New cken mom here and it gives me chest pain when I look in the brooder and they all look dead. After 3 days I now know they are just sleeping. Now it's the joke at our house, "hey mom look the chickens are dead". (sick people!) Do they grow out of this phase? Really they are all doing great. I should not have told my 10 yr old they can have yogurt, they managed to coat the brooder in it in less than 5 min. In the case of yogurt, a little goes a long way. No more treats for awhile! Cheryl
They will find ways to make you think they are either dead or mangled. I think we all have that shock at first. They sleep in the most bizarre ways and just wait until they start dust bathing. They look like they are having seizures. Or when they sun bathe and look like road kill. It takes a long time to get over the urge to nudge the brooder to make sure.
They usually grow out of it in a couple of weeks! I was so freaked!!!! when I first saw all 51 of mine looking like they had been hit by a tornado and no one was moving! I think i scared them half to death when i yelled and hit the brooder! LOL God Bless!
Remember the opening scene in "Terms of Endearment" where Aurora shakes her baby awake to make sure she's alive ? Then after the baby wakes and starts crying Aurora says "Good" and walks away. That's pretty much what I did the first time I saw my chicks all sprawled out in the brooder. I guess it's the same with just about all new chicken keepers.
Quote:First time I had mine outside, one of them did that! Scared me to death! I thought there was something wrong with a chick who had been 100% fine just seconds before! She still does, but it doesn't freak me as much anymore. Silly birds! Don't they know we worry? Or maybe they do, and that's why they do it!!! LOL
I'm a double winner -- my chickens AND my cats do this! It's a long standing joke with the one cat. If we didn't know better we'd say he drapes himself in akward poses JUST to look like he's dead
I've jostled the brooder just to make sure they are still with us, mainly because I lost so many from my order of 25. I guess I am paranoid now. I've done the same with the dogs, goats and horses. I swear they are out there dead and feel the need to go running out to them and poke them to make sure they are fine. My critters think I am crazy. Maybe they are right.
