Sick RIR?

dirtroaddarlin

Songster
Mar 28, 2018
289
190
166
I got 6 RIR on 3/5/18. 5 of them are healthy and big. One was very constipated for several days so I gave her some oil and that seemed to temporarily fix the problem. She’s still having trouble pooping 3 weeks later, but eats and drinks just fine. She is quite a bit smaller than the other RIR. They started pecking her and pulling her feathers on 3/25/18 so I moved her to the bin with chicks 2 weeks younger than her and she is the same size as them. Has anyone ever had this problem before? What should I do? Will she recover and eventually be as big as the other RIR? Does she have something genetically wrong? The picture is her next to a Wyandotte who is 2 weeks younger than her.
 

Attachments

  • CA25EE7F-B689-4FBE-A913-3E7BB3F4202D.jpeg
    CA25EE7F-B689-4FBE-A913-3E7BB3F4202D.jpeg
    467.4 KB · Views: 7
This condition is called failure-to-thrive and there are varying degrees of it. Your chick, to have survived thus far, likely has a mild form.

The causes are generally genetic resulting in underdeveloped organs so the chick's system is inefficient. They have digestive problems, they don't utilize nutrients completely so they lag in growth, and they may have trouble staying warm which contributes to all their other problems.

Chicken vitamins are especially helpful. Poultry Nutri-drench mixed in the water or sprinkled over food goes a long way toward giving a FTT chick the extra boost they need to launch. Minced boiled egg and crumbled tofu are easily digested and can help pack in a lot of extra badly needed nutrition. A little coconut oil mixed into these foods can help with the chronic constipation.

Your chick has made it this far, so with a little help, it should arrive at maturity.
 
That’s generally what I was guessing. I’ll separate her tonight with her own feed and water. I’m going to add crumbled egg to her feed and coconut oil too. Thanks for the help! Hope she makes it.
 
This condition is called failure-to-thrive and there are varying degrees of it. Your chick, to have survived thus far, likely has a mild form.

The causes are generally genetic resulting in underdeveloped organs so the chick's system is inefficient. They have digestive problems, they don't utilize nutrients completely so they lag in growth, and they may have trouble staying warm which contributes to all their other problems.

Chicken vitamins are especially helpful. Poultry Nutri-drench mixed in the water or sprinkled over food goes a long way toward giving a FTT chick the extra boost they need to launch. Minced boiled egg and crumbled tofu are easily digested and can help pack in a lot of extra badly needed nutrition. A little coconut oil mixed into these foods can help with the chronic constipation.

Your chick has made it this far, so with a little help, it should arrive at maturity.

Just thought of something. Do you think she will pull out of it eventually? Or do you think she will always have problems unless she is given a special diet?
 
She's going to be a normal chicken if she manages to reach ten weeks.

You only need to special feed her and administer vitamins and a probiotic would also help, until she is active and showing no further digestive problems and she's feathered out completely, usually by six weeks.
 
She's going to be a normal chicken if she manages to reach ten weeks.

You only need to special feed her and administer vitamins and a probiotic would also help, until she is active and showing no further digestive problems and she's feathered out completely, usually by six weeks.
Eating the specialized diet will help Her internal organs mature to normal size? I apologize for the questions, I am brand new into this and trying to learn.
 
Yes. Right now she isn't utilizing her food efficiently. So she needs extra vitamins and protein. That will help her body grow, including those organs that may still lack full function because they're immature.

Think of a premature human infant that needs special care until their hearts and lungs and digestive systems catch up. Then they get to go home with their parents and live normal lives.
 
Yes. Right now she isn't utilizing her food efficiently. So she needs extra vitamins and protein. That will help her body grow, including those organs that may still lack full function because they're immature.

Think of a premature human infant that needs special care until their hearts and lungs and digestive systems catch up. Then they get to go home with their parents and live normal lives.

That makes sense. Thank you so much for your help!!
 
Yes. Right now she isn't utilizing her food efficiently. So she needs extra vitamins and protein. That will help her body grow, including those organs that may still lack full function because they're immature.

Think of a premature human infant that needs special care until their hearts and lungs and digestive systems catch up. Then they get to go home with their parents and live normal lives.

Do I chop up the whole egg and give it to her? Or should I give her only the egg white or egg yolk?
 
The easiest way to do it is to plop the whole hard boiled egg into a food processor. I have a cheap tiny one I use for one egg.

The younger the chick, the finer it needs to be chopped up.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom