New to chickens..please help with this little one!!!

[dkdreamin77]

Hi, everyone! We have just gotten our FIRST 4 barred rock chickens. After taking care of the neighbors chickens when they're out of town, we thought it would be great to have some of our own. So we got 4 week old chicks from a local farm. The lady recommended medicated chick starter and they've been doing great...except for one that doesn't seem to grow AND never shuts up! Here's a picture of all of them:

Week one:

Week two:

So the little one in the middle is my concern. She seems to be eating and pooping ok. She lets the other chickens do the scratching 99% of the time I've watched them. She can do it but seems to be wobbly on her feet still. I gave them all a little egg yolk yesterday, which they LOVED, and put ACV in their water to see if it would perk the little one up. I haven't seen any change yet. Could be too soon. She still stands up most of the day, holding her head in (gapeworms???), and peeps like she's giving orders to the others. Yesterday evening I did catch her laying down like the rest, but it's really hot here this week in WA, and we don't have A/C, I just tried to keep them in the coolest room.

I always thought that if an animal wasn't going to make it, the others would know it instinctively and keep away from it. Do chickens do that? My other chickens seem to be taking care of this little one and haven't been mean to it, so of course I hope she makes it.

Any suggestions would be helpful?

Thanks!
Donna in WA

 

[Whirlwind]

Hey Donna, How cool are you keeping them. They need to be warm. 95* the first week and drop by 5* every week untill they feather out good. Sometimes they cheep alot if they are cold. Maybe she is just the boss. If eating and pooping ok. It is probably ok. Were they all the same size when you got them? Did they have Bantam chicks where you got yours?

 

[hikerchick]

I know the ones I had with pasty butt did not grow as fast as their broodermates. Make sure the baby doesn't have a problem with pasty butt.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Also I would be worried about the cedar chips in the brooder they may be causing the lil one some respratory problems... Best to get those out and use straight pine.. Seems there has been alot of Micro Critters lately...

 

[dkdreamin77]

Thanks for the superfast replies! I did take out a chicken book and have been trying to soak up as much as possible and heard about the pasty butt, and heat requirements. But I know that some things are just experience and I didn't grow up with chickens and have no clue about what can go wrong.
I have been checking the for pasty butt and they're all clean. The heat did present a problem for me yesterday when it reached 104 here (breaking all sorts of records!) , but other than that, I have been doing really good at keeping them under a red heat light at 95F the first week and 90 this week.

Yes, they did all start out the same size!

Do you think it could be gapeworms making it not grow? I will try to get a look inside it's mouth when my hubby can help me. The chick also seems to swallow more than the others, but I thought it was because of the incessant cheeping!

Anyway, I will keep an eye on the "ittle one" and would love any more help!
Thanks again!

Donna in WA

 

[Whirlwind]

sorry I don't know about gapeworms. Use search feature and it will come up. Did not notice the cedar chips. yep get those out cedar is toxic to chicks and they will eat it. Pine is ok.

 

[Judy]

Gapeworms are very unlikely in brand new chicks.

I'd suggest a larger brooder box with the heat on one end, so they can choose to move away from or toward the heat. To much warmth is probably worse than too little, and they do vary from one to the next in how warm they want it. I found no one wanted the brooder as warm as the recommended temps; I had them down to just over 80 by the second week. Chickens who are too warm will gape.

Most likely you just have one who is a bit younger or a bit of a runt. Chickens will sometimes attack one who is injured or sick, so it's a good sign they are not bothering it.

Have you held it a lot and spoiled it a bit? Does it quiet down when you pick it up?

 

[b.hromada]

You've gotten some real good answerst to your question. I've had a "smaller" chick than the rest, don't know why though. I always called mine the "runt" of the lltter.

Best of luck to you.

from S. Florida. Glad you joined.

 

[dkdreamin77]

Everyone on this site is super nice and extremely helpful! Thank you so much to everyone who posted! I think the suggestions have helped my "half pint"!!! I am so grateful to you guys!

I have taken the advice of getting a bigger home for them with heat on one side until they can go outside and have replaced the cedar chips with pine. And I have taken her out and given her some extra TLC - she did stop the incessant peeping, but is still the most talkative of the bunch. (reminds me of my mother in law)

Take a peek/peep

The little one does scratch now and fits right under the other chicks to get to the food, so maybe she's little for a reason, seems to work for her

:

Little one always travels with her buddy:

Thanks again, and hope you all have a fantastic weeked!

Donna in WA