How to get my chick to eat?

[kara_leigh]

It was suggested to me to try to feed my chick some mashed up broccoli for Vit A. How the heck do you get a tiny chick to eat it?? I can't get it to open its mouth so I can't get anything in. Any suggestions? (at the moment I have the chick cuddled up under my boob, wrapped up snug in the folds of my tshirt and it seems happy, it just complains when I talk haha!)

 

[gryeyes]

How old is the chick?

I'd mash the cooked broccoli up and mix it with chick starter feed, like a special oatmeal. And just leave it for the chick to eat. Why was Vit A specifically suggested, is the chick sick?

 

[kara_leigh]

It is 2 weeks old. It has been lethargic, and today it was uncoordinated and trembling, so Celtic Chick said that usually indicated a lack of Vit A and E and gave me a list of foods, but the only one we have is broccoli. I had another chick die last Thurs, so I'm trying my best to keep this one from dying also.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
what is their normal food? Maybe you should get a fresh bag?

Probably easier than trying to get them to try new things (coz they're afraid of new stuff) would be to put some vitamins in their water. Poly-Vi-Sol no-iron liquid pediatric vitamins are usually recommended on here. 3 drops per 1/4 cup of water is what I was told.

 

[kara_leigh]

We just got new food on Monday b/c we were out.

I've been giving it Poly-vi-sol since last Wed, one drop a day in its mouth.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

I had one that was lethargic and didn't want to eat. I gave it small mealworms ....one at a time, about every thirty minutes..... took a while for it to eat the first one, but once it got a taste, oh boy! I think the wiggling was more than the baby could resist. Once she started eating the mealworms, she got up and moving, little by little , and started eating and drinking. The extra protein is good to get them up and going. I figured I had nothing to lose at that point. Once the appetite was stimulated, then I started adding the "extra" stuff to boost nutrtion.

 

[kara_leigh]

Thanks for all of the advice, but the chick died while we were sleeping last night.