Worried about my bantam chick

[Lucretia]

Hi all.... So, Wednesday I received six chicks in the mail...so excited! I have two feather-footed bantams in the mix (not sure which kind -- I got the "assorted" option), and I'm absolutely in love with these adorable little creatures. But I'm worried about one of them -- my favorite chick in the whole group, really. I *think* she might be a Black Frizzle???

Anyway, I noticed that, while the other chicks have really been plumping up and growing, she's still tiny and very light. And I can feel more of her bone structure than on the others. Also, while the other chicks eventually quieted their brand-new cheeping noises, she kept at it. Loudly. I observed her for a while, and realized that she doesn't actually seem to be eating the chick crumbles. She'll pick them up, then spit them out. She's drinking just fine, and she's been super curious and active. Her poop looks normal and everything. I was really worried that she wasn't getting enough nutrition, so I offered her some plain yogurt. Immediately her cheeping became this very excited sound, and she just dove into it like she was starving. I let her have a little, then gave her some more a little later. Then I hard-boiled an egg, mashed it up really fine, and offered her that. Again, she started making really excited noises and just devouring the yoke part. I've given her that a couple of times too. I tried mashing some crumbles in warm water, but she won't touch it. She takes a bite and then shakes her head. Could it be she's allergic to the food, or maybe just doesn't like it?

After offering her some egg I put her back in the brooder, and she keeps making a very high-pitched, rapid cheeping/whistling noise. The other chicks are being very active, but she looks like she just wants to sleep, and just when she quiets down and starts drifting off, one of them will bump into her and she'll go back to making that noise. She seems to be maybe keeping her wings slightly to the sides, but it might just be the tiny feathers that are sticking out.

Any ideas on what could be wrong? Is it okay for me to keep feeding her boiled egg and yogurt? Anything else I can give her? Do the egg and yogurt need grit, or can she eat those all right without it? I've noticed that within the last couple of hours she doesn't seem to be laying down to nap, either. Is that something to worry about? Her legs are fine, and she isn't limping or favoring a leg or anything.

Any help would be much appreciated! I'm really worried about the tiny.

She's sleeping right now, but every once in a while she sort of half lifts her head in a kind of sideways jerking motion, peeps, and then nods off again. Please let me know if there's something I need to do!

 

[Lucretia]

Update: She seems to be over the hyper cheeping, head-twitching business. She slept quietly for a little while, then chased around another chick who was playing "keepaway" with a bit of egg, drank some water, preened, and is now snuggling up to a sock for bedtime. Maybe she just ate too much too fast and had a crop-ache or something? Her crop seems to be emptying fine so I don't think it's impacted.

Anyway, I still worry about her getting enough nutrition...so if anyone can offer advice regarding that, that would be great! Thanks!

 

[tinychicky]

hard boiled egg is actually fine for chicks in thier first few weeks. it supplies all the necessary protein and other nutrients they need (egg is what they eat in the shell, so why not out of it?) she might not be eating the chick crumbs because they're too big for her. try adding some water an mixing it around to make a paste and see of she'll eat that. good luck

:

 

[earnhardtlvr]

I am a newbie (my babies r now 13 - 15 weeks old). I don't know if she could have an allergy to the food. I have never heard of that or heard that a chick wouldn't eat crumbles, except when it was sick. R u giving her anything extra in her water? u can use save a chick from TSC or some gatorade. I had a little sickly one. I brought her upstairs in a small box by herself and put her down in an old fuzzy slipper. SHe slept alot for the 2 days we had her up here. I gave her water with save a chick in and then switched over to gatorade. she perked up when she would drink that. i would use that (gatorade & save a chick water) to mix in with her crumbles and she started to eat.

R u sure she is warm enough? sometimes one of them just needs more heat than others.

random thought...does she have a cross beak and can't pick up th crumbles properly??

Hope some of that helps! Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Since she's not too weak yet, I wouldn't advise separating her; they do better with buddies around in most cases.

Have you tried mixing the crumbles with water, and then putting it in the brooder? Sometimes if they see other chicks eating it, they'll want to try it. Also, you can take the powder left over from the crumbles in the bag and try mixing that with the yogurt. It might work better than sprinkling whole crumbles on the yogurt, since she's spitting that out. Could the crumbles be too big for her?

 

[Nicole01]

You can wet the feed and make into mash, the chicks love it. The high chirping is distress, something is not right. Polvisol vitamins without iron work very well. They are sold at several stores and are infant drops. I use 1ml per quart of water. I hope the little one is okay.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

Quote:
I was also thinking the crumbles might be too big for her. I have one small bantam that only wants to eat the more powdered stuff amongst the chick crumbles.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Oh, have you checked for pasty butt? I doubt that's the problem, but that might be the source of the distress noise.

 

[Lucretia]

Thank you all for the replies and all the advice! Tiny is doing much better today. She is very alert and active, not making that high-pitched noise, and she seems to be putting on some weight. I don't think she's cold, and I know her beak is fine...no pasty butt either, just a big yellow puff ball behind!

Maybe the crumbles *are* too big! Poor little thing!

She ate some more boiled egg today, but much more calmly than yesterday. LOL I'm still keeping an eye on her. Last night I tried mixing the crumbles with warm water to make a mash, but she kind of tasted it, shook her head, and refused to eat it.

I'll try again today, though. I like the idea of mixing it with yogurt. I'm sure I can trick her into eating that!

Have any of you heard of Smart Water? It's like gatorade, since it's got all kinds of electrolytes and stuff, but it is clear and flavorless (tastes just like water), and doesn't have any sugar. I use it for athletic events. I was wondering if anyone had tried giving that to their chickens? Seems like a good alternative to gatorade since it doesn't have the flavors and sugar.

Thanks again, everyone! I'll keep you posted on her progress. She is really the sweetest little thing!

~Lu

 

[ruthless]

I always crush some food for the littlest bantams. I have Serama and button quail and some of these just can't get around even the chick starter.

Put some in a plastic bag and take a can of vegetables from the cupboard, roll the can over the bag with the food in it until you get some that is just dust. The littlest ones will eat this part first. It gives them a good start for the first 2-3 days.