My baby chick looks like s/he is going to die!!! 😢

[Baby chicken whisperer]

Hi everybody, I’m Noah. I have

just received 3 baby chickens. 2 of my 3 Chicks are very healthy and are around 21 days old (3 weeks). However I have just noticed my baby chick named Delilah, s/he is the yellow baby chicken, s/he is very sleepy and likes to sleep standing upwards. Is this normal? I’ve also noticed s/he is like 2 times smaller than my larger chickens which are all the same age, or is this normal, and does anyone know if the chicken on the left is a rooster because s/he is growing much faster? However Delilah is occasionally eating and drinking water. Someone told me she might have a disease called, “Failure to thrive” and told me to tell everyone on this community to see if anyone knows, or anything to do about it? I will upload some photos!​

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Could be a failure to thrive. Failure to thrive isn’t a disease, but sometimes some chicks just, fail to thrive. I would continue to watch her but she may not make it.

 

[Baby chicken whisperer]

Thanks for the reply!

 

[my spoiled chickens]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @Debbie292d I hope the chick gets better

 

[Debbie292d]

Very cute chicks, Noah!

Are they all the same breed or the same age?

You have three sizes there...small, medium and large. If these are all the same breed and age, I've had one or two over the years like that wee one and I called them the runt of the bunch. Those never catch up. I have a 3-year-old silkie hen that's half the size of a normal one. I just call her Mini.

That little one being lethargic, though, is worrisome if it's not acting like the others.

Do you have them on chick crumbles with no treats? I would get some NutraDrench or Poultry Cell vitamins and put that in their water every other day. That would help all three.

The little one might need it warmer too than the other two. I'd have it at around 90F and see if it seems to do better. As long as your heat source is on one end of your brooder so those other two can get away if it's too warm for them.

 

[Baby chicken whisperer]

Thanks so much for the help! All three baby chicks are the same age and are all polish chickens. We use a heat lamp in one half of the box container we are using, so just in case they get too hot they can relax in a cooler environment. I also keep the food and water away from the heat source so the water is not hot, so they will still enjoy their water. The poultry place we went to to collect our baby chickens, gave us some chicken food in a bag with no label, they seem to enjoy it and all is good with it, I don’t provide any electrolytes in the water apart from straight tap water. If you think I have done something incorrect and needs to immediately be changed. Please tell me.
Thanks
Noah

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks so much for the help! All three baby chicks are the same age and are all polish chickens. We use a heat lamp in one half of the box container we are using, so just in case they get too hot they can relax in a cooler environment. I also keep the food and water away from the heat source so the water is not hot, so they will still enjoy their water. The poultry place we went to to collect our baby chickens, gave us some chicken food in a bag with no label, they seem to enjoy it and all is good with it, I don’t provide any electrolytes in the water apart from straight tap water. If you think I have done something incorrect and needs to immediately be changed. Please tell me.
Thanks
Noah

When you go buy some more feed, any chick crumbles is fine, or you can feed them an all flock too.

Several months ago we switched to Kalmbach's Flockmaker and that is for baby chicks and the adults. Much simpler for us! This has lower calcium in it, which is good for the chicks and roosters, but not good for the laying hens, so we put out a dog dish with oyster shell in it for the hens.

One thing you could try to get that little one to eat more, well, all of them will like this though, put some of their crumbles in a shallow dish and get it wet. You can stir it or not, just as long as it's pretty soaked in water. They should love that and hopefully that little one especially does!

 

[Baby chicken whisperer]

Thanks so much! When I try this, should I heat the water up, or keep it cold tap water? Thanks again! Noah

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks so much! When I try this, should I heat the water up, or keep it cold tap water? Thanks again! Noah

I just use warm water. When you see anyone referring to "mash," this is it!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You're sure that little one isn't a bantam?