Undersized Chicks at 18 Weeks

[21hens-incharge]

I’m going to give the new feed and see how they do before I go for anything else. I did just look on that bag for a milling date and didn’t see any date but there is a lot and batch number.

Might be able to look up the mill date by the lot and batch number....or it may be coded into the lot/batch number.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

I realize this has gotten a bit confusing. The pictures are of my 4-month-old birds, but someone—maybe Nat—had asked what my existing birds were. The old girls—4.5 years—are the RI Reds and the Barred Rocks.
You can see from the pictures of me holding a few of them just how small they are for 4-month olds. I wouldn’t be able to do this if they were normal. I think they will eventually get where they need to be because they seem energetic and they eat well. It’s just weird. I did speak with McMurray and send them these same pictures. The guy I spoke with agreed that it wasn’t normal.
I appreciate all the responses.

My birds are exactly 16 weeks today. I will post a picture taken of them at around 12 weeks because they are Orpingtons Flower Hens, and Legbars fairly large breeds. You can see that even then I couldn’t hold them in one hand even for a second or two. This has definitely been a conundrum for sure. I decided to attach some individual pics of the girls I took just last week for someone else needing some. So those are at 15 weeks for the Flower hens and the two Orpingtons. The one of the entire flock is at 12!weeks of all nine and you can see they look like frown hens pretty much but they still have lots growing to do and are not yet at 8 to ten pounds yet for the Orps and 6 for the other hens. I wish you the best of luck in filling your girls out.

 

[SmallStep]

Mystery solved, I think... turns out the feed WAS old. I was told it was new but somehow when it was loaded, I got a bag from last year. I’m mostly mad at myself for not double-checking. So now the question is, has there been irreparable harm to the chick’s development?
I have a email in to McMurrayand I hope to hear from them today too.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Mystery solved, I think... turns out the feed WAS old. I was told it was new but somehow when it was loaded, I got a bag from last year. I’m mostly mad at myself for not double-checking. So now the question is, has there been irreparable harm to the chick’s development?
I have a email in to McMurrayand I hope to hear from them today too.

Well {assorted curse words here}!!!

It is hard to tell.....but I suspect yes especially since it was during critical growing time.

 

[LaFleche]

Mystery solved, I think... turns out the feed WAS old. I was told it was new but somehow when it was loaded, I got a bag from last year. I’m mostly mad at myself for not double-checking. So now the question is, has there been irreparable harm to the chick’s development?
I have a email in to McMurrayand I hope to hear from them today too.

Yes, I would assume so as it went on for a long period of time.

 

[SmallStep]

I just spoke with McMurray and the woman I spoke with said she thought they’d be ok. Hard to believe but I’ll hope for the best. What else can I do, really?

 

[yakitori]

Oh no! Sorry to hear
I just found this thread today, and it struck me as odd that you were not done with your first 50lb bag yet. My 8 birds went through 40lbs at 8 weeks and now at 11 weeks we’re more than 1/4 way through the second 50lb bag. I also ferment my feed, which means they eat less.

Wishing all the best for your birdies and hope they make a full recovery

 

[Ryguy3684]

I just spoke with McMurray and the woman I spoke with said she thought they’d be ok. Hard to believe but I’ll hope for the best. What else can I do, really?

Hopefully they'll just be a little delayed. I had a failure to thrive chick this year that made it through by dropper feeding Nutri Drench for 10 days. At 2 weeks, she was a 1/4 of the size of the others. It took her until 17 weeks, but she finally caught up, fully, and is not the smallest one anymore. You could try putting the Nutri Drench mixed in their water. Dosage is on the bottle for mixing. It's basically a vitamin/nutrient overload. It can't hurt to try. I'm convinced it's the only reason my runt is alive.

 

[SmallStep]

I’m giving them Zyfend in their water. They’re not exactly failing to thrive. They’re active, eating, chasing imagined or real bugs...they’re just small. I think it was the food being a year old. At least I hope so. The Red Stars are the smallest but I think they’re a smaller breed anyway.
I will look into the product you mention.

 

[Ryguy3684]

Sorry for the confusion there. I realize yours aren't failure to thrive. I just meant that is the reason I used the Nutri Drench, but it's very useful for any type of malnutrition. Keep us posted on their progress over the next few weeks.