First Timer - Panicking

[kentuckychicks]

Didn't stir for the scrambled eggs at all. I did dip her beak in the yogurt a little and it looks like she was swallowing. Followed it up with some water and now I'm going to leave her alone for a little bit so she can rest.

Everyone else liked the scrambled eggs, though.

Im sorry about your poor little chick! Hopefully she just got overexcited and needs some rest! Wish you healthy chicks and sending you calming thoughts

 

[itgns]

She's dead. I saw her sprawled out funny and I was afraid to check but my boyfriend convinced me to. I got a shoebox and put some shavings in it. I'm going to bury her tomorrow. I didn't know I was going to feel this way. I feel like I killed her. I didn't do something right. She was my favorite because she was fluffy and looked like she had ILS (imaginary lat syndrome, if there are any other gym rats here). I wasn't going to name them until week two, though.

She's dead.

But everyone else is still going strong. Very lively.

 

[kentuckychicks]

Im new at the chicken world too but it is fairly common for even old pros to lose a chick or two per batch right?! I don't think you killed it! Keep to the good work your doing and keep posting!

 

[jdoane]

I am so sorry! You definitely didn't kill her! I lost one just like that. I truely think that given how young they are when they are shipped its just impossible to know what chicks might not make it. I know as each we has gone by I have been more and more comfortable that they will make.

it is amazing how attached we get to these little things.

 

[write2caroline]

Sometimes you lose a chick and there isn't always a reason. I had a chick that I just thought was content to sit. She was very alert but was always sitting. She was sitting near food and water and it wasn't until I took them outside that I realized something was definitely wrong with her and she could not walk. I tried everything. I don't know why she was the way she was. She soon starting to be listless and we lost her but her brood mates were all perfect. Just happens once in a while.

I hope everything else works out

Caroline

 

[itgns]

I buried her in a shoebox full of shavings today. Underneath a tree. It was very unceremonious, but I felt better.

Everyone else is doing very well. I bought them a different feeder because I thought that way they'd stop throwing the food all over the floor. Came back ten minutes later and there was food everywhere.

 

[PioneerPrincess]

Awww...I'm sorry you lost your chick; it is so hard when you lose your first bird.

LOL Chicks have an uncanny way of making a mess out of their food regardless of what you put it in.

 

[niqueie]

I have lost 3 chicks of my 24. It is so sad!! It's not your fault at all. I have been amazed at how hard it is to keep them all alive. I have had to hand feed and coax these chicks along. They are much more fragile than I ever realized. So sorry for your lost chick.

 

[jdoane]

So sorry about the chick!

the only thing I have found that stopped my chicks from making a mess with food was when I moved them out to the coop and had their feeder hanging. Al of a sudden... no mess.

 

[itgns]

Whew! Got back from a road trip to Arizona so I've been a little tired and unable to update. I figured since they were almost two weeks I could leave them in the care of my mother and sister. Everyone pulled through and still looks great! My parents still wanted six chickens so we picked up an Ameraucana from the feed store where we got the Buff Orp. She's already feathered out further than them. I figured that they wouldn't pick on her so much if she was older and I was right. They tried to bully her away from the feed but because she weighs almost twice as much as them, she got right in there and got her fill. Everyone is getting along, now.

So we started out with 3 Dominiques, 1 New Hampshire, and 1 Light Brahma from Meyer. Then I got a Buff Orpington from the feed store. Then the Light Braham died. Then I picked up the Ameraucana.

I have a question. When can I start taming them? They HATE me. They run like crazy when I try to move them to clean the paper towels and everything. They'll go crazy trying to get away from me. I just want them to not hate me. Are they old enough for treats now? And what I should I do about grit if I start feeding them treats? I have parakeet grit but people on the forum said that the calcium would be bad for the chicks.