Today I went out to check on my silkie pen, and I noticed that the smallest chick was being bullied away from the food dish. So I brought her inside and put her in a box with nice clean shavings. I made her some warm mash, and gave her a small water dish. She took a couple bites of the food, and is now sleeping. Her head is really poofy, and im not sure if she can see. Should I trim her head fluff by her eyes? Any tips of what to give her. Should I put some sugar or molasses in her water?
You can trim around her eyes so she can at least see the food. Silkies are so precious! sugar or molasses can't hurt, but the immediate problem is why are they pushing her out of the way? It isn't because she is small, my 10 ounce turken runs circles around the rest of the flock.... Poor thing, I hope it all works out....
Yea. Its because she is a very small girl. The others are bigger, and they step on her and push her away from the food, so she gives up and goes to lay by the heat lamp.
No molasses, it'll give her the runs. A nice scrambled egg, perhaps? You might have to take her aside & feed her, alone. I have done that. My Silkies are all so "special needs". It seems like I am forever pulling one aside for a meal, another aside for a haircut. They are dear little sweeties, but they have issues. Right now, I have most of them (7 out of 10) in their own pen with their own feeder and waterer. They can leave and wander the coop, but the Big Girls cannot enter. That helps me know that they are eating.
I'm a big believer in having two feeders and waterers available to them. I don't think my runt would have survived if I hadn't had two. When she was real young I took her aside for an extra meal all to herself once a day.
