Any body else have dumb chicks?

[tomato lady]

My chickens are afraid of the dark! I have had their brooder lights on at night but lifted high -- just to take the night time chill off because we still have two little ones.

Yesterday it was hot. When we put them to bed I turned on one of the lights to count heads and see that water and ok. Then I turned out the light. Oh My Gosh! I did not know a few chicks could make that much noise. The peeping was frantic and loud! I ended up turning the light back on for the night -- big babies.

Tonight I am going to put them to bed with a flashlight and see if they will settle down if it just naturally goes dark.

 

[ShaggysGirl]

Quote:
That is funny ours do the same thing. They run off with a piece of hay same as they do a meal worm and the chase is on

 

[Fruit Juice]

One of my 8 weekers when I opened the door to the pen he flew out of the coop and smacked his face right into the pen door door jam. Sometimes i wonder if all those crashes and tumbles have knocked the brains out of him!

 

[kassy_51]

tomato lady , baby chicks will usually do that.
And OMG, don't try raising one alone. We did that

and boy the noise you will hear from it as you try to leave it.

 

[shaynapalmer]

I have 5 RIR thats are 5 weeks old and they do the same thing, scratch their shavings into their water and their food but now they have a new thing..they roost on the mason jars full of their food so now when i go to change their food not only is the mason jar covered in poo but there's droppings all inside their food dish...grrrrrrr, silly ladies!!!!!

 

[shaynapalmer]

Quote:
See if you can find a battery operated light to put in there, i found a few of those under the counter lights and i'm going to mount it to the wall of their coop, that way they have some light. it runs on 2 AA batteries and even better it's 2.99, when the battery starts to die the light will dim and eventually just go out and hopefully they'll be use to the dark by then

 

[elmo]

Human beings have bred the intelligence right out of many breeds of chickens. I promise you, a jungle fowl on its own in the wild has to be plenty smart just to survive long enough to reproduce.

 

[gway2008]

Quote:
LMAO!!!!!

 

[cmom]

Have you considered buying a hanging feeder and waterer. I did and as they grew I have it on a chain so I can raise it as they grow and clean feed and water.

These pics are the feeders and waterers I'm using now.

 

[socks]

Critter Crazed wrote:
Editted to say: When the chicks were only a few days old they would peck at their toes and screech. Multiple times in a row. This was them:
Peck. Screech. Peck! Screech! PECK! SCREEEECH!

and I thought my chicks were dumb!!

I am getting a little exasperated with the way they freak out every time I pick them up for the trip outside and back inside. They were o.k. with being picked up when they were very young but now at over 4 weeks they are 'making strange' and one of them has been trying to peck me lately. They love it when they're outside and I take them in when they are ready but no matter how gently I try to do it they act like I am an Axe murderer!

By the way shaynapalmer

they have a new thing..they roost on the mason jars full of their food so now when i go to change their food not only is the mason jar covered in poo but there's droppings all inside their food dish...grrrrrrr, silly ladies!!!!!

I have glued a couple of poky things on top of my mason feeders after seeing other people mention it. For example, one is a cookie cutter shaped like a house and the other is a note holder I don't use. That way they won't try to roost on the top.

Anyway, I guess we shouldn't be surprised when that our chicks have um...bird brains