Gapeworm at a young age?

[taylacline]

Hello, I just got some new chicks the other day from Rural King. They all seem to be scratching their ears/heads. I noticed one stretching out its neck really long and the same one gaped its mouth open a couple of times. Rural King said they were vaccinated for coccidiosis so I did not need to feed them medicated feed, just chick starter. So I'm not too worried about that. Unless I should be? I change their water daily. Gave them probiotics and electrolytes when we first brought them home. Pasty butt is in check. I did give them a very tiny amount of mashed up boiled egg, I'm talking crumbs, but they didn't seem to care for it.

Is gapeworm something I need to worry about at such a young age and with their brooder being in our house?

 

[nuthatched]

It's just them adjusting their crops, all birds do it.

 

[Kiki]

No you do not need to worry about gapeworm at this age.

I would advise to holding off on all treats until they are fully grown though.

 

[Annie19124]

Hello, I just got some new chicks the other day from Rural King. They all seem to be scratching their ears/heads. I noticed one stretching out its neck really long and the same one gaped its mouth open a couple of times. Rural King said they were vaccinated for coccidiosis so I did not need to feed them medicated feed, just chick starter. So I'm not too worried about that. Unless I should be? I change their water daily. Gave them probiotics and electrolytes when we first brought them home. Pasty butt is in check. I did give them a very tiny amount of mashed up boiled egg, I'm talking crumbs, but they didn't seem to care for it.

Is gapeworm something I need to worry about at such a young age and with their brooder being in our house?

dont give egg until a little older about 4 weeks old because you have to start giving them grit.

 

[NatJ]

dont give egg until a little older about 4 weeks old because you have to start giving them grit.

They don't need grit to deal with the inside parts of an egg, whether it's cooked or raw. (Shells would be a different case.)

They don't NEED egg, but eating egg without grit is not going to cause them any harm either, as long as the quantity isn't excessive.

I did give them a very tiny amount of mashed up boiled egg, I'm talking crumbs, but they didn't seem to care for it.

If you want a treat for chicks, try adding water to a small amount of their usual chick starter. After they get bold enough to try it, they usually like it a lot. So you can have all the fun of giving treats, without worrying about the usual problems (needing grit, or excess treats causing them to have nutritional deficiencies from skipping their other food.)