Newbie with 2 week old chicks... is this normal?!

[Pele]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. I'm glad to hear that they are on the road to recovery! The only reason I asked about Cocci is that medicated feed only prevents an outbreak from starting, not an existing condition. It is possible that they were experiencing an infection when you got them.

I was also focusing on their digestive system because it sounded like whatever they were eating was not making it to their body. Somehow the nutrients were being leached so they could not grow. Not all Cocci infections have the classic blood in the stool.

At any rate, it seems the storm is over, hopefully your chicks can make up for lost ground quickly.

 

[KristenRae]

Wanted to post an update on my chicks... after being in isolation for 72 hours, I didn't see any reason to continue to have runt chick separated -- other than being lethargic and smaller in size in comparison to his hatch-mates, he was normal. So, I put him back in with the other two chicks, added polyvisol to their water, and kept a close eye on him. Two and a half weeks later, it is hard to tell that he is any smaller in size! A week after noticing his symptoms, and adding the vitamins, his activity increased to a normal level and he started growing again. Now, he is still a bit smaller than my other White Rock, but it is hard to tell the difference anymore! I'm positive it had to do with the farmer not feeding his layers an adequate ration. My hatchery chicks I received recently, even though they had traveled to WI from the great State of Texas immediately after hatching, have been bright, alert, active and healthy from the moment they arrived. A big difference from what I observed in his group of hatchlings. Lesson learned: don't buy chicks off of craigslist from some random farmer unless you want to give yourself ulcers worrying about what the chicks brought with them! Hope this helps some other newbie doing research on BYC;-)