Chick peeping NONSTOP!! and are they supposed to sleep at night??

[gumbita]

I was on here searching the forums at 4 this morning because I had been kept awake all night by one of my week old EE chicks, peeping as loud as it possibly could INCESSANTLY - it literally never stopped from 8pm until about 5:30am and then will stop for maybe a minute or less then start back up and is still going.

I haven't changed anything at all in the brooder - plenty of clean food and water - temperature good (plus they're in a watermelon box, 6 chicks total, so there's plenty of space for getting right under the lamp or getting away from it) - no pasty butt - doesn't miss me because none of them really like me and are scared of me. I am stumped. I've had this chick for almost a week now and it just started doing this out of the blue last night.

It doesn't seem lethargic, in fact whenever I go to check on it it is usually standing up walking around, pecking at the ground, and peeping like someone is tearing its feathers off!! It is not eating or drinking hungrily - it mostly pecks around the feeder and waterer and peeps and peeps. It does take in some food and water but not as much as the rest. The peeping is driving me crazy!!!

In addition to this, I have noticed that all my chicks (even my older 4 week old silkies I have had for a while) seem to sleep way more during the day and are active at night. There is a window in the room with the brooder, so there is definitely a change in lighting throughout the day - I am stumped on this too, because I thought they were supposed to sleep at night and they are always asleep when I go to check on them during the day, but are scratching around and active at night.

What is going on with my crazy birds??!!

 

[ilovemy7chicken]

They do peep at night. Natural instincts tell them they should call their mama. Hold him in your hands to see if he quiets. Or hold two together. Sometimes that works. Sometimes too much space isn't good. They rely on each other for body warmth. Make them a little nest so they can all lay together. If the same one continues to cry out no matter what you're doing and he seems healthy I would get ear plugs!

 

[gumbita]

They all do the little peeps at night and throughout the day, this one alarmed me because it's the sharp and very loud "something's wrong" peep, but it just walks around like nothing's wrong - I actually didn't know which one it was until I watched carefully for the body moving when it screeched. Ugh, I hope this isn't the new norm and I just have a weirdo! Seems strange it would just do it all of a sudden!

 

[ilovemy7chicken]

Try holding him. They love the warmth of your hands and nothing is cuter than a baby chick. He could be lonely and needs to imprint. We had a dog that was a surrogate mom to one of our chicks. She let him sleep on top of her and he was very happy. He grew up to be a beautiful Rooster and they were inseparable! Alexander lived 12 years and thought he was a dog.

 

[Grog]

It sounds scared hold it and mabey even make their area a bit smaller so they stay close together.

 

[ilovemy7chicken]

I agree

 

[azygous]

If this chick appears uninterested in food, then it's probably suffering from hunger. There could be any number of reasons why a chick won't or can't eat. What you need to do is get it eating.

I have an eight-day old who hasn't been able to eat the chick starter for some reason. It's half the size of the others, and was peeping loudly all the time, until it began to get too weak. It occurred to me, much later than it should have, to feed her something else that maybe she could digest easier. I began to feed her tofu, along with the others, since she wouldn't eat by herself.

Tofu is fermented soy beans, and she took right to it, began eating, and gained strength. I got some Poultry Nutri-drench and sprinkled some over the tofu. They all adore it. I'm hoping to eventually wean this chick off tofu and get her to start eating her chick crumbles softened in water.

Sometimes you just have to go to extreme measures to safe a chick. I don't know yet if this chick will turn out normal, but it's worth a try.

 

[gumbita]

As it turns out, I think it was a food issue - because I would hold it and it hangs out with the other chicks and they all sleep in a pile together so it didn't seem lonely. It didn't really like to stick its head in the feeder for some reason - it would but only once or twice then it would peck at the ground and keep peeping. So I put a little plate with crumbles in it in another part of the brooder. Peeping stopped. So I think it was hungry and for some weird reason it was afraid of the feeder! I think I will still feed it some supplemental things like you suggested to help get its strength back up, but at least for now the peeping has stopped, so I guess it was hungry. Silly chickens. Thank you all for your help!

 

[countrycakelady]

I also purchased one of the long rectangle feeders...my 14 NEVER USED IT! They were terrified of it..and they too cried a lot...I purchased another feeder, a round one with the holes that holds a lot..and that solved it. I think they must have thought they would get stuck or something? Who knows...you have to try lots of things, I have found out.

 

[ilovemy7chicken]

That's funny! See how many people it takes to find out why a chick won't stop peeping! At least you figured it out!