Please help I don't know what to do

[SpaceLamb]

My girls are just over five weeks old and our Barred Rock just doesn't seem right. She's was the smallest even when we got them at two weeks and doesn't seem to have grown much since then. She eats and drinks ok but doesn't seem to have the same amount of energy as our other four. When we let them outside she pecks at the ground a little and then kind of stands off on her own until it's time for them to go in.
We've been giving them all a mash of chick food and water to try and get her to eat more hoping that she'll grow but other than that we're not sure what to do. I'm worried she's just always going to seem a little off or that she'll start declining.
If anyone has any advice about what we can do to help her I'd really appreciate it because at this point I'm at a loss.

 

[azygous]

Your chick is very likely failure-to-thrive (FTT). Genetic defects, often internally prevent thrifty absorption of calories and nutrients, so these chicks fail to grow, have little energy, and always seem to be trying to get warm under the heat source or by snuggling against other chicks.

Eventually, they either sicken and die or manage to catch up and mature, but they will usually be smaller than their peers. You can give the chick special care with special feedings of high protein foods such as boiled eggs and crumbled tofu. Baby meats or Fancy Feast cat food are a good source of high quality protein.

The most important thing is getting some immediate nutrients into the chick to encourage better uptake of calories and nutrients. Get some Poultry nutri-drench and give the chick a drop in the morning and another drop at night. In between make a "weak tea" by adding a quarter teaspoon of Nutri-drench to a quart of fresh water daily and provide that as a water source.

I've found that FTT chicks eat much better when I feed the special foods to the entire bunch. Same goes for the doctored water. If this is going to work, you should see improvement in just a few days. The goal is to get the chick strong so it will eat normally and eat enough to support its growth. Chicks normally double in size each week, so that requires a lot of nourishment.

 

[SpaceLamb]

Your chick is very likely failure-to-thrive (FTT). Genetic defects, often internally prevent thrifty absorption of calories and nutrients, so these chicks fail to grow, have little energy, and always seem to be trying to get warm under the heat source or by snuggling against other chicks.

Eventually, they either sicken and die or manage to catch up and mature, but they will usually be smaller than their peers. You can give the chick special care with special feedings of high protein foods such as boiled eggs and crumbled tofu. Baby meats or Fancy Feast cat food are a good source of high quality protein.

The most important thing is getting some immediate nutrients into the chick to encourage better uptake of calories and nutrients. Get some Poultry nutri-drench and give the chick a drop in the morning and another drop at night. In between make a "weak tea" by adding a quarter teaspoon of Nutri-drench to a quart of fresh water daily and provide that as a water source.

I've found that FTT chicks eat much better when I feed the special foods to the entire bunch. Same goes for the doctored water. If this is going to work, you should see improvement in just a few days. The goal is to get the chick strong so it will eat normally and eat enough to support its growth. Chicks normally double in size each week, so that requires a lot of nourishment.

We've given her Nutri-Drench a few times but will do it more often and have also given the group scrambled egg which she seemed to enjoy. I'm home all day so have the time to baby her and give her whatever special care she needs. Thanks so much for responding and we'll definitely work on getting her some more high protein foods.

 

[azygous]

If you have a small kitchen food scale, you could track her weight and that would tell you if your efforts are working.

 

[SpaceLamb]

If you have a small kitchen food scale, you could track her weight and that would tell you if your efforts are working.

We weighed her this morning and found she only weighs 166 grams while our second smallest weighs 284 grams. Started nutri-drench and scrambled egg last night so hopefully she starts to put on weight.

 

[SpaceLamb]

Any idea how much she should be gaining a day? Or is it a good thing for her just to put on weight no matter how little? We weighed her again this morning and she's put on 13 grams.

 

[azygous]

That's what you want to see, a little gain each day. Normally chicks double in size each week. The weight should more or less track with that.

 

[SpaceLamb]

Awesome, thank you so much for your help! Hopefully her putting on weight is a good sign that she'll pull through.