Sunshine_Amy
Songster
Hey everyone. We got our chicks this week, yay! All has been well, but now I'm worried about one chick's excessive sleeping.
Here's the full picture:
Of our 6 chicks that shipped on Monday, we picked up on Tuesday at noon. Despite the quick delivery, one didn't make the shipping journey and arrived unrevivable. The rest have been happy and perky, and napping a ton, but also running around between their brief naps. My favorite girl, our Salmon Faverolles, who has so much curiosity and spunk and character, and who seems to like to be "on guard" (yesterday was running around while everyone else was sleeping, more times than not), is the one suddenly sleeping today, all day. I'm hoping she's just playing catch up, what do you think? It's been 6 ½ hours, and she does perk up when jostled, but then goes right back to sleep. I caught her chirping in her sleep, too. So she seems to have her wits about her, but I can't help but being concerned about the change, since it's so unlike her. We've gotten her to drink a few times, but otherwise are letting her rest.
As far as possible concerns, other than the bird who didn't live through shipping, the things that I can think of are the following: Leaving the electrolyte solution too long before changing it yesterday; I went a little more than a day, and noticed things floating in it when dumping; now I'm changing it 2x/day. The rocks I used in the drinkers; I rinsed them, but they were just off a beach we visited on Lake Ontario, and now I'm thinking I should have boiled them. Lastly, while I'm only feeding them organic chick starter (Green Mountain), I did give them a pinch of chick grit yesterday in their food, as a YouTuber recommended, since they are pecking just a little bit at things in their environment, like the bark on the sticks I have for roosting, and the cardboard that I've poked the roosts into.
Let me know what you think. She's my favorite girl, and this is our first flock, so I'm a nervous chicky mama!
Here's the full picture:
Of our 6 chicks that shipped on Monday, we picked up on Tuesday at noon. Despite the quick delivery, one didn't make the shipping journey and arrived unrevivable. The rest have been happy and perky, and napping a ton, but also running around between their brief naps. My favorite girl, our Salmon Faverolles, who has so much curiosity and spunk and character, and who seems to like to be "on guard" (yesterday was running around while everyone else was sleeping, more times than not), is the one suddenly sleeping today, all day. I'm hoping she's just playing catch up, what do you think? It's been 6 ½ hours, and she does perk up when jostled, but then goes right back to sleep. I caught her chirping in her sleep, too. So she seems to have her wits about her, but I can't help but being concerned about the change, since it's so unlike her. We've gotten her to drink a few times, but otherwise are letting her rest.
As far as possible concerns, other than the bird who didn't live through shipping, the things that I can think of are the following: Leaving the electrolyte solution too long before changing it yesterday; I went a little more than a day, and noticed things floating in it when dumping; now I'm changing it 2x/day. The rocks I used in the drinkers; I rinsed them, but they were just off a beach we visited on Lake Ontario, and now I'm thinking I should have boiled them. Lastly, while I'm only feeding them organic chick starter (Green Mountain), I did give them a pinch of chick grit yesterday in their food, as a YouTuber recommended, since they are pecking just a little bit at things in their environment, like the bark on the sticks I have for roosting, and the cardboard that I've poked the roosts into.
Let me know what you think. She's my favorite girl, and this is our first flock, so I'm a nervous chicky mama!
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