This is my very first post and I'm so bummed that it's to report that we've already lost two of our six baby chicks that we got two days ago. When I picked them up from Tractor Supply, I didn't get to pick them out other than breed (Red Sex Link) and I wish I had spoken up about it. I checked the chicks out when we got home 20 minutes later and one chick clearly had a bad case of pasty butt. She died two hours later and my ten year old daughter had a rude awakening to #farmlife. We'll be having a ceremony for the little chick tonight. Yesterday, I noticed that one appeared runty in comparison to the others and wasn't interested in eating or drinking, just sleeping. I gave her a bit of sugar water hoping to perk her up but she was gone this morning. She'll be joining the other in our ceremony tonight but I haven't told my daughter yet. We have a great setup. Large bin, heat lamp with a thermometer that registers about 95 degrees in the warmest section, draft free area of the room, plenty of space to run around, clean food, water with electrolytes and probiotics. The chicks themselves seem comfortable. I don't notice them huddling for warmth; they just bunch together when they sleep. I bought six with the hopes that we'd have four. We have four after two days. If I felt the need to add a few more chicks, is it difficult to add them to chicks that are a little older?
Sorry for your losses. It's so heartbreaking when that happens and most of us here have experienced that. This is why I bought 10 chicks to start. I lost one on day 3. It was nothing that I did, just failure to thrive. It's a fact of avian life. Did you gt straight run chicks or are they saying they are supposed to be pullet chicks? You still run the risk of one turning out to be a rooster. Usually the accuracy of the hatcheries is 90% for sexing. Fortunately my other 9 all turned out to be pullets. If you add more I would add them right away. You probably don't want them more than two weeks apart in age or the babies will get picked on. Their size difference between 1 week old and 3 weeks old is HUGE! and good luck with your chicken journey! I spent a lot of time reading at the Learning Center, here is an excellent starter article; https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-your-baby-chicks Sounds like you are already being an excellent chicken mama!
If you got the chicks 2-3 days ago, you should be able to go back and add a few more with little issues as they will most likely be from the same batch you already bought from. This time however, I would INSIST that YOU pick which chicks you are purchasing. If you intend to add more, I would do it ASAP, do not wait. While there I would suggest you pick up a bottle of Nutri drench http://www.nutridrench.com/ which practically all TSCs carry. it is a life saver for weak chicks as it does NOT require digestion... it is absorbed directly into the blood stream. Welcome to BYC and I hope all works out well for your littles.
Hi and Welcome! You should be able too add chicks with little problems. I don't envy you having to tell your daughter about the other chick. That must be hard. My kids were basically grown when I got my first chicks.However my daughter is soon moving home with my first granddaughter due in June so it starts all over again for me really soon. This spring I'm getting more chicks they hatch&ship April 11th but they will be big by the time the baby sees them. I wish you the best with everything you have to do and your new chicks! maybe you can post some pictures of them when you get them?
Wow, thank you for the super helpful posts! I called the store and told them what happened. The girl replaced the chicks for me and told the guy who was helping me to let me inspect each one. I picked very lively ones with clean butts. They gave me one extra to be on the safe side which I didn't expect them to do. Chicken people are super nice. LOL They were from the same batch too so they are all the same size. I will post a photo soon!
Yay for excellent customer service! And yes, I've found chicken people are super...especially here on BYC! It's a great community, you'll be glad you joined!
I am sorry for your loss. We loss 2 chicks also and its so heart breaking. I am a newbie also and BYC community has been excellent support and I am sure you will great advice!
