ChickenTater
Chirping
Hi everyone. I've actually been scouring this website for a long time but there are some questions I have that I can't find the answers to, so it was time I made an account!
I recently bought some baby chicks earlier this month (March 11th) and this is my very first time raising chicks. They were hatched on March 8th and they are vaccinated. It's been pretty hectic, to say the least. My family had three adult chickens about 2-3 years back and they were easy to take care of, but a critter outside got them. I've wanted chickens again since then and I thought I would start from babies, so I got 6 of them. Probably wasn't the best decision to get so many being the greeny that I am, but I've been doing nonstop research so that makes up for it right?
My first week of owning them, the smallest died from what I believe was a dislocated hip/leg. She had started limping, but was eating and drinking just fine for two days. But on the third, she declined so fast that there was nothing I could do. I had tried massaging the leg, because at first I thought it might have been a sprain or just bruised. She didn't put up a fight or seemed in any pain when I touched it or moved it, but still continued to limp. There were no discolorations or any visual imperfections I could see. I gave her some crushed up boiled egg, and while that seemed to give her more energy, the limp didn't go away. And the next day she was gone.
Has anyone else had this happen to their chicks? Was there any other way I could've helped her?
After that things settled down, the remaining 5 were totally fine and continued to grow/eat/drink/sleep/play like normal. I woke up about 3-4 days ago to find that my new hampshire red had a bare spot on her back, right where her tail feathers were starting to come in. It looked like either she or one of the other chicks had plucked them out. I didn't notice any blood but it did look red and irritated. I cleaned the are gently with a warm, wet rag and she squeaked a little but didn't put up too much of a fight (she's generally extremely rambunctious, so I wasn't entirely sure if it was because she was in pain or just wanted to run around).
I read that plucking feathers could be a sign of boredom or lack or protein. They get organic non-medicated chick starter and water 24/7, so I added some weeds and a small shallow bowl of dirt (they mostly just eat the dirt). I also gave them an old CD and they went crazy over that. At the moment, those have seemed to stop them from plucking; the bare spot isn't red anymore and she's growing more tail feathers. *I have read that when bullying occurs I should remove the bullies and reintroduce them one at a time, but I have no where else to put them at the moment, so that just wasn't an option if that's what was happening. But, I didn't really notice them ganging up on her at all. Just the occasional peck on the back or the face, but they all do that to each other.
Is there anything else that I should do to keep them from plucking their own/each other's feathers?
Around the same time I noticed the bare spot on my new hampshire red, I also noticed that my black sex-link had clear drainage coming from her nose. They all sneeze, but they routinely take dust baths in the pine pellet bedding and in the dirt (mostly in the pine, because like I said, they mostly just eat the dirt), so they get pretty dusty which makes them sneeze. None of the others have any drainage at all and at first I thought it could've been that she was dipping her beak too far in her water when she drank. But the more I observed her, I came to find that wasn't the case. I read that it's good to remove sick birds and isolate them, but as I said earlier, I have no where else to put her.
Other than the drainage and sneezing, she is completely fine. Her eyes are clear, she doesn't limp or look/sound like she's in any pain. There is no wheezing or strange sounds coming from her when she breathes and she eats/drinks/sleeps/poops just fine. They have diarrhea sometimes, but 90% of the time their poop is all solid and normal looking. She's also the biggest, if that makes any difference.
Is there cause for concern with clear nasal drainage? Should I give her some sort of medication? Is it possible for me to take her to a vet, or are they too young for that?
I can post pictures if anyone needs any visual aids to understand what I mean! I hope someone can help me and I look forward to learning from experienced chicken-people.
I recently bought some baby chicks earlier this month (March 11th) and this is my very first time raising chicks. They were hatched on March 8th and they are vaccinated. It's been pretty hectic, to say the least. My family had three adult chickens about 2-3 years back and they were easy to take care of, but a critter outside got them. I've wanted chickens again since then and I thought I would start from babies, so I got 6 of them. Probably wasn't the best decision to get so many being the greeny that I am, but I've been doing nonstop research so that makes up for it right?
My first week of owning them, the smallest died from what I believe was a dislocated hip/leg. She had started limping, but was eating and drinking just fine for two days. But on the third, she declined so fast that there was nothing I could do. I had tried massaging the leg, because at first I thought it might have been a sprain or just bruised. She didn't put up a fight or seemed in any pain when I touched it or moved it, but still continued to limp. There were no discolorations or any visual imperfections I could see. I gave her some crushed up boiled egg, and while that seemed to give her more energy, the limp didn't go away. And the next day she was gone.
Has anyone else had this happen to their chicks? Was there any other way I could've helped her?
After that things settled down, the remaining 5 were totally fine and continued to grow/eat/drink/sleep/play like normal. I woke up about 3-4 days ago to find that my new hampshire red had a bare spot on her back, right where her tail feathers were starting to come in. It looked like either she or one of the other chicks had plucked them out. I didn't notice any blood but it did look red and irritated. I cleaned the are gently with a warm, wet rag and she squeaked a little but didn't put up too much of a fight (she's generally extremely rambunctious, so I wasn't entirely sure if it was because she was in pain or just wanted to run around).
I read that plucking feathers could be a sign of boredom or lack or protein. They get organic non-medicated chick starter and water 24/7, so I added some weeds and a small shallow bowl of dirt (they mostly just eat the dirt). I also gave them an old CD and they went crazy over that. At the moment, those have seemed to stop them from plucking; the bare spot isn't red anymore and she's growing more tail feathers. *I have read that when bullying occurs I should remove the bullies and reintroduce them one at a time, but I have no where else to put them at the moment, so that just wasn't an option if that's what was happening. But, I didn't really notice them ganging up on her at all. Just the occasional peck on the back or the face, but they all do that to each other.
Is there anything else that I should do to keep them from plucking their own/each other's feathers?
Around the same time I noticed the bare spot on my new hampshire red, I also noticed that my black sex-link had clear drainage coming from her nose. They all sneeze, but they routinely take dust baths in the pine pellet bedding and in the dirt (mostly in the pine, because like I said, they mostly just eat the dirt), so they get pretty dusty which makes them sneeze. None of the others have any drainage at all and at first I thought it could've been that she was dipping her beak too far in her water when she drank. But the more I observed her, I came to find that wasn't the case. I read that it's good to remove sick birds and isolate them, but as I said earlier, I have no where else to put her.
Other than the drainage and sneezing, she is completely fine. Her eyes are clear, she doesn't limp or look/sound like she's in any pain. There is no wheezing or strange sounds coming from her when she breathes and she eats/drinks/sleeps/poops just fine. They have diarrhea sometimes, but 90% of the time their poop is all solid and normal looking. She's also the biggest, if that makes any difference.
Is there cause for concern with clear nasal drainage? Should I give her some sort of medication? Is it possible for me to take her to a vet, or are they too young for that?
I can post pictures if anyone needs any visual aids to understand what I mean! I hope someone can help me and I look forward to learning from experienced chicken-people.
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! Happy you joined our community! I am unsure on your chicks but you might cut and paste and post into one or both of the following: 
