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Title: Chicks
Description: health


katharine - June 17, 2007 03:28 AM (GMT)
Hi,

I have two chicks. I do not know how old they are but they have wing and tail feathers and other feathers are appearing.

They live inside but I take them outside at least once a day.
They have lots of energy. They eat alot-chick crumbles and snacks-cooked millet, fresh corn, papaya etc.

Questions-

one of them often has poop that is watery (with clear liquid), sometime with white, some times "regular". s/he drinks more water than the other. I am concerned about liver and kidney problem (because of somethings I have read)

second question-they both are obsessed with an acrylic crochet blanket. They want to eat the fuzz.
They some time seem to want to eat other non-food like paint chips or piece of paper etc.

thank you for advice!

Robyn - June 17, 2007 11:07 PM (GMT)
I have a chick who is a month old. He/she has wing feathers and tail feathers starting but not too many other feathers. Your babies are probably 4-6 weeks old based on what you've said. My Chickie loves live mealworms, grape, bread, etc. I have photos at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/birds/chickphoto2.htm that show his/her progress as he/she ages (and also his/her father from two years ago).

Birds make two kinds of excretions. There's the regular dark poo and then there's the liquidy white stuff that is the equivalent of mammalian urine even though it's a white solid for the most part. In birds, it contains uric acid instead of urea in mammals. If there's a lot of liquid, the chick may be losing too much fluid. Be sure they have enough water. The problem could be related to diet, parasites, or other problems. It's hard to say. There are many reasons a mammal could have diarrhea and many reasons a bird could have extra liquid in their white excretions too. The white stuff comes from their kidneys so there could be a problem with them. Hopefully, it's something minor that will pass. I'm certainly not qualified to diagnose it. I'm not sure if a vet could figure it out. If they seem fine otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much.

Chicks will try to eat various things out of curiousity. As their adoptive "mother," you have to make sure they don't have access to things they shouldn't eat. If they eat fabrics, they could get stopped up, stop eating, and even die. Just like human and other mammalian children, chicken "children" want to get into trouble!

Good luck with them!




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