Need ideas....What causes runny poo (dirty butts) in week-old chicks?

[Wyorp Rock]

hmmm...well there goes that...I still may change brands to see if that helps. Thanks

Could be changing brands would help.

 

[rc4u]

if you mean what brand i get whats on sale at running's. and the layer feed. i just think that chick feed has to much protein n vitamins.. everything in moderation.. and animals usually just eat more to get what they need when older but eat all time when babys..

 

[hayley3]

I was thinking they could not have layer feed. I was thinking they made feed without the extra calcium but I've bought layer feed for so long, I am not sure.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Layer feed has too much calcium for chicks, it can damage kidneys. Stick with chick starter.

 

[rc4u]

and ive been doing it for yrs.. but i have read and seen that
https://afarmishkindoflife.com/dont-use-chick-starter/

 

[rc4u]

i like when the gal in article.... ma didnt send pa to store 50 yrs ago to get different feed. heck i never searched for when chick starter was even introduced.. lotsa farm chickens only got corn barley n oats
https://afarmishkindoflife.com/tag/poultry/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

i like when the gal in article.... ma didnt send pa to store 50 yrs ago to get different feed. heck i never searched for when chick starter was even introduced.. lotsa farm chickens only got corn barley n oats

To each his own I suppose.
50 yrs ago was 1970, so chick feed was available then. In the "old days" folks that had chicks in a brooder usually fed boiled cornmeal until chicks were a bit older, then it went to cornmeal, cracked corn, etc. Along with scraps and buttermilk. OR that's what I have been told by my 90 year old father who brooder raised chicks when he was 6-7 yrs old (and later in life). Brooder heat was supplied by a kerosene lamp too. So that was around 1935-1936. Commercial feed was somewhat available, but very expensive for rural NC back then.

Most folks like my Mom, had broody raised chicks - Mama hen found most food by forage, but scraps, corn, buttermilk, etc. were also provided if available.

So...eh, Layer feed with all that extra calcium...no, it was not fed to chicks, nor hens really. Egg shells were thrown back to hens for them to eat, plus free range hens I'm sure did get some calcium from the milks they got plus from veggies, plants and scraps.

 

[rc4u]

i didnt live on a farm but i grew up on farms.. im only 63 and lived with my wife for 45 yrs already.. it just dont seem right that 50 yrs ago is a term that should be old... my mom is 92 and still tells stories about being young.. heck when we moved to fessenden our first house was just updated to have plumbing.. gramps farm was all non updated. and all the garden space was Huge and relatives all came out to tend and harvest n butcher{and the home made beer swilled} .. i sure hope all the young men and women talk to there elders. those days should not be forgotten for the life we have now..

 

[Wyorp Rock]

i didnt live on a farm but i grew up on farms.. im only 63 and lived with my wife for 45 yrs already.. it just dont seem right that 50 yrs ago is a term that should be old... my mom is 92 and still tells stories about being young.. heck when we moved to fessenden our first house was just updated to have plumbing.. gramps farm was all non updated. and all the garden space was Huge and relatives all came out to tend and harvest n butcher{and the home made beer swilled} .. i sure hope all the young men and women talk to there elders. those days should not be forgotten for the life we have now..

No, 50yrs ago was not that long ago at all! LOL Time flies that's for sure.
I love to hear my Dad talk about how it was growing up. He truly had it rough and it makes you realize just how blessed/fortunate most of us are in these "modern times".

 

[hayley3]

i didnt live on a farm but i grew up on farms.. im only 63 and lived with my wife for 45 yrs already.. it just dont seem right that 50 yrs ago is a term that should be old... my mom is 92 and still tells stories about being young.. heck when we moved to fessenden our first house was just updated to have plumbing.. gramps farm was all non updated. and all the garden space was Huge and relatives all came out to tend and harvest n butcher{and the home made beer swilled} .. i sure hope all the young men and women talk to there elders. those days should not be forgotten for the life we have now..

Where is Fessenden? My Mom would be 109 if she were still here. She grew up on a farm in Kentucky...that was simple living back then.