Should I worry ... or sit back and watch/wait(kinda long SORRY!)

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
She is known as the RUNT . I would separate her from the rest of the bunch . Make sure she has all the water and chicker starter she needs . If you do not separate her , they will kill her .

Also ,ake sure she stays WARM . PUT her a light in her box area for warmth . TRY putting a stuff animal that she will snuggle up to .

 

[Peaguy]

Lots of help there Kev! Thank you!!!!
Left three seperated for a little over an hour and watched them closely, during that time.. little one ate like there was no tomorrow so she just wasn't getting to the feeder??? Went back to brooder ...Realized I didn't "seat" the overturned sandwich box "pedestal" under the feeder.. as deep as I thought and figure now she just wasn't tall enough to reach the feeder holes... That has been corrected, Also noticed chicks all drinking out of same side of waterer...Waterer wasn't level and that side was lower so water level was higher and thus easier to reach When they would get a drink their feathers were catching the edge and getting wet thus the wet throats... the rest of the water on chicks was from detours through the waterer when I was catching the two to put in another box with the little one. The whole time they were seperated she was the noisiest of the bunch. I don't think she is sick per se just not growing as fast, not getting as much food I think now. I believe I have that fixed now and am on Cochin watch over the next several days Scooped out all wet shavings from waterer leaking from not being level added back clean dry shavings turned on heat lamp for a bit so everyone could dry out good Have brooder set up with light on one end as you suggested. That room gets very stuffy so window is open to allow air replacement Guard in place to prevent drafts. I have 4 thermometers in brooder... one in each corner so I can make sure they don't overheat or get too cold... So far they have never huddled but I have seen them move to the cooler side also, so I feel I have temps fairly well regulated. The room they are in is the store room/laundry room, there is no artificial source of air flow back there It gets VERY stuffy in the summer time. It has been hot enough back there that I can't stay more than 5-10 minutes without breaking out into a heavy sweat but then I am hot natured and this is Central Texas. Sorry for the long wordy grammatically incorrect post my brain works faster than my fingers and it doesn't help that I have a bad left arm so I type one handed to start with. My brain often outruns my fingers.
Again Thank you everyone for all your help and support!

 

[arlee453]

I have had 'slow' chicks like that one. I think it is what you described - a vicious cycle where one doesn't get to the feeder - not out and out 'picking' but just where one is a little bit weaker or less aggressive and gets pushed around by the others. Since they get less feed, they just grow slower, and the slower and smaller, the harder time getting to the feeder...until you have a vicious cycle and eventually the chick succumbs to 'failure to thrive'.

What I do is not to separate the chick entirely (unless there is a pecking problem), but to take out the small chick a couple/three/four times a day and let her eat all she can eat where she doesn't have to fight for food. Then I put them right back in with the other chicks. Just 10-15 minutes or so.

I use the starter crumbles and use warm water to make a mash for the weak one - they LOVE the moistened crumbles, and will go for it like candy. Also you know since it's moistened, they are getting in some needed water as well. I take the chick and set it in front of the feeder (usually a flat large jar lid like a mayonnaise jar lid) Then I dip the beak into the feed to get them interested.

Good luck with her - she sure is a cutie!

Also, to add...UNLESS they are pecking at her specifically I would NOT separate them entirely. She will be miserable as a lonely chick and that may cause as much problem as leaving her with the others where she is more comfortable. They will not necessarily start pecking on her. I've had a couple like this and never did the other chicks gang up on the weak one. Now, if they DO start to pick on her, pecking drawing blood, etc, then you will need to separate, but that is a last resort and be prepared for a very sad and depressed cheepy chick.

 

[Sparrow]

I have a week-old Black Japanese doing the same thing. He nearly died(still not sure what the problem was) a day after I got him, but now he seems to be slowly bouncing back. He stands like yours a lot, is sleepier than the others, and only has short infrequent bursts of body slamming energy.

I made him a wet mash everyday until yesterday, and it convinced him to start eating. Now, I just monitor him closely, as he is still in with the others, and make sure he can access the food/water. If they are peeping loudly, that usually means they don't feel good, are stressed, chilly, or hungry/thirsty. Baby him a lot, and good luck!

 

[Lydia]

Our silver laced cochin from Ideal is in the same situation. She arrived last Friday and seemed fine. However, I moved her into the "special needs" brooder this evening with 4 buff japanese bantams that I got from the feed store. They weren't getting good care and had some scabs on their wings so now they can all be "special needs" together. Bijou, our cochin, opens and closes her mouth for periods of time for no apparent reason. She gave us a real scare on Monday because she is so small and felt skinny to me and was opening and closing her mouth over and over. She is now eating and drinking but is smaller and seems to be on the slow side. We have been doing all the right things and still she isn't thriving. I saw one of our male buff orpington "packing peanuts" pecking at her tonight so I thought it best to remove her. She has another cochin for company along with the japanese bantams.

Let us know how things go- It can sure feel a little nerve wracking!

 

[basicliving]

I had a little runt that sounds a lot like yours. She seemed fine - but was tiny and constantly bowled over by the others running around and she always looked tired. I put her in a little box with food and water and 2 other chicks and then put the whole thing back in the brooder, close to the heat lamp. The other 2 chicks kept jumping out though

At any rate, I left her in there about 24 hours and she slept - A LOT. I was sure we'd lose her. But the next day she perked right up. I put her back in with everyone else and she did fine. She stayed very tiny for the first 3 weeks - and then suddenly hit a growth spurt. She's no longer the runt and she's tough as nails and takes nothing off anyone. In fact, she's sort of becoming a bully at 6 weeks old.

Maybe now that you feel you've gotten the feed/water situation a little more convenient, she'll be able to get what she needs and start growing. I guess someone has to be the runt! And it sounds like you've not lost one of them yet, so you must be doing something right!

Hang in there. The first week was the very toughest for me! Keep up the good work!

Penny

 

[2manyhats]

I had a runt in my RIR's from the feed store. I was convinced that she was a bantie, but now at 9 weeks she looks much like everyone else. Just a slow starter I guess. She is a little lighter in color so may be a mix which changed the rate of development.

 

[flakey chick]

If you find a way to stop worrying, please let me know. I worry when my babies peep. I worry when they stop peeping. When I finally convinced myself that everything was fine, a raccoon walked by the glass door, less than 10 feet away from us. At least my babies are safe in the house for now, but later?...

 

[cluckychick]

I also have this same thing going now and my babies are out in their coop.
Here's a pic of her as a little one still in the brooder:

I provided two feeders, one at each end of the brooder box so she didn't get trampled by the bigger chicks, it seemed to work out fine.

Here she is in the run with the other 3 bantams. I also have standards, silkies, polish, frizzles in there and they all seem to get along.

She sticks real close to the OEGB, wherever she is snowflake is there to steal the food from her mouth

They are 12 weeks old today!!

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
Worry ? Don't we all ? Let me tell you what I have been doing all week . We have been getting rain 2 or 3 times a day . Like 2 inches at a time . I have caught myself running OUTSIDE in the rain to check to see if girls had either gone UNDER the COOP or inside out of the rain . I know one thing , IT WAS ME getting all wet , NOT them . Geeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz