When to cull chicks

[nursepinch]

First time hatching chicks. 8 out of 8 hatched but 1 had an injury causing bleeding and I had to cull it. They are 2 days old and another one isn't behaving as all the others. It's much smaller, it's not walking, and it doesn't seem to be eating or drinking even when I put it right up to the feed and water. It seems to be alert and in no distress. I donsee any obvious injuries. Should I cull it too or how long should I wait?

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

It doesn't have splayed legs? I'd assume that would be why it wouldn't walk.

Otherwise, it might be a FTT (failure to thrive) chick.

I just had a friend have a little one that lied on its side for three days panting. She thought it was going to die, but the third day, it got up and ran around, and you'd never know. Chicks are pretty resilient.

Perhaps try some wet crumbles in a small shallow dish. I use plastic peanut butter jar lids. The chicks prefer that to the dry.

 

[SamLockwood]

First time hatching chicks. 8 out of 8 hatched but 1 had an injury causing bleeding and I had to cull it. They are 2 days old and another one isn't behaving as all the others. It's much smaller, it's not walking, and it doesn't seem to be eating or drinking even when I put it right up to the feed and water. It seems to be alert and in no distress. I donsee any obvious injuries. Should I cull it too or how long should I wait?

Not eating or drinking at 2 days old isn't abnormal, right before they hatch the absorb all the remaining yolk and have a couple day's worth of food & and water in them by the time they hatch. This is why hatcheries are able to ship them.

If it looks like it's trying to walk but can't get one leg to stay under it, it's got splayed leg. This is pretty easy to treat and they have some great articles here and elsewhere on how to treat it.

Otherwise check and make sure nothing on its legs or feet looks obviously misaligned or deformed. I had to cull a chick that had an obviously twisted leg and it was in a great deal of distress as well.

If your chick doesn't have anything obviously wrong with it, give it a a day or two. If it still isn't growing and can't walk then I'd cull it. Otherwise some just develop at slightly different rates from the other, but they grow so fast the first two weeks the ones that are late bloomers do look really "off" relative to the others.

 

[nursepinch]

Hi,

It doesn't have splayed legs? I'd assume that would be why it wouldn't walk.

Otherwise, it might be a FTT (failure to thrive) chick.

I just had a friend have a little one that lied on its side for three days panting. She thought it was going to die, but the third day, it got up and ran around, and you'd never know. Chicks are pretty resilient.

Perhaps try some wet crumbles in a small shallow dish. I use plastic peanut butter jar lids. The chicks prefer that to the dry.

Thank you for responding. Today is Day 4. It seemed like its legs were contracted. To the best of my knowledge it wasn't eating or drinking. I made the decision to cull this morning.