Ivory the Rooster: Day 665 *updates*

[HEChicken]

Something just occurred to me. You mention she is a house chicken and also that you've been feeding nothing but corn. Does she have access to grit? If she were outside, she would be able to pick it up around the yard, but inside, she wouldn't be able to find any so would rely on to you supply it to help digest the corn.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Plain corn is just carbohydrates. No protein. She is being stunted by not getting proper nutrition.
If a mama hen was taking care of her in a free range setting, she would have had access to bugs, grass, seeds, dirt and grit from day one.
Chick starter is a man made substitute to attempt to give that same sort of nutritional balance to chicks.

So you have to feed starter, or let a mama hen do the job on good pasture.

 

[Katy]

He does not look normal for that age. He should be on chick starter, not corn. Corn only does not have the nutients that a growing chick needs.

 

[PunkinPeep]

She is definitely way behind on development. If i were you, at this point, i would feed her some boiled egg yolks, as much as she'll eat for a couple of days and then back off to twice a week and see if this helps her. The nutrition is really good for her and super easy for her system to absorb, so if she's having some digestive problems, it should hopefully bypass all that. I say this in addition to making sure she is on a good starter or even a game bird grower. She needs some supplementation to get her jump started.

But there is definitely hope. I have a girl who was kind of a runt - way behind in development for many weeks, but now she has caught up, and i am even hopeful that she'll start laying eggs one day very soon. She's very strong, so as long as she's eating and exercising, there's still hope.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
Even Cochins don't develop that slow. Something about its beak looks funny to me. Make sure it is getting protein from chick starter.

 

[texasgal]

Wow .. 6 weeks!

My five-weekers are fully feathered little chickens..

Bless her heart .. get her on some chick starter/grower .. and watch her flourish!

 

[ranchhand]

77horses, I am aware that you are vegetarian by choice, and can adjust your diet by choice. Chickens are not vegetarians. And that poor chick needs starter feed asap, as well as a few friends. Chickens are flock creatures, not solo toys.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

I have chicks that hatched out 2 days after yours. They're HUGE! I cant even scoop them up with 1 hand anymore. Fully feathered and have been outside for 4 weeks. They're about to get the light taken away too, most of them dont even sleep by it.

I give them as much (unmedicated) chick start as they can eat. its always avalible to them, free feed. also they get eggs often just as an extra. I scramble them in a ungreased pan and let them cool a little before giving it to them(I dont give grit because they're outside and eat some of the sandy soil). Even adults can't thrive on just corn.

Your little chick is lacking protein and many nutrients. Buy a bag of chick start ASAP and give eggs and make sure grit is avalible!! I would say that her crop could be hard/large because she is trying to eat more to make up for the lack of needed stuff(? JMO)

 

[77horses]

Ohh I feel horrible now! My poor baby!

I'm gonna run to the feed store tomorrow morning to get some chick starter ASAP!!!!! And tonight I'm gonna make her a nice dish of scrambled eggs. I feel terrible and like such a bad momma hen to her.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and advice...Wow...I just can't believe the difference between Ivory and your chickens, texasgal.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
I understand that they are indeed flock creatures, but when she hatched it was a test hatch and there were 3 eggs, 2 didn't make it and so she hatched alone. She has been getting lots of attention (right when I get back from school I take her out and let her run around in my bedroom

) because I don't want to be too lonely because she has no brooder mates. At the time, the feed store didn't have any chicks available, and when they finally did a few weeks ago, I thought that she wouldn't mix well with day old chicks now that she was older.
I also understand that she is not a "solo toy". I try to give her as much attention as possible, and if I could, I would give her as many friends as she wanted right now. But as I said, when she hatched alone, I wanted to get her a couple friends to make up for the two that didn't make it, but they weren't available at the feed store. I thought about looking around for some in any local ads, but we've raised "only-child" chicks before and they turned out fine, and we made sure to give them plenty of attention.