Three week old chick Advice needed please💜

[Shellybob]

Hi all, I need advice concerning my 3 week old Lavender Ameraucana. She has become thin and seems slightly weak. Her stools appear normal but, I can just tell somethings not right with her. She has not been vaccinated and does not get medicated feed. I give her organic Scratch and Peck starter. It seems so many are split on these issues and I felt confused about whether or not to do it. Nutra drench? medicated feed? Corid? Egg yolk mixed in water? All of the above or what? Help a new chick mom out? Thanks

 

[azygous]

Has she been eating anything high in fiber or cellulose? Has she had access to grit? How does her crop feel? Compare to the others if you need to.

Is her appetite off? Does she chirp loudly when trying to poop? What's your location? Climate? What is the weather like?

 

[Shellybob]

Scratch and pecks has grit in it. Az very hot but she is inside with a swamp cooler running all day. She is eating but not as often as she should. I don’t notice chirping loud when she poops. She isnt thriving like her buddy who was born only one day before. Just seems to have started in the last four days or so.

 

[azygous]

How about the crop? Is it larger than the others and squishy like a water balloon?

Try isolating her long enough to get a photo of her poop. Place a familiar device next to it so we have an idea how large it is.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Scratch and pecks has grit in it.

Scratch & Peck does NOT include grit and it's specified on the back of the bag that grit should be added. Very advisable to include it as their starter is rather chunky for a starter feed so I personally am not keen on using it for young birds.

 

[azygous]

Not having enough information to zero in on a cause of this chick's downturn, I'm left to fall back on one of the most common reasons for a chick of this age to fail - crop or gizzard blockage. This is almost always caused by inappropriate foods and inappropriate grit for digestion.

If we are unable to glean any further information on this chick, I suggest you go ahead and start treating for digestive tract blockage. Depending on the extent of the chick's distress, I would begin by giving it a teaspoon of coconut oil, and we might need to do more later.

The best way to do this is to measure the oil out, divided into chick-size lumps, chill until firm in the refrigerator, then pop the pieces into the chick's beak. The hard part is prying open the beak, but the chick won't have any problem swallowing the oil lumps.

I happen to be treating my own chick, although it's much older than yours, for this issue, and I've had to deal with severe gizzard blockage plus sour crop. I really didn't think this little gal was going to survive, it was that bad, but after intense treatment with everything I had in my bag of tricks, it appears she's improving.

So, let's get started on your chick with the oil, and then we'll see how she does and where we'll need to go from there.

 

[Shellybob]

Scratch & Peck does NOT include grit and it's specified on the back of the bag that grit should be added. Very advisable to include it as their starter is rather chunky for a starter feed so I personally am not keen on using it for young birds.

Ok so grocery list...grit grit and grit. Her crop seems sunken in and she looks thin to me. Thank you for your responses. You guys are pretty amazing. I am trying to learn as fast as I can. What feed do you all use and recommend?

 

[Shellybob]

Not having enough information to zero in on a cause of this chick's downturn, I'm left to fall back on one of the most common reasons for a chick of this age to fail - crop or gizzard blockage. This is almost always caused by inappropriate foods and inappropriate grit for digestion.

If we are unable to glean any further information on this chick, I suggest you go ahead and start treating for digestive tract blockage. Depending on the extent of the chick's distress, I would begin by giving it a teaspoon of coconut oil, and we might need to do more later.

The best way to do this is to measure the oil out, divided into chick-size lumps, chill until firm in the refrigerator, then pop the pieces into the chick's beak. The hard part is prying open the beak, but the chick won't have any problem swallowing the oil lumps.

I happen to be treating my own chick, although it's much older than yours, for this issue, and I've had to deal with severe gizzard blockage plus sour crop. I really didn't think this little gal was going to survive, it was that bad, but after intense treatment with everything I had in my bag of tricks, it appears she's improving.

So, let's get started on your chick with the oil, and then we'll see how she does and where we'll need to go from there.

The coconut oil in my house is very runny like water because it is so warm in my house. Could I use my small syringe? I’m good with bird beaks

 

[Shellybob]

How about the crop? Is it larger than the others and squishy like a water balloon?

Try isolating her long enough to get a photo of her poop. Place a familiar device next to it so we have an idea how large it is.

Will do as soon as I get home with her. At work per the slow responses from me. Thank you for your patience.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ok so grocery list...grit grit and grit. Her crop seems sunken in and she looks thin to me. Thank you for your responses. You guys are pretty amazing. I am trying to learn as fast as I can. What feed do you all use and recommend?

I prefer a chick crumble for at least the first few weeks simply because it's easy to digest - if you wet a crumb, it dissolves into mush in seconds. The crumble I use is Payback Hatch to Hen which is an all flock type feed, not strictly a starter, but still appropriate for chicks and the crumb is fine enough that chicks can easily eat it.

Your chicks are at the age (3-4 weeks) that I would start to offer Scratch & Peck starter, fermented, so not sure I'd bother switching at this point especially if they like eating it but yes definitely provide chick grit to help with digestion. You might want to look into fermenting, or consider serving it moist/wet, as chickens are notorious for picking out favorite bits from whole grain mash feeds such as Scratch & Peck which means 1) food waste and 2) they may not be eating the entire contents of the feed, which can lead to poor nutritional intake, especially if they're skipping the powdery fines at the bottom of the bowl which contains vitamins, minerals, protein.