Worried about 3 week old runt -- Update

[Tala]

Quote:
The only thing I would worry about is that oatmeal is lower protein than chick starter and if she's holding out for it, that might dilute the amount of protein that she's consuming.
Try feeding wet chick starter. Somehow making "oatmeal" out of their regular food makes it a whole lot tastier

Just make as much as you think they'll eat in a few hours because wet food molds fast so you don't want to leave it in there.
Maybe try some meal worms for hand feeding? They're something like 50% protein and usually a BIG favorite. I got mini meal worms at Petco, for like $3 for 100 of them.

Other than that I would just wait it out, don't overdo the treats, maybe even skip a day of treats, because it probably won't starve itself and it does need to eat the proper food.

 

[eastvanchicken]

Hello all. She has turned again. I think now there is a larger issue and have posted in the emergencies/illness section if anyone might help please do!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=175104

 

[eastvanchicken]

I just thought an update after a long hiatus is in order. The chick stopped eating and I was about to take it to the vet but was called into work (for the next day). We spent a half hour, very gently massaging her enlarged crop (which was softish), gave her electrolytes and organic vinegar in her water.

The next day there didn`t seem that much improvement but she did nibble on food -- so we repeated the massage thing. By day two there was a definite improvement and she was eating, though not as much as usual.

Day three saw another setback as the crop thing was back. However this time the crop was very hard and this was true in the early morning. We separated her and kept up with the electolytes. Took her food away (which she wasn't touching anyhow) and tried gently manipulating the crop again.

Voila. Though the improvement was slight in the morning, by the afternoon of day four she was hungrey, eating and drinking well.

Since then, she has been ravenous and seems to be growing quickly. She is still tiny (1/4 the size of her three siblings) but is doing very well.

Now our only problem is that her siblings are feathered out and comfortable outdoors, she still gets chilled on cool days, so we are bringing her indoors / into the brooder at night.

The upside is that she is one very tame chicken who love to be held. She learned to love the crop massage and now is the first in line to be held.

Anyhow, thanks to everyone for the help!!!!