I have a broody hen who has 4 baby chicks that follow her around in the run. They are about 9 days old now. I put out starter food for them, but I have no clue how much they actually eat of it. They prefer to follow Mom around and eat whatever she drops. I noticed that the chicks seem to breathe really quickly. Sometimes I will see them just standing off to the side breathing quickly and shutting their eyes. Are they just exhausted from chasing Mom around so much? I know when I've raised chicks in a brooder they sleep a lot. I'm trying to figure out if this is normal behavior for chicks being raised with the flock, or if they are sick. Any thoughts or suggestions are very much appreciated!
I really have no clue if that is normal or not, but I did notice my baby chicks doing the same thing in their brooder (which was quite large) before I moved them to the coops. They had room to run in it. They appeared to fall asleep at the drop of a hat whilst standing up and breathing quickly.
My GrandChick is very active, now at 3 weeks 2 days, but it's in spurts. It has to go everywhere at a dead run because hatch Momma Buffy can cover so much more ground with her longer legs. I also think the hot weather is contributing to the heavy breathing through panting.
Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to think they may actually be sick. This morning when I opened the coop door everyone came running out except for 1 little chick. I found it in a nest box breathing quickly. I brought it out into the run and made it drink some water - but then it just sat there. I have no idea what's going on with these little guys! Now maybe someone was picking on the chick in the coop - I have no idea. They do have to sprint around like crazy to keep up with Mom, so I know that's part of the breathing problem.
