Sick baby Rhea's?

[coedconcrete]

What to feed a baby Rhea? We have two and one is not looking good. It's losing weight. Unsteady on its feet. Like it tries to run around and falls down. The fella we got them from said to feed them leafy greens and chick starter. But I'm not sure that is correct. We started with two, and then one died. We called the fella back he just happened to have two more chicks hatch that morning. We went and picked them up brought them home and they seemed to be doing fine. The last of the original chicks died yesterday. So now we have the two new chicks and one of them seems to be getting weaker by the minute. I noticed with the ones that didn't make it they had very runny poo almost watery and it smelled horrible. Also with the ones that didn't make it you could see them getting weaker by the minute. Now I'm worried about these last two chicks clearly I am doing something wrong can anyone help?

 

[Pyxis]

How are they now?

I don't raise Rheas, only emus, but I personally would put them on a ratite starter, not chick feed. Ratite starter is aimed at the nutritional needs of birds such as these, whereas chick starter is aimed at chickens, which of course are very different.

 

[Lewil25]

Sorry to hear about your chicks, I hope they've been doing alright. I am fairly new to this but have been working with baby emus and rheas for a few months now, and I agree that ratite starter would be the best option to feed. Ratites like emus and rheas are naturally deficient in a few key nutrients, and like Pyxis said ratite food is developed specifically for these birds to balance out those deficiencies. We use Mazuri brand, and also give them greens every day. They love shredded romaine!

Our vet also recommended chick grit and oyster shells, and if you are keeping them inside in a brooder they need a UVB light (in addition to the heat lamp).

Another note, it's probably too late now but for anyone else reading this, it could be coccidia. We have a few newer clutches of rheas right now and for a time had been losing one almost every day, couldn't figure out why. The ones that died had crashed fast and were lethargic and unsteady. Finally figured out we had a coccidia outbreak; vet prescribed treatment with Corid. It's only been a week, but we haven't lost one since!

Good luck with your chicks!