Originally Posted by FBinNY

It's an awful lot of wear in so short a time, so I suggest you take more care in your choice of lube, and chain care procedure going forward. Between the "clean and lube daily" practice which is overkill, and the never lube or clean approach, find some common sense balance, using a lube of your preference, and you should easily get 2,000+ miles before reaching 1/2% stretch, (1/16" over 12") roughly 3-4 times the life you're getting now.

BTW- you never said if the 1/4" was over the 4' length of the chain or over 1 foot. That's a 4:1 difference and, if the former, you're experiencing fairly normal wear, and just reaching the 1/2% stretch point where most diligent folks replace their chains.