help my baby chick!!! what am i doing wrong????

[jramirez]

Hello everyone! I am a newbie wanting to learn more about raising chickens I just recently purchased 2 chicks from a local feed store....anyhow not knowing much about it at all i asked what questions i thought were best. unfortunately i am down to one chick. but i had a really bad scare. the first little chick died and i noticed that it had a ball below it's throat. i had no clue...then last night when i got home i checked on my chick and it was fine, i cleaned it's water feeder and gave it some feed. (from the small brown bag that had "chick feed" handwritten on it that was given to me when i bought the chicks) i gave it about 3 pinches. about an hour later i checked and the food was pretty much gone and the chick was fine. i left the house for 15 minutes and when i returned i saw the poor chick laying on it's side with a huge ball where i assumed is it's stomach. am i right? i was so sad and thought that it was going to die. about 2 hours later i went to check on it again and to my surprise it was up and around again! can someone please help me figure out what is going on and if there is something that i am doing wrong?

btw - the chick feed that was given to me looks like sawdust to me but maybe it could be like oats??? idk.....

Jessica

 

[nicolets]

First, you need to get it at least one friend. Chicks (and chickens) are not supposed to be alone. Second, chicks sometimes look like they've died when they've only fallen asleep... are you sure they were dead?

 

[jramirez]

yes that one was dead the 2nd one like i said i guess eventually was abel to digest it's food and was back to normal. but know i'm afraid to feed it.

 

[SweetSilver]

And give him a feeder with free access to the food. One of these days he is going to eat and eat and eat and eat. A growing chick will not get fat.

That ball is probably a full crop and he is probably sleeping. Sleeping chicks are a bit startling--they look like they are dead or dying. I have one that likes to lie on her side and when she starts falling asleep she starts to keel over. It's all I can do to *not* stand there every minute and keep her from kicking the bucket.

And, yes, friends. 3 would do the trick. Or 5 because a couple might day. A couple more to account for roosters that will need to go before they crow. And while your at it, you might as well try to become self-sufficient in eggs. That 8 hens at least, perhaps 12. So 24 for straight run, no make that 28 because "straight run" is often straight-run-plus-a-few-extra-handfuls-of-cockerels-because-apparently-you-won't-mind-them-because-if-you-did-you-order-sexed-pullets-so-why-not. So, that makes 28 chicks, but 36 you get a discount! And since you are butchering all those roosters, might as well fill the freezer and buy a few more......

 

[SweetSilver]

yes that one was dead the 2nd one like i said i guess eventually was abel to digest it's food and was back to normal. but know i'm afraid to feed it.

When hens have limited access to food--or their feeder runs out for some reason--they tend to gorge and they will have palpably full crops. Give it free access to the food if you aren't doing that already and see if this doesn't iron out the problem.

 

[nicolets]

And, yes, friends. 3 would do the trick. Or 5 because a couple might die. A couple more to account for roosters that will need to go before they crow. And while your at it, you might as well try to become self-sufficient in eggs. That 8 hens at least, perhaps 12. So 24 for straight run, no make that 28 because "straight run" is often straight-run-plus-a-few-extra-handfuls-of-cockerels-because-apparently-you-won't-mind-them-because-if-you-did-you-order-sexed-pullets-so-why-not. So, that makes 28 chicks, but 36 you get a discount! And since you are butchering all those roosters, might as well fill the freezer and buy a few more......

 

[nicolets]

Also check out the guide in my sig, since you are wanting to learn more.

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