Failure to Thrive - Society Chick

[epriddy]

Hi Everyone,

I have a society chick that is having failure to thrive. Two of his clutchmates died. He started eating on his own really early and I put water on the floor for him, but he can't fly. He's only partially feathered. He doesn't seem in pain and he's really friendly since I handle him so much (I tried syringe feeding him for a while), but he's just not growing at all. Sometimes I put him up in the nest with his folks for the night, which makes him really happy, but otherwise he just hops around on the floor of the cage.

I'm sure I'll have this guy for his lifetime, but is there anything I can do to help him progress to normal bird hood?

[L in Ontario]

Patience and lots of time should help this youngster, I would think. If you are weaning the chick it will take longer than if the parents do it. I would suggest several shallow dishes of water on the floor along with eggfood and sprays of millet until he learns to fly. I believe it is the inability to locate water that makes some chicks fail to thrive.

[epriddy]

I agree. It took me forever to figure out to put water on the floor available to him. I can't believe sometimes what a moron I can be!

[L in Ontario]

Not at all Elissa, we all encounter these things sooner or later

[cindy]

Also keep an eye on him, sometimes failure to thrive/going light can be a sign of internal parasites.

http://www.finchniche.com/features_failurethrive.php

[wellingtoncdm]

Sprouted seed, eggfood or boiled egg and greens like romaine lettuce work great with youngsters starting to eat on their own.

[finchmix22]

I agree with everyone. I would sprinkle Romaine lettuce and veggies with Feather Fast to help his feathers and nutrition. I would watch and make sure he eats the millet, seed, eggfood, and is able to drink the water (even out of a shallow dish). Drinking water is the last thing they learn. I would treat the water, since the other nestmates died, as that likely indicates a parasite. Ronex 12 % in the water is a good choice at this stage.

[dan78]

The problem with treating water for fledglings is that they are not very good at taking medications and most young that i have treated haven't survived. The reasons to this i can not say but i believe its one or two things 1- they aren't drinking enough medicated water 2doese that are used for adults is to strong. The choice is yours as what you would like to do with medicating a young one.
To help a small weaning young i usually boil my seed, its quick and easy and can be done within 20 minutes for feeding much quicker and than sprouting but sprouting has more vitamins and minerals. To boil seed bring water to boil add quantity of seed bring back to boil and boil for 10min put in strainer and run under cold water. Advantage of doing this is seed swells so more filling for less effort, contains water so can help with dehydration as young find it hard to drink properly at the start and seed becomes soft so its easily taken and deshelled by young. Once young is more self sufficient sprouted would be the best choice from then on. Keep up greens and egg as these are another good food for young to pick at. All they and hope the little one grows quick

[epriddy]

He's not really that young. All of his siblings are fully weaned. He has fresh veggies daily, red leaf lettuce and broccoli in there today. He drank the water as soon as I put it in the bottom of the floor where he could get to it. He sits in the seed dish and just eats so slowly, but pretty much all day. He's just not growing or feathering out. His siblings already resemble adult birds. I'm sure I'll be keeping this one for life. I was thinking about putting some bird baby food in a shallow dish for him to nibble on if he feels like it.

[epriddy]

Wanted to let you know that the chick is slowly growing. He started sitting on a perch yesterday, so at least that's some progress!!

[L in Ontario]

That's awesome, Elissa!!

[cindy]

That is good, is he eating much?

[epriddy]

there always seems to be something in his crop, but never alot.