HELP! How can I get my Silkie chick to eat?

[thechickonthehill]

She is two days old and drinks from the waterer but shows no interest in the chick starter. She is in with 2 other chicks that are a day older than her that eat like hogs. She watches them eat but doesn't even peck at the food if I offer it in my hand. What can I do to get some food in her?

 

[dianer29]

does her beak appear normal? Eyesight seem ok? Did you try to bring her over to the food?

 

[chickluver:D]

try eating it urself.....now u no y she wont eat!

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1 ruby-eyed netherland dwarf, 8 hens:cd, 1 cat, 1 parrot, 1 injured northern flying squrrel, and eggs in the bator!

 

[Southernbelle]

Try some vitamin drops or maybe some scrambled egg.

Sometimes I'll get a chick that acts like that - seems healthy enough, maybe a little weaker than the rest - just nibbles at the food, doesn't really fill their crop. The ones I've had don't usually make it. There's really not a whole lot you can do - if the bedding is clean, heat lamp is at the right temp, access to food and water - then you've done exactly what you're supposed to. They have to take it from there. I hope the baby perks up.

 

[thechickonthehill]

chickluver :

try eating it urself.....now u no y she wont eat!

__________________________

1 ruby-eyed netherland dwarf, 8 hens:cd, 1 cat, 1 parrot, 1 injured northern flying squrrel, and eggs in the bator!

Ha-ha, what a comedian you are.

She is bright-eyed and goes to the waterer to get a drink. Her beak appears to be fine and she has pooped a few times so I assume the plumbing is in working order. She hatched with curled toe paralysis and I have her feet taped up and give her Poly-Vi-Sol. She actually gets around better today than yesterday. I just can't get her to show any interest in the food. I have offered her chick starter in my hand and sprinkled it on a paper towel in front of her but she doesn't touch it. She will prop herself up on the feeder while the two little piggy chicks eat but she doesn't try to eat. They don't bully her or push her away, she just doesn't seem to have any interest in eating. I thought about trying to feed her something in gruel form for a while to see if it would jump start her appetite. What would I use if I did that - what would be a good liquid chick food?​

 

[suburbanminifarm]

Perhaps soak the starter in water untill absorbed and then place a little in her beak at a time? Make her scrambled eggs? Maybe she just needs a jump start because she is depressed from the splint on her foot. Gotta help out the little guys, they can spiral downward fast. Hoping for a good outcome...

 

[thechickonthehill]

Thanks. I just tried the pasty starter and if I put some on her beak she would eat a tiny bit but then turned her head away after a little bit. This is the first one I've had that wouldn't peck at food. I am going to try the scrambled eggs in a little while. If that doesn't work, maybe it just isn't meant to be. I will euthanize her before I watch her starve to death.