New to group with a question...

[GreenGoddess]

Hey everyone!

I am new to the group (although I have been lurking for sometime now) and had a question.. A few weeks ago, we got a few chicks from a local breeder (2 were 2 months old and 4 were 4 days old). Outside of one that died 3 days after we got them, all the chicks have been healthy but yesterday I noticed one of them had a clear discharge coming from her (or his) eye and she was kinda stretching her neck out and opening its mouth a little. The chick is eating and drinking fine, not isolating itself or anything and is quite vocal (unless I take it out of the cage and hold it), especially since I've taken it from the others to "quarantine" it.. What do you think? Resp problem or maybe just got pecked at from the older one? I would greatly appreciate any advice y'all can give me on this one..

 

[PunkinPeep]

I have never had that particular problem, so i don't have any advice except to ask if there are any other signs that she was pecked at......any scab or anything?

I mostly am posting to say WELCOME TO BYC!

It's good to have you.

I'm sure the oldies here will have some good advice for you.

Blessings!

 

[GreenGoddess]

Thanks for the welcome.. As for other signs, the only other "sign" I noticed was that there was a little spot under her eye that was red or irritated but once i took her from the others it slowly disappeared and is completely gone today. Maybe?

 

[sammi]

could be a peck injury..
try and get some saline eye wash at any pharmacy..and terramycin eye ointment at feed store.
if it is below the eye, you might be able to treat with neosporin..

any other symptoms?
any mucus? wheezing, sneezing?

 

[GreenGoddess]

Nope.. nothing that I've noticed... Beak is dry as it should be and no gurggly (sp? LOL) or whistling sounds...

 

[Backyard Hencam]

I'm just wondering how you are dealing with 4 day olds and 2 mos. old chicks together. Are they in a brooder with the temperatures in the 90's for the youngest?

If I understand you correctly, you are keeping these groups together. This could lead to problems for the younger ones. These two groups have very different needs.

Hope it all works out and

 

[sammi]

I agree..if they are together..
it's not a good practice to put different age chicks together..
heat needs are different..bedding needs are different.
not only will the big ones bully the little ones from eating and drinking..
they will injure them..bad sometimes..could kill them.
and they can have different illnesses, or "germs" passed to each other.

best to watch the droppings..
and keep an eye out for respiratory symptoms.

 

[GreenGoddess]

The guy we got them from has has chicks and chickens for years as well as ducks, turkeys, etc. We are not keeping them under an kind of heat source.. However (before y'all jump on me for that one), the older one has taken the smaller ones as her (maybe his?) own.. There is definitely a pecking order but the babies still eat plenty and stay under the older one in the evenings as they would naturally.. It's actually kinda cute.. When I was younger, my aunt has a bunch of chickens, ducks and geese and the only time she used a heat lamp was in the hatcher.. Other than that, the chicks would stay under the hen until they didn't need to keep warm anymore.. She lived in NJ.. It's MUCH warmer here in NC.. lol But, back to the question, these chicks were all from the same place and bought at the same time.. They were together then as they are now..

 

[Backyard Hencam]

We are not jumping on you by any means, just asking questions to see why you may have lost one chick and had one chick injured.

Being under a hen is not like being with other 2 month old chicks. Do you know what the temperature is at night in whatever you have them in? This a crucial to raising healthy chicks. My advice is to check this first. It would not be too much trouble to separate the different ages and monitor the temperature to give the younger ones a chance.

Good luck!

 

[GreenGoddess]

Wasn't saying y'all *were* jumping on me but wanted to prevent it.. lol... As I said, the chicks all get under the 2 month old hen as if they were her own.. I put some pine bedding (made sure not to get cedar) in the nesting boxes we have in their pen and tonight when I took the dogs outside I listened very carefully.. They were quiet except for the occasion that the dog got too close to the pen and stirred the older one.. I've been reading for some time now and I've seen several people comment on here and other places I frequent that a noisy chick is a cold chick.. I also put my hand under the hen and I would definitely say they are warm enough under there.. lol.. My hands were normal temp and it felt hot to me.. I'm wondering if maybe it is/was just irritation.. We had them in a small pen just to keep them in while we built them a bigger one.. maybe it just got too "dirty" for them and irritated the baby? We now have the bigger pen built.. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been all that great and it took us a week longer than expected.. But, they did still have adequate shelter from the elements while in the smaller pen.. But, now they are happier.. And, on a good note, I was holding one of the babies on my hand (just kinda roosting there) and the older one flew up and joined her.. I was so excited!!

Goddess