Hi! First time chicken mama here. We got six chickens two weeks ago. They were about a week old when we got them. Decided to add a second brooder today with a few more day old chicks. The baby girls have eaten and drank quite a bit when they first got home but now, hours later, are very tired, falling asleep standing up, and I haven't seen them eat or drink. My husband assures me he's seen them poop but I've been searching the pine shavings and haven't seen a single dropping. I should mention that I'm a nurse so I'm extra weird about this kind of stuff. I have been obsessed with the temp in the brooder ( stable at 95 degrees F) and how often I see that they are eating and drinking and pooping. (I blame my training ) The first chicks seemed to eat and drink non-stop! But these new babies are just laying there snoozing away. Is this typical behaviour for two day old chicks? Should I be worried? Shouldn't they be eating and drinking more? Why are they not pooping all over? Our first chicks were older so maybe I'm just being paranoid and these ladies will become more active in the next few days? If only I could check their vital signs....hehehe Thanks for any suggestions!
Hi and welcome to BYC. Chicks can survive for 2-3 days quite happily without eating or drinking, as they continuing to absorb nutrition from their yolk. Personally, i put some feed on a paper towel, next to the feeder as a means of encouraging them to begin eating. I normally see them beginning to eat on the second day. These links may be useful to you: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-your-baby-chicks https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens
