How to Tell if a Chick is Healthy

Those cute little fluff balls are hard not to obsess over, but over the years I have come to realize that chicks are not as fragile as I first though they were. Proper breeding, care, management, and diet do play a role in how hardy chicks are, however, when all those factors are taken care of, raising a healthy brood of chicks should be no big deal! To start with though, you must learn how to tell if a chick is healthy. Knowing the signs of a healthy chick will help you monitor the health of your brood and ensure they are growing and developing properly. Here are 6 signs that I consider when analyzing the health of my brood of chicks!

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#1. Healthy Poops

Poop is one of the most important signs that I analyze in the brooder every day! When I clean the brooder in the morning and the evening, I always pay careful attention to what kinds of poops are present in the litter. It is one of the only ways you can tell what is going on within the chick. If I’m cleaning up healthy poops, then I can be fairly confident that all is well in the brooder!

With that being said, there is quite a wide range of healthy chick poops. Also, the types of poop will depend on the age of the chick and what the chick is eating.

Chicks that are only hours old (just hatched) will have very soft, sticky poops. They may even be green or yellow in color, have a distinct smell, and be watery. At any other time, these kinds of poop would be unhealthy. However, chicks that are only hours old are just getting their digestive systems up and working. They are digesting the absorbed yolk and their body is starting to function normally. Thus, the chicks are pooping out a combination of digested yolk and leftover waste from the kidneys. The chicks’ poops should start to be more normal within the first 24-48 hours of their life, after they have started eating and drinking.

Normal Poops

Which brings us to what ‘normal’ chick poop looks like. In essence, normal chick poop will look much like miniature versions of normal chicken poop. The range of normal chick poops will also be comparable to the range of normal poops for a healthy adult chicken.

Normal poops typically have two components, the urates (white stuff) and the waste (the brown stuff). Most normal poops should be mostly solid and not runny or sticky. The exception comes in the form of cecal poops, which are brown, sticky, and stinky. Normal chick poop will have a smell, however, it will not necessarily be a bad smell. It will just be a ‘normal chick smell’, which the more you raise chicks, the more used to the ‘normal’ smell you will become!

To learn more about analyzing chicken droppings, check out Poop Problems with Backyard Chickens. For now, follow these basic guidelines when analyzing the health of your chicks based off of their droppings.

Analyzing Poops:

• using paper towel as litter in the brooder for the first few days of chick care can be especially helpful for analyzing healthy poops
• normal hour-old-chick poops can range from sticky and green to mostly white to dark brown colors
• once the chicks are eating and drinking, the poops should start to look more normal (be solid and contain both urates and waste)
• occasional strange poops just means the chick’s digestive system is still working out some quirks
• a chick is unhealthy when it produces bad poops, which may include diarrhea, blood, excess bile, excess urates, or be runny/watery
• unhealthy poops may also have a distinctly bad smell, which makes the brooder very stinky

#2. Eating

This one is more of an obvious sign of good health, but still a very important one! Healthy chicks will also have healthy eating habits. Food is what sustains and nourishes growing chicks, so if the chicks are healthy they will instinctually be eating throughout the day.

Healthy eating habits for chicks include frequent forays to the feeder throughout the course of the day. Neither chicks nor chickens need to have a set feeding time. It is instinctual and natural for them to consume their food needs over the course of the day, not at two or three set meal times. This is because of how the chicken’s body utilizes food and energy.

Despite their frequent breaks under the heat source, chicks still move around ALOT throughout the day. This frequent and constant movement calls for energy, not to mention the energy needs demanded by growth. Thus, food consumption throughout the day is mandatory for healthy chicks.

Watch your brood to see if all the chicks move freely to and from the feeder, grabbing bites to eat between times of getting warm and exploring the brooder. You may even see some foraging behavior as the chicks sort through the brooder litter to find pieces of food.

Another way to monitor healthy food consumption is to keep track of how often you have to fill the feeder. If the refill schedule is all of a sudden off, then your chicks may not be consuming the amount of food they need, which may indicate a health or management issue.

#3. Drinking

Right along with healthy eating habits, frequent stops at the water source is also essential for healthy chicks! Water is even more important than food because without water, the food can’t be utilized by the chick’s body effectively.

Ensuring that your chicks have access to fresh, clean water all day long will prevent them from becoming dehydrated and allow them to stay healthy. Watch your chicks to make sure everyone is making frequent stops by the waterer to get a drink.

However, you should also be aware of excessive drinking. Excessive drinking could be a sign of a disease or illness, especially if the excessive drinking is accompanied by lack of interest in food.

A proper ratio of eating and drinking are signs of a healthy chick! The water ensures good hydration so all the body functions can work properly and the food provides energy for all day activity.

#4. Proper Activity

Aside from eating and drinking, healthy chicks should also have a pretty active brooder life. Don’t ask me what they find to do all day, but if you’ve ever watched a brooder full of chicks for any length of time, you will know that they are masters at finding ways to entertain themselves!

Normal activities that healthy chicks should engage in include:

• going to eat food from the feeder and drink from the waterer
• foraging for spilled food on the brooder floor
• going to and from the heat source
• resting periodically
• interacting with each other
• low cheeping for communication purposes

As the chicks get older, the list of normal activities will grow as they exhibit even more instinctual behaviors like perching, dust bathing, and testing out their wings.

Healthy chicks will explore their brooder and interact with each other. They will make frequent stops by the feeder and waterer and may take cat naps in or around the heat source. The sounds that they make will be content and not shrill or distressed.

Keep in mind that activities based around the heat source may indicate whether the brooder temperature is adequate or not. Lengthy periods of time spent either under the heat source or away from the heat source may mean the brooder is too hot or too cold.

#5. External Features

The first 4 signs of a healthy chick require that you monitor health factors such as eating, drinking, pooping, and activity. These last 2 signs have to do with how the chick actually looks. External features can tell you if a chick is healthy or not.

Healthy chicks will have the proper conformation for their breed and for chickens in general. While some external features don’t necessarily mean disease or illness, they are still features that a normal, well-bred, healthy chick should not exhibit.

Here are some ailments that can affect if a chick lives a healthy, long life:

• crossbeak (scissor beak)- will often affect food consumption and cause malnutrition
• undershot or overshot beak– again, these conditions will affect how well the chick can consume food and may lead to malnutrition
• crooked toes- may hamper the chick’s walking ability
• splay legs- disable the chick from standing up properly and engaging in normal activities
• wry neck– will affect how the chick eats, drinks, and moves around
• stargazing- is a fatal condition that prevents the chick from eating or drinking

Genetics and breeding do play a roll in how healthy and hardy your chicks will be! Proper breed conformation is important for the health and longevity of the chick as it matures into a quality adult chicken.

Bad breeding, bad genetics, or accidents can cause issues such as blindness, genetic disorders, disease proneness, and lack of immunity, which will all affect how healthy a chick stays as it grows and matures.

#6. No Signs of Illness

Lastly, the most obvious sign of a healthy chick is the lack of signs of illness. A healthy chick will exhibit no signs of disease or ailment. Then again, chicks are prey animals and they are cannibals, so an ailing chick will try to look healthy for as long as possible. Knowing what signs and symptoms should NOT be exhibited by a healthy chick will help you when you have to identify what a sick chick does look like.

Here are some signs and symptoms of disease that healthy chicks should not exhibit:

• healthy chicks will not have excessive pasty butt problems
• discharge from the eyes, nostrils, or mouth will not be present in healthy chicks
• healthy chicks will not cough or sneeze frequently or make rattling noises when they breath
• stunted growth will not be an issue for healthy chicks, who will mature at the normal rate for their breed
• healthy chicks will not be lethargic
• a healthy chick will not stay huddled in one spot for lengthy periods of time nor will it go without food or water for long periods of time

Signs of a Healthy Chick

Since we just went over 6 ways you can tell if a chick is healthy or not, I just want to do a brief recap of what a healthy chick should look like. Signs of a healthy chick include:

• eating and drinking on a regular basis
• produces normal poops that don’t stick to the vent or the feathers around the vent
• participates in normal chick activities and interacts with the other chicks
• makes content cheeping sounds
• goes freely to and from the heat source
• has good conformation for the breed and does not exhibit any abnormalities
• grows at the proper rate for the breed
• has clear, bright eyes

Take time to watch your brood every day so that you can monitor the chicks for signs of good health. Make sure everyone is eating and drinking and actively moving around in all parts of the brooder. When you introduce treats and new objects to the chicks, make sure all the chicks are joining in with the fun of checking out the new entertainment.

When you clean the brooder everyday, make sure you take note of the smell and how all the poops look. Normal poops and a healthy smelling brooder are all good signs of healthy chicks!

Aside from good cleaning practices, there are also many other ways you can help your brood stay healthy, including using natural supplements and fun treats!

Knowing how to tell if a chick is healthy is important for monitoring the overall health of your brood. A healthy chick will grow properly and mature into a healthy and happy adult chicken. Watching your chicks every day will help you monitor their health and allow you to identify when something starts to go wrong before it gets too serious. Proper management, daily cleaning, and a natural diet should get you off to a good start with raising healthy, happy chicks!

And don’t forget to check out the Trading Post for helpful chick raising resources and join our pioneer newsletter community for weekly tips on raising your chicks right!

by Alexa