Normal 4 Day Old Chick Behavior?

[bantychicken]

I recently was given 8 chicks bought from a feed store. All are bantams but three passed away. Two were extremely small and looked to be pulled from the incubator a tad early. I also forgot that you can't put foreign chicks around other full grown chickens which I stupidly did but I'm not taking the last five around my olders until they are older. The chicks eat like pigs then will sleep. One second they will be hyper the next they will be falling asleep standing up. Is this normal? And when I left this morning one didn't eat like a pig like the other four but he did get water and was a tad sluggish but was fine yesterday. If I go home today will he more than likely be dead?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I recently was given 8 chicks bought from a feed store. All are bantams but three passed away. Two were extremely small and looked to be pulled from the incubator a tad early. I also forgot that you can't put foreign chicks around other full grown chickens which I stupidly did but I'm not taking the last five around my olders until they are older. The chicks eat like pigs then will sleep. One second they will be hyper the next they will be falling asleep standing up. Is this normal? And when I left this morning one didn't eat like a pig like the other four but he did get water and was a tad sluggish but was fine yesterday. If I go home today will he more than likely be dead?

Yes, the insta-sleep mode is normal - I find that stage quite entertaining to watch. As to your little one that was off this morning, there is no way to predict whether he is likely to be gone this evening or not just because there is not enough information available to begin to diagnose whether it is something serious or nothing at all....but let's hope he is alive and well!

 

[chyna]

Check the sluggish one for pastey butte. If poop sticks to there feathers by the vent they cannot poop and they can die.

 

[bantychicken]

Thank you for your help. I hope he is ok and was just not feeling food. Yesterday everyone stuffed themselves and they were still stuffed this morning. I felt the chicks crop to see if there was anything in it. I feel like I felt a little bit of food and or water but not fairly big.