New chick pics and questions

[KristenF87]

We are ordering from Mypetchicken.com as soon as their site is ready but we got tired of waiting and so we got two chicks from a local feed store. We justified this because we read that it's good to have a chick (or two) that's a little older than the rest, lol.
So, we picked up one "ameraucana" and one rhode island red and just got them home and in their cardboard box brooder and are already concerned for their health! They've been pecking at each other a little bit and keep falling asleep while standing up, eating, etc... They seem to just pass out! Is this normal?
The other question is how big should the comb be on a little pullet? The red-colored one (ha I don't know which one is which breed) has little bumps above its beak and the yellow one doesn't. Think it's a rooster? Oh God I hope not!

 

[debilorrah]

Yes that is normal. Wait til you find one of them completely sprawled out!! I thought it was dead, even picked it up and it didn't move. I gave it light shake and it bounced right up looking at me like "where's the fire?"

 

[gritsar]

Yes it's normal for young chicks to just pass out wherever they happen to be when they decide to sleep.
You can't really judge comb size against each other when you have two different breeds. Some breeds just show more comb earlier. That's not to say you don't have a baby roo though.
I've never heard of it helping to have some a little bit older. Actually, by the time you order yours from MPC you're probably going to need to keep these two seperate because they will already be much larger than your day olds.

 

[timbofarms]

Congrats beautiful chicks

 

[Four Acre Bliss]

Yes, the passing out in the feed dish, while standing up, and looking dead is totally normal. After the initial panic wears off, it's very entertaining. And they are sleepy the first week, so they do it a lot. Make sure their water is shallow enough they don't drown in it is all. Some people add marbles to the water tray.

 

[cimarron]

darn cute little fluffers!

my ameraucanas are pretty much grown and have almost no comb. i think it's just the breed.

also you might be ok with chicks that are a few weeks apart. we added two day-olds with six five-week olds, we were afraid the older ones might pick on the little guys and we would have to separate. but the older ones took the little ones under their wings.

 

[KristenF87]

Thanks everybody

I feel relieved... There is honestly no way we could do this (build a coop, raise chicks, eventually harvest eggs) without all the information and support we've received from this site!
I mean, where else can you find a bunch of crazy chicken enthusiasts ready and willing to give some advice? haha

ps: They are *loud* little fluffers! They're going to drive our cats crazy lol