Stunted by Starvation and Dehydration?

[blucoondawg]

I have seen this once. I hatched a incubator if eggs for a guy I know and he took the chicks, he wanted roosters for eating and claimed all his chickens were hens except for 1.

I hatched his immediately following a hatch I ran for myself so I told him I had a bunch of roosters I'd trade him for some of his extra hens, I know it's completely backwards and I figured something wasn't right. He showed up to make the trade and his chickens were just like this they were barely bigger than a fully feathered chick and mine were full grown to the point they could have been butchered if you wanted.

His chicks were only 3 weeks or so behind mine. I asked him what he had been feeding them and he said cracked corn, claimed they wouldn't eat chicken food and they would eat the corn. Which is bs because I fed them chicks a little starter when I pulled them from the incubator before he picked them up. They were severely stunted from a crack corn diet and he let them range but there apparently isn't much around there for them.

His hens never did lay either, the ones I got back in trade I immediately put on a meat maker feed and low and behold half of them ended up being roosters after all but you couldn't tell it when they were stunted so badly. They did get up to normal size but I'm not sure if the couple hens lay or not

 

[junebuggena]

Pullet eggs are slightly smaller than mature hen eggs. The chicks hatch slightly smaller, but they do grow out to be normal sized.
Since the chicks are so stunted and in such poor condition, I would give them absolutely nothing besides all the water they can drink and all the flock raiser they can eat. A balanced diet is what they need most, extras will just upset the balance, and that's something these birds can't afford. Once they are in better shape and growing, then your friend can start small quantities of treats.

 

[LotsA Cluckin]

I have seen this once. I hatched a incubator if eggs for a guy I know and he took the chicks, he wanted roosters for eating and claimed all his chickens were hens except for 1.

I hatched his immediately following a hatch I ran for myself so I told him I had a bunch of roosters I'd trade him for some of his extra hens, I know it's completely backwards and I figured something wasn't right. He showed up to make the trade and his chickens were just like this they were barely bigger than a fully feathered chick and mine were full grown to the point they could have been butchered if you wanted.

His chicks were only 3 weeks or so behind mine. I asked him what he had been feeding them and he said cracked corn, claimed they wouldn't eat chicken food and they would eat the corn. Which is bs because I fed them chicks a little starter when I pulled them from the incubator before he picked them up. They were severely stunted from a crack corn diet and he let them range but there apparently isn't much around there for them.

His hens never did lay either, the ones I got back in trade I immediately put on a meat maker feed and low and behold half of them ended up being roosters after all but you couldn't tell it when they were stunted so badly. They did get up to normal size but I'm not sure if the couple hens lay or not

That seems to be the exact same thing that the little ones have gone through...thank you! I hope they are not too badly stunted and eventually lay but we will see.

 

[LotsA Cluckin]

Thank you!

 

[Sutremaine]

Yeah, just give them water and plain food while they put on weight. If they still look a little off once their weight is as it should be, then you can start fixing those individual problems rather than trying to do everything at once.

What kind of condition are they in besides being starved? How are their legs, vents, and skin?

 

[azygous]

I really urge you to consider fermented feed. It's so easy to make, and it releases so many extra nutrients that chickens absorb so much easier than dry feed.

A week ago I adopted a hen who was the lone survivor of a flock abandoned by its owner. The shelter where she was taken took good care of her, but they just fed her scratch grain. She's been with my flock over a week now, and she eats like a horse, is filling out very nicely, and you'd never know she almost starved to death.

It takes a couple years to get all the benefits of FF, but you'll see a difference right away.

If you want to try it, you just mix the dry feed with warm water and a glug of ACV to kick start the ferment. Add water or more dry feed after a few hours to get a consistency of thick oatmeal. I like to add a little scratch grain and BOSS to make it fluffier. Stir twice a day and feed after 48 hours. I usually have two buckets going so I have a new bucket ready to feed as the first one gets finished off.

 

[Wisher1000]

Hello, all. I don't know any of you and I assume you don't know me, either. I promise, I am not trying to argue, start something, or insult anyone, but I am sincerely curious. Do any of you have any experience with high nutrient feed causing problems with chickens in poor condition? I know the advice of taking it slow is good when trying to rehab horses, dogs, people, and other animals, but chickens are different. I think they will only benefit from lots of fat and protein, calories, and such with no ill effect as long as it is not maintained too long. Just curious, I guess I will have to do some research.........

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I am curious about something I have heard conflicting information about. If you hatch a pullet egg and the chick is small because the egg is small, will it ever catch up and get full size? I have been told it will and I have been told it won't. Does anyone here have expertise with that?

It will get full size but that means that it will mature on the small side of normal, in animals there is no such thing as full size but instead a full range of the biggest specimens to the smallest specimens inclusive.

 

[junebuggena]

Hello, all. I don't know any of you and I assume you don't know me, either. I promise, I am not trying to argue, start something, or insult anyone, but I am sincerely curious. Do any of you have any experience with high nutrient feed causing problems with chickens in poor condition? I know the advice of taking it slow is good when trying to rehab horses, dogs, people, and other animals, but chickens are different. I think they will only benefit from lots of fat and protein, calories, and such with no ill effect as long as it is not maintained too long. Just curious, I guess I will have to do some research.........

It's not so much a question of making a chicken ill, but of ensuring that the birds are getting the most nutrients in each bite as possible. It's not just about calorie or protein intake. It's about getting those essential vitamins and minerals consumed, that they have been deprived of. Chicken feed is designed to be a complete, nutritionally balanced diet. Treats and such will only reduce the amount of feed that is consumed. And that feed is where all the required vitamins and trace minerals are.

 

[Mrs. K]

@ Wisher1000

A lot of people on here are not nutritional experts, and feed their chickens a lot of different kinds of feed. As you point out, most chickens can and will eat nearly any thing and do fine on it.

These birds seem to come from very poor nutrition, and probably very poor conditions. They would be stressed with the move, stressed with the new digs, stressed with different water and feed. I was just recommending to keep the feed rather plain at first. But the more I consider your post, I see your point. Perhaps I am basing this more on animal husbandry for mammals.

I hope the op reposts with an update.

Mrs K