Failure to Thrive? A Bit Disheartened...

[Willowspirit]

That's awesome. I'm really glad the vast majority of yours have lived. So far, I have come into parenthood of 24 newborn chicks total. This batch is really taking my average down. Prior to this, it was 1/16 now it's 3/24, so the average mortality has literally doubled. Poor little babies. I'd do anything to save them. I wish there was something I could do.

Of course you would! Sometimes I think they were iffy before we got them. And then you had that poor sticker chick. I think sometimes they just can’t be saved. We lost both of our questionable chicks. We tried, we cared but it was not to be.

 

[AmyJane725]

Of course you would! Sometimes I think they were iffy before we got them. And then you had that poor sticker chick. I think sometimes they just can’t be saved. We lost both of our questionable chicks. We tried, we cared but it was not to be.

I feel just horrible about the sticker chick. I think it got that way during the drive home. I have no clue how, since I was SOOOOO careful, and didn't bounce the box or anything. Could it have climbed the straw? I can't help but feel it would have lived if it weren't for that. The stress was probably way too much.

 

[Willowspirit]

I feel just horrible about the sticker chick. I think it got that way during the drive home. I have no clue how, since I was SOOOOO careful, and didn't bounce the box or anything. Could it have climbed the straw? I can't help but feel it would have lived if it weren't for that. The stress was probably way too much.

You didn’t do it. Yes it could have climbed the straw all on it’s own. And it was stupid to put the sticker there. You definitely didn’t do that. I hope you learn to be less hard on yourself. Really. As art has pointed out enjoy your living chickens!

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Sorry for your loss. I know how you feel. I just lost my first chick in the year that I have had chickens. It is so sad. My chick got pecked. My daughter set her phone to got check and water the chick every 40 minutes. She worked so hard and the poor little chick died. My daughter took it really hard. We get so attached to these little bundles of feathers.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

I think it was the broody mama who pecked her or at least started it. She was done being mama and didn't want them bothering her and she is in general a nasty chicken Apparently I didn't check the little chick over enough at first and only saw the head "scalping". I didn't see the chest wound and the back of the neck. About 24 hours after, we discovered that she had flystrike and had to pick out all the little worms. That was extremely difficult for my daughter to experience, but she wanted to help the chick. I think that is what really killed the chick. She died right after we got all the larva off her. Poor little dear. But we tried to console ourselves by remembering that she had a wonderful little life playing outside with her little chick sisters.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

She's 14. My 11 years old daughter wasn't around until after she died and took it hard. I didn't give all the details. My 16 yo daughter was helping by running interference with the dogs, getting paper towels, etc. We all really love the chickens. Even hubby who didn't think much about chickens when we first got them, has become very fond of them. We're all chicken hearted!