picked her up and sat her in the coop and locked them up. She did have a scissor beak. Do you think she probably died because she wasn't getting enough food? I have about 18 chicks in that same pen with 4 feeders and a big waterer and I throw corn and grass in there everyday for them to eat on as well. Feeders are filled up every day. She wasn't small in size and seemed fine up until last night.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

Hi there!

I am 7 months young at chicken-keeping, so please measure my comments accordingly.

1. I think it is possible, based on what I've read, that scissor beak can cause fatal dehydration and starvation. We had a roo with scissor beak. His wasn't severe enough to prevent him from drinking or eating correctly (we watched early on to make sure), and he grew to a healthy 6 month-old before he was killed by neighborhood dogs.

2. I think it is also possible that the chicken could have suffered an impacted/sour crop. Were you providing grit to the chickens to help them digest the corn and grass. I know that long grass shavings, even with chickens who are provided grit, can get caught in the crop and kill a chicken.

I hope none of the rest of your flock has been affected since your post. Good luck!

 

[oliviaandjosh4]

Thanks for replying! I have been giving them grass recently without the grit because I read somewhere they will use the dirt clods on the grass in place of the grit. Also, the grit I have I bought for my adult hens and the pieces of grit are pretty big. Do they sell grit anywhere that is smaller in size?

 

[Sydspeeps]

They do sell chick grit that's smaller. I saw it the other day.

 

[Brookliner]

I had a cross beak hen that was an ameracana silkie cross that I had for 2 years. I always fed her a wet mash or fermented wet feed. She needed a bowl deep enough to put her entire beek in as she couldn't peck. This worked well until this bad winter when she didnt stop laying eggs and couldn't eat enough. We loved her she was a very special hen who laid beauiful blue eggs.

I would always give a cross beak a chance. My hen laid beautiful eggs as often as her sisters.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

Thanks for replying! I have been giving them grass recently without the grit because I read somewhere they will use the dirt clods on the grass in place of the grit. Also, the grit I have I bought for my adult hens and the pieces of grit are pretty big. Do they sell grit anywhere that is smaller in size?

I buy chick grit. It is in a bag that looks like this (pictured below). I bought ours at a local farm store. I'm not sure I would rely on the mud clods attached to the grass to give them enough grittiness for digestion in their crops. I any kind of grit in dirt clods would be too fine or dissolve when eaten to give any digestion help. It is true, however, that free-ranging chickens will pick up pebbles and the natural grit material they need for digestion on their own. Coop or brooder-bound chickens need grit to help them digest things, as they can't get these pebbles from free-ranging. I would just offer it to them in a little dish. They will know what to do with it.