Hello everyone! I am a newbie wanting to learn more about raising chickens :) I just recently purchased 2 chicks from a local feed store....anyhow not knowing much about it at all i asked what questions i thought were best. unfortunately i am down to one chick. but i had a really bad scare. the first little chick died and i noticed that it had a ball below it's throat. i had no clue...then last night when i got home i checked on my chick and it was fine, i cleaned it's water feeder and gave it some feed. (from the small brown bag that had "chick feed" handwritten on it that was given to me when i bought the chicks) i gave it about 3 pinches. about an hour later i checked and the food was pretty much gone and the chick was fine. i left the house for 15 minutes and when i returned i saw the poor chick laying on it's side with a huge ball where i assumed is it's stomach. am i right? i was so sad and thought that it was going to die. about 2 hours later i went to check on it again and to my surprise it was up and around again! can someone please help me figure out what is going on and if there is something that i am doing wrong?
btw - the chick feed that was given to me looks like sawdust to me but maybe it could be like oats??? idk.....
Jessica
from Ohio. So glad you joined. What kind of bedding? I use a towel over the shavings for the first few days so they learn what is food and what is not. Your chick will need some friends, 
