How do I tell the age of my chicks?

[grantupton98]

Hi! So my friends picked up a couple of baby chicks the other day from Tractor Supply Co, but couldn't keep them and so I adopted them. However, now that I have them, I'm deadly worried one of them will get sick and die, as I've grown pretty attached. Now one of them, named Spicy, is very active and spry; she runs around the cage I've got them in right now, eats a ton, poops everywhere, and loves to hop around and perch and flap her wings wildly. The other one. Hot, who I'm concerned about, is smaller, much more lethargic, often unstable when standing, and has much less smooth down. At first I worried it was coccidiosis, but there isn't blood in the stool, and the TSC people assured me that there had been no where near enough time for them to catch cocci between hatching and purchase. However, they still seem to at very different energy levels, which makes me begin to wonder; is Spicy older than Hot? Hot is smaller, weaker, slower, eats less, and spends a lot of time by the heating lamp. If she isn't sick, this is all I can think of, in which case I just need to wait for her to develop; however, if there's another illness that I'm not hearing about with poorly phrased Google searches, I really want to know so I can treat her soon. Thank you!

 

[debid]

There is a big difference between a new hatch and a chick that's a couple weeks old but even a chick that's 3-4 days old is steady on its feet and active between naps. You might be able to perk it up with some Nutridrench but failure to thrive isn't always preventable. And if the chick suffered neglect in its early days, it can be a long road to only partial recovery. So, don't beat yourself up if this one doesn't make it.

 

[debid]

BTW, TSC has a six chick minimum. If there are only two chicks, that suggests that four died before you got them. I would guess that this friend didn't have a proper setup for raising chicks.

 

[kissezmychicken]

They have a 6 chick min?? Omg that's so weird to me. North 40 is our big feed store chain here and you can buy one or a hundred.. They don't dictate.

 

[NewFLChick]

I just left TSC down in Florida and they had a 4 chick minimum.

 

[grantupton98]

Thank you all for replying! As far as the two chicks, they also sold them as "ducks"--which was obviously untrue in hindsight, but my friends had no reason to disbelieve them in the moment and were a little bit "cute-blind"-- and let us purchase a product called "ultra kibble" rather than real feed, which i gave them for a full day before i realized the mix-up, so I'm starting to think these guys at the local place are not a good business. Hot died last night, with her condition worsening a lot in the hours after I posted. My friend and I looked up her symptoms again, and this time came across a disease called Marek's. This one fit all the checkmarks; watery stool (which I'd thought may have been residual from the wrong feed), poor eating habits, trouble breathing, and weak legs. I quickly changed the water, feed, and bedding once I realized that she was worsening, and Spicy still seems very healthy, so I don't believe that she's going to take ill, but I'm watching out for the time being. On Google it said it didn't have a cure, so even if she has caught it, we're just going to have to wait it out, but I'm feeling good about her chances.
Also, thank you all for responding so quickly! Even though I'm sad to lose hot, I'm so glad that you all were so quick to help out somebody in distress. Thanks again, and have a good day!

 

[Ms Maine]

They have a 6 chick min?? Omg that's so weird to me. North 40 is our big feed store chain here and you can buy one or a hundred.. They don't dictate.

It’s not TSC that determines the minimum number chicks be 6, it’s the state of CT that makes that determination. I believe RI minimum is12 chicks!

 

[esme13]

If it’s mareks that would be a a huge deal breaker. It’s a very contagious disease in the chicken world. Hopefully someone can give advice about the disease first hand experience. The healthy chick is not out of the woods, do you happen to have photos? To determine age? Young chicks can get water stool and become weak very suddenly , but it also could be from other reasons.