Chick won't lay down to sleep

[MuckyPuppy]

Hi All,

Ok One of our two day old chicks has been chirping a lot and when we fist looked at her she couldn't open one eye. So we boiled some water, cooled it and cleaned around it with dampened cotton pads. Her eye seems better but she was still chirping a lot. So we looked closer and we noticed that she wasn't able to lay down to sleep. That was when we noticed that she had a slight case of spradle/splay leg so we fixed that with a bandaid but she is still chirping constantly and refuses to laydown to sleep/rest. We have noticed that she has one really bendy toe on one foot and are thinking of fixing that with the sticky part of a bandaid to act as a brace but we don't think that is the reason she refuses to laydown and sleep. Does anyone have any clue why she is not sleeping? She is tired because she will sometimes start to sleep standing up, then she falls, wakes up and wakes all the rest.

 

[Eggie and Me]

Our chicks loved sleeping on top of a sock rolled up. They didn't actually lay down more propped up.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

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That might work for her. I'll try to put soft things in that she can lean against. Maybe it will at least keep her from toppling over every time she nods off. She is turning out to be our problem child!

 

[yadaguhtoo]

Could she be cold? Maybe standing to be closer to the heat lamp? My chicks will chirp loud if they get a little on the cold side, then I know it's time to lower the lamp level. Just a thought

 

[MuckyPuppy]

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That was a great suggestion and I did go over to check it out but she doesn't look like she is cold. She's not standing underneath the light or huddling up with any of the others.

She is eating, drinking and I saw her poo a little while ago so we are stumped. She was laying down to sleep yesterday. We just don't have a clue why she isn't today.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

Driving me absolutely batty, everyone was asleep and she was just standing in the middle slowly swaying back and forth then she woke everyone up by falling on a couple and startling them. They in turn jumped up and ran into some more and now they are all awake again. I know she can lay down because after she fell she was laying down but she immediately jumped right back up again.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I've got one like that. She's also been my "problem child", as you say. All the other chicks will be sprawled on their chests or on their sides and she's up on her feet, often making sad little peeps. She's the one who has had pasty bottom since the beginning and at 3 weeks old, is less than half the size of her age-mates. I'm guessing that my problem child and your problem child would be culled if they were being raised in either a factory farm or somewhere where they were looking to improve the breed. I'm just trying to keep them all alive and think we're finally over the hump.

Good luck.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

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My little bugger better be glad she's a pet then and that I have a high tolerance of high pitched irritating noises!

I would love to be Doctor Dolittle right now so that I could find out if she is in pain or has an itch just out of reach.

 

[N&MSchroeder]

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I am going with this one. Usually when a chick is loudly peeping, it means it is cold. Cup her in your hands and lift her toward the light. If she is cold, she will snuggle down into your hand and fall asleep. If she has had a bit of a rough start, she may need a little extra heat. That said . . . I had a group of chicks who wouldn't lay down the first couple of days. They would stand and sway like you described. The only thing I could figure out was that they were shipped and had learned to sleep like that from traveling in the box.

They eventually laid down but you have to laugh every time you see that swaying chick nodding off.

Good luck and have fun with your chicks!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I agree, chicks chirp loudly when they are cold or alone.