1 week old gasping and lethargic

[Chipmunk Chicks]

By some miracle, Diamond has officially been returned to the other 4 chicks! She is smaller and weaker and we'll watch her for signs of stress but she's no longer falling or unable to stand, no longer breathing heavy, and she woke up last night and walked around under the covers (and pooped in my bed). Due to sheer exhaustion from a 9 mile hike yesterday I did not wake up right away. So I kicked her out!

(She was in her own box by Hersey quite a bit Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I was worried I'd come back to her dead. I'm also wondering bof sawdust wasn't the issue. In her own box she was on paper towels. We'll see how she is after school tonight!)

Great news! Honestly, I switched to paper bedding to brood my chicks this year, and I will never go back. It's essentially dust free. For some reason they don't keep it in the stores by me with the chick bedding, but they do carry it, just in the small animal section, like for hamsters and bunnbunns and things. Game. Changer. It doesn't matter natural or white, it's all the same, I just get whichever is cheaper, which is the natural brown one for us.