Help! newbie and we've lost 2 chicks in the last 24 hrs!

[CAjerseychick]

Thanks everyone - we are calling for help tomorrow so we can get the coop done asap, and I will put them out in the "playpen" this afternoon so they are at least outside. Chicks are so fragile - and I feel very overwhelmed! It means alot I can come here and get questions answered right away!!!! I will not give up - I am learning a ton. Not sure I will want to do chicks again though - I feel bad I contributed to 4 chicks deaths so far cause I don't know what I am doing! I still have 10 little ones to take care of - gotta move forward, right? cath

Right, just keep moving forward-- I like you may not do chicks again... Hoping to hatch out my own if I get a broody hen out of this years chicks....

 

[Cathyge416]

I would love to have a broody hen take care of it next spring! The best laid plans of mice and men - we had not planned on having to keep the chicks in the tub this long, or that hubby would get hurt, or that he would be changing jobs next month! I did not know it would just the ladies to be in the tub this long. Sometimes I have to learn the hard way! Any advice on moving them into the coop would be appreciated! It is 8' x 8' and will be very roomy to them! Cathy

 

[CAjerseychick]

I would love to have a broody hen take care of it next spring! The best laid plans of mice and men - we had not planned on having to keep the chicks in the tub this long, or that hubby would get hurt, or that he would be changing jobs next month! I did not know it would just the ladies to be in the tub this long. Sometimes I have to learn the hard way! Any advice on moving them into the coop would be appreciated! It is 8' x 8' and will be very roomy to them! Cathy

Our coop is 8x8 too (in anticipation of housing both batches together, eventually)-- but we only had 4 left (dog ate 2) when it came time to move the first set into the coop-- like I said ours were older when we got them and had been mostly outside-- I did have them in a brooder for a week d/t we are up in the Foothills much cooler than the Sac valley where they came from-- but they were pretty well feathered and what I did was keep them 2 nights off the lamp and then 2 nights in the coop off the lamp and then opened the door to the run, viola. They still have to be chased inside at night but I put a pan of mash inside (they can see me coming with it and run to me) and then its not too hard to get them inside (its Jakodas method of enticing them into the coop)...Theres a lot of poop on the lowest rung of the roosts so they are getting up there at some point....

 

[Kmillerhan]

Ahhh..Cathy, don't feel too bad. Sometimes a few of the chicks are just going to pass and there isn't much we can do about it. I was told to expect it with as many as we got this year. You are doing great! Hang in there, you'll have some adult chickens yet.....

 

[Cathyge416]

Thanks for the encouragement, y'all. I have been digging for info in the Storey chicken guide - I think (horror!) That the lost chicks were canabalized. I didn't mention that their vent area was completely destroyed - I assumed that happened post-mortem. Ugh! The good news is the coop will be habitable tonight, details will come later, but the 10 will go from the tub to 64 sq ft. - big change! My 2 brahma babies are naked above their tails, but I am hoping things will calm down. Will this continue since it happened already? Cathy

 

[ChicksinPR]

yeah, they are getting bored and picking at each other...mine did that too. I had to keep putting things in their box like rope or twigs and stuff To pick at... Good thing you are getting help now. We have a new brood of little chicks that are 2 weeks old. we put them out in the coop way early with a small light in the corner. they don't even go near it during the day... The hot sun is plenty hot...

 

[what did I do]

Put some watermelon in with them. Give them something to do. Add some sticks. Just don't leave things the same.

 

[galefrances]

I'm new too. Sometimes I've felt very overwhelmed, reading everything I can. But one thing I've learned from this site is " Don't overthink everything". If you have time read the thread on old timers advice. It sure helped me calm down and not worry so much.

 

[CAjerseychick]

Thanks for the encouragement, y'all. I have been digging for info in the Storey chicken guide - I think (horror!) That the lost chicks were canabalized. I didn't mention that their vent area was completely destroyed - I assumed that happened post-mortem. Ugh! The good news is the coop will be habitable tonight, details will come later, but the 10 will go from the tub to 64 sq ft. - big change! My 2 brahma babies are naked above their tails, but I am hoping things will calm down. Will this continue since it happened already? Cathy

Wow thats terrible, I guess we are all learning new things every day--- def try the corn on the cob, and I put tree branches on the floor of the coop as well so they can practice roosting they have some in their Brooder/ mini run combo and they even fly up a foot or so to practice roosting-- def. give the little guys some stimulation!
Good luck and hang in there....

 

[galefrances]

Was it only their vents that were picked at? They didn't have pasty butt did they? I heard that other chicks might pick at the one's with pasty butt or if they have a wound, but don't go by what I say, I'm new too. Check for that and if not then it's just that they're either bored or crowded. Sounds like you have everything under control now though.