Chick Induced Heart Failure!

[donnachick]

I just came upstairs to check my 4 little 9 day-old chicks and only saw 2 of them, quietly sleeping. I almost had a heart attack when I found the other two-one trying to sleep balanced on the waterer--right over the water (I thought it drowned!) and the other nestled in the corner of the box between the bricks the waterer is sitting on and the wall of the box--with the overhang of the waterer over the edge of the bricks I couldn't even see it at first! Do they usually go in strange places like that-- I had just put a large branch in the brooder for them to play on--maybe they are scared of it? Also, my Black Star seems fine but does not seem to be growing as fast as the others. Are they typically smaller?

 

[Cetawin]

It is not unusual for them to go to odd places to snooze...the big branch may have been a scarey thing for them but they should be fine. The waterer is dangerous though...make sure it is elevated a little (chick's chest height when standing). That should keep them from being able to lay down and hang their head in the water and drown.

They do odd things at times.

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

Out of my first three chickenss one escaped thru the cage walls and flew off the washing machine and slept on the floor behind the water heater. It was so scary. The brooder now has mesh wire around it so no one else tries that. Baby chicks always do crazy stuff...that ones name is Bandit. It was named before the escape too. I almost changed the name to Criss Angel. I still dont know how it fit thru the cage....

 

[silkiechicken]

If they are all near the edges, it may be a bit warm in there too. They do however often sleep in funny ways.

 

[Gindee77]

Mine were always falling asleep face down in their feeders! I raised the feeder of this batch of chicks up on a piece of a brick patio slab. Now they can't sleep in it...or so I thought. I was worried that they would breathe in the dust from the feed. Now they can't all do it at once, but one of the other of the chicks will still get on top of the feeder and fall asleep with their face in the hole where the feed is. They are always freaking me out, the positions they get in, the things they sleep behind and the way they can fall asleep doing whatever they're doing.

Chicks are so much fun...most of the time!!!