Not sure my lil bantam showgirl is getting enough to eat...

[thndrdancr]

She is about 2 1/2 weeks, and is in with a standard size barred rock. The first week, I was mainly mixing water in their feed becuz the crumbles seemed too large for her to get down. I stopped this after about a week, but I just noticed today her poops are really clear and runny, with not much solid in it. I KNOW thats not a good sign.
Shall I do the mash thing again? Or cook them rice? How do these lil things get enough food in them to survive? She seems to have a voracious appetite, so will have to watch her real close tomorrow to see whats going on but is it common for them to have a hard time with the crumbles til they get bigger? Sheesh, so much worry for somethin so small. Right now she still seems very active and healthy except for the poops and I want to keep her that way.
TIA
Jill

 

[bantymum]

Can you try some bread soaked in water that has vitamin in it. she will love it!! good luck.

 

[s6bee]

Can you seperate her for a little while or at least for a couple hours during the day to get her own food in her? Are you feeding her Chick grower at all? The crumbs should be appropriate for her size.
Her poop doesn't sound good. I would stay away from treats until she seems better.

Good luck
s6bee

 

[thndrdancr]

Well I dont really need to separate her, as she is only in with one other chick. She SEEMS to be eating ok, but I think she is just so small that the chick crumbles are a little on the big size.
I just wondered if this is common for bantams, they sure are tiny lil buggers.
When first hatched she had a very difficult time with anything other than the powdered bits of crumbles. I will just watch and make sure she is eating and its going thru. She WAS pooping every 10 minutes, watched her for 2 1/2 hours last night and nothing except that runny stuff just the one time so a bit worried. (the other chick went 5 times all in that space of time). Pretty bad when you are cheering your chick on to go poo.!
Perhaps she is eating and its just not passing thru very well. I finally picked her up and stroked her belly gently, she didnt like it but she finally did a poo after that. *I think she is gonna be a problem child.

Jill

 

[Catalina]

I had the same problem with my Sebright - the crumbles were too big for her.
Someone on here recomended grinding chick food up for bantams.
I tried that and now that she's bigger she will only eat the big crumbles!

 

[thndrdancr]

Thanks Catalina,
I wondered about the grinding up of it. I have been doing mash again today and she is SO much better, she seems to only be able to eat it if its soft, so I guess it wont hurt to makeit a mash, just it gets yukky so much quicker and I have to make sure I replace it 3 times a day, or it gets to smelling sour.
Its amazing how fast they can go downhill, if I had a bunch it would be hard to keep an eye on all of them.
Thanks for the input.

Jill

 

[barg]

Missed this post yesterday, glad to hear she's doing better.

Lately we started mixing layer crumbles with layer pellets for the older girls; same basic idea, when the pellets are first put out the girls dont like em cause their too big, so they eat the crumbles and break down the pellets in the process.

I don't think they were eating enough before we started mixing in the crumbles.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

At 2-1/2 weeks, shouldn't she be on the baby chick mash? That stuff is powder fine and she would be able to eat it no problem. If what you have is too big, then perhaps whirl it in a food processor to get it down to her size. Just a suggestion. i hope she's doing better.

 

[thndrdancr]

Yep, she is on the baby chick crumbles, but compared to this lil gal, they look rather big. The barred rock has no prob getting them down and when I put it in there dry, it APPEARS they are both eating, but apparently she was having a hard time getting it down.
So went back to the warm mash, its a lot more trouble but not if its what my baby needs. She has no prob with it. I just thought I could graduate to the dry food here but apparently not just yet for the little one.
Thanks for all your help all.

Jill

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Jill,

Any pictures of the little one? Would love, love, love to see her.

Colleen