I am so sad. My nearly 6 wk old white leghorn chick was found dead this morning. She was not with her 3 buff orp sisters so I looked around the coop and she was half covered by a thin sheet of plywood. I guess it squished her, but I don't know how it fell on her or how it hurt her since it was a small piece, like 18" x 24" . My question is, do chicks die pretty easily? I'll bet if I had seen it happen, she would have been just fine, but to lay trapped for hours? I feel so bad. I gave my 5yr old boys a long lecture on leaving dangerous things around the coop. These girls are full feathered and very hardy. They look just like full grown hens, just smaller. I guess it was a freak accident. I wish I could get just one more chick their age so we still have 4. I am going to go out right now and chick proof the whole pen better. Anyone have similar sad stories?
fortunatly that has not happened to me. There are some stories on here that are kind of like that. I am so sorry you lost her though .
I am so sorry to hear your story!!! I have had a bad experience too. Our barns are a place they love. It is their homes and I think some times we forget that. I placed a light in a corner of our barn next to their perch so that if it got real cold it would keep them warm. I didn't thing one would actually perch ON it. It burnt her feet and now she has some stubby toes. I had to amputate some of them. It was awful. I went back and chicken proofed the whole barn
accidents happen, when my daughter was 3 months old she woke up in the middle of the night. I was so tired I was walking around with her and trying to comfort her and banged her head in the door way. Boy that woke me up so quick. Things happen and we learn from them. Don't beat yourself up.
Quote:Oh my gosh, I think every parent has done something like that! My husband was carrying our daughter on his shoulders in a long hallway and he passed under a low doorway and smacked her head on it. He felt so bad! It was a pretty hard hit. But they survive, somehow. I guess kids are just more hardy than chicks. Thanks for helping me feel better, I am definitely learning something from this.
OMG, When I Was about 14 My grandfather and I were walking through the forest-preserve and we came across a chicken... I think it was a young Rooster. We usually carried nuts and stuff in a bag to snack on while we walked around. So we threw some to it. My grandfather came up with a plain to catch it. While I distracted it with food , he caught it. We brought it home and let it loose in the back yard... I was told to go around and fill the gaps under the fence with wood so he wouldn't get out. Well, to make a long story short, I was walking around the corner of the house checking the fence for gaps and I must of spooked Him. When He saw me he went running like crazy.. He must not have seen a falin tree branch cuz he ran right over it and tripped! I went running over to it and needless to say it had broke it's neck. To this day my grandfather still says I must have hit him in the head with a skick or something to have killed him. We ended up burring it. Well any ways I got some new babys 9 days ago, and there ant a stick one in my backyard....
I am so sorry for your loss :aww Something like that did happen to me about a year ago. Before we moved and had the luxury of a barn and a huge chicken coop already on the property we had a few chickens in a big dog kennel, they free ranged during the day. It was really windy so we put up a small piece of plywood, smaller then the one you described, up on one little opening, well the wind must have blown it down and the next morning I found my poor white silkie flat underneath. I couldn't stop thinking about what a horrible death that must have been for here and I never forgave myself for it, but now I know not to keep big or small things around the coop, especially if they could easily fall. Luckily now that we moved we have a biger barn that they go in, and I made sure it was very safe before they moved in.