Diarrhea and Chicks

[asokatonu]

I have 5 chicks they are all about 2 1/2 weeks old. I just started giving them treats things like smashed boiled egg, finally chopped bits of apple, and some small very seed pods. I have a dish of dirt in there coop it is a mixture of extremely fine and a little corse. A few of my chick started having diarrhea yesterday is this just because of the change in diet or should I be worried. Also will the dirt work for grit or should I look into something else. Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Do you have grit available to purchase where you live? It is quite inexpensive so doesn't hurt to provide it. They are getting close to the age that you can move beyond #1 chick grit to a #2 size adolescent grit. Aside from grit for feeding anything other than chick starter, probiotics surly help with diarrhea. A chick raised by a healthy mother hen will get probiotics from her feces. A chick hatched in an incubator and living in a brooder won't have the opportunity to get beneficial bacteria to populate the gut.
I wanted to add that I don't recommend giving treats to chicks that young. While eggs are good for them, they really need to fill up on the chick starter that is nutritionally balanced for their needs.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I have a dish of grit out, they'll eat if they need.

I've learned treats are not all that great, more a guilt treat from us. Too much treats will throw off the nutritional absorption of from their feed that has all the nutrition they need. When I was feeding my grown ups "treats" found they weren't up to weight, when I asked here about it was told about the negative side of treats. So I stopped, they put on weight ... It was hard to see the lack of meat to their bones, I have BO and all that feather made me think all was well until I started weighing them.

I also learned fruits & veggies, MW = softer poop ... I ferment my feed so I can smell & see the difference in their poop when they get too much treats. FF poop don't stink, firmer & alot less

You could add ACV with the Mother (1T/gal) to their water

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not to mention that, as nutritious as fruits and vegetables may be, they are virtually devoid of protein. Filling a young chick on fruits and vegetables will supplant the essential amino acids needed for growth.

 

[asokatonu]

So I will stop the treats and we will see if that helps. If there are not eating anything but the chick food and maybe a boiled egg every once in a while will the dirt work for grit or should I look into finding some kind of grit and if so what would you recommend?

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Are bananas good for chickens? I have some laying around and thought I'd give some for them as a treat.

 

[asokatonu]

I have heard of people laying out pieces of banana for their chickens, but honestly I am pretty new at this so I would not take my word on it

 

[asokatonu]

I stopped giving my chicks treats last Thursday and most have are having normal looking poop but one or two of them still have really wet poo. They are pooping sold poop but most of it is moist should I worry or is this ok?

 

[Cayuga momma]

My chicks had diarrhea when I first gave them treats, so it's probably the change in diet.
Chick grit is a must! Dirt could work, but it would be better to get a bag of chick grit at your local feed store until they can get it for themselves outside. Walmart might even have some kind of grit for parakeets, etc.
Bananas are ok for chicks to eat just not too much.

I know it's fun too give them treats, but I would wait until they are atleast a month old.
I just started giving my 8 week old treats a couple times a week. It's fun to watch them play keep away.

 

[Cayuga momma]

Oh I forgot to add that chickens will have cecal poops twice a day and my chicks cecal poops are always diarrhea and smell nasty.
They also like to wait till I'm holding them to poop them