Got my chicks! Got some questions..

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Whoohoo! Picked up my new chicks yesterday. They are ADORABLE! This is my first time with chicks, and so little, but bigger than I expected, LOL!

I have a couple of questions for you folks, being experts and all

. First, they hatched at the hatchery on Sunday, but nearly all of them already have the long underneath wing feathers started (and about 1/4 " long). Does that make sense? I'm wondering about the age because when I brought them home they were starving, and had no trouble finding either the water or the food. They haven't stopped eating since!!
My second question: last night a month got into our house.. it happens. Anyway, it was obviously of the really stupid variety, and flew into the brooder.. where it fell victim to a box full of excited, and ravenous chicks. I have not been feeding them anything other than chick crumbles, but I can't promise something along that line won't happen again. Should I hurridly give them some grit, and hope the already-eaten moth goes down? Should I not worry, but start the grit anyway? Should I put them all in a plastic bubble until they get older to keep the stray bugs away? LOL!
My third question.. and hopefully not serious: all of the chicks are super perky, eating and drinking wonderfully. They are bright and curious. But I have one that seems to sleep more than the others. I actually marked her last night just to be sure, and she DEFINITELY snoozes more. In between, she is just as perky as the rest. Actually, she's slept less today than yesterday. Should I worry that something is actually wrong, or just chalk it up to the rough day they had (brought to feed store in a truck, then the trip back here in a new environment)?

Sorry if this picture is big.. I'm using the aol one and can't seem to adjust the size in it. I'll have to move some to photobucket.

Thanks guys!
Meghan

 

[annp]

Hi, I'm from Maine and I got my chicks yesterday. Yours look just like mine. They grow a lot in the first two days. Yours look great to me. I don't know about the moths and feeding chicks grit. Am I the only person who has a 1/3 of an inch wide text entry screen? It makes it very difficult to type.

 

[Saltiena]

for the moth i would maybe give them a little grit, but not too much and just forget about it, it happens, and for the sleepy one, it's been a rough few days so just give her another day or two to get adjusted, if shes no better, take a pic of just her and ask again

, annp, my text screen is very large, i'm not sure about yours

 

[Alleyoops25]

Chicks are like babies and sleep a lot , the one your worried about has like saltiena said and has had a long rough day. But chicks grow incredibly fast and they use a lot of energy on growth alone. I would make sure that it is eating and is getting plenty of food to it. As for the moth that what chickens eat no big deal, give them alittle grit. I let my little peeps go out and play in the yard when it is a good day out and they go nuts over all the little bugs that are out there- gives the some extra protien.

 

[Saltiena]

Quote:
not to get off teh subject, but at what age can you let the little chickies out of the brooder for a while to frolic out side, like 4 weeks was what i heard, but i'm not sure if they can go out earlier than that

 

[allig8r]

Awaiting my coop (with brooder) because I'm askeerd to get my chicks beforehand! 2 dogs and a 3yo make for a hostile chick environment!

 

[SeaChick]

annp- where are you in Maine? We're in south portland. Did you get your chicks at Blue Seal?
Stacey

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Thanks guys for the replies! The sleepier chick seems fine now, jumping/flapping/running around with everyone else, and not sleeping nearly as much, and if she didn't have that yellow dot on her head I wouldn't be able to pick her out now. Over all they've been super healthy. I was proactive and cleaned two bums that probably didn't need it, but other than that they are doing great! I did give them a tiny bit of parakeet grit just in case, and they pecked it a bit, but not too much. They are so funny! Whenever a cat walks by, someone does a WARNING Chirp.. I'm thinking I secretly have a cute roo in there.

annp, I was also wondering where you are? I'm in the Augusta area. Always nice to see other people from our beautiful state on here! My chicks are RIR, NHR, and Barred Rocks (pretty much the only ones that Agway was offering).

 

[Emchick]

I think your sleepy chick will be all right.We have a floppy chick that is all right!

 

[Alleyoops25]

On a really warm day no breeze I let almost all my babies out. I stay with them of course and if they act cold then i bring them back in. I dont take fresh out of the shell 2 day old chicks. but the ones who start getting thier feathers go out for a romp. They are constantly supervised and it is fun to watch them flap around and look at the big world around them.