Ellywe is... Three? Days old. Her and her two sisters share with my two week old babies. They have a little heated cave they sleep in. The three younger babies took over the cave, and the three older babies sleep on top. (The older babies preferred it before anyway) Now two of the younger babies sleep up there with them.
Enter Ellywe. She doesn't like that. They should sleep IN the cave. So she cries. A lot. Loudly. She'll stand by the cave and cry. Cry while the eat mealworms. Cry when they're playing. Cry when they're asleep. She has no interest in food, treats, exploring. She always acts super sleepy and cries. Maybe that's why the two other babies left.
I'm going insane. This thing will literally cry for HOURS. Today I've timed three straight hours in a tow with few breaks. The only way I could get her to even think about settling is if I snuggled her. Then she toned it down, but would still be prone to fits between "grinding" and shoving her beak between my fingers.
I know babies cry - Angry Baby was a screamer - but this is excessive. She's healthy, just not as active. What the heck can I do for her? She's keeping me up at all weird hours crying for snuggles she won't get. At this point I think she's made the other chickens angry. I was thinking maybe trying to make the tunnel larger, but what if the other babies won't snuggle with her? Am I doomed to spend my life snuggling a chick because everyone else wants to sleep elsewhere?
Enter Ellywe. She doesn't like that. They should sleep IN the cave. So she cries. A lot. Loudly. She'll stand by the cave and cry. Cry while the eat mealworms. Cry when they're playing. Cry when they're asleep. She has no interest in food, treats, exploring. She always acts super sleepy and cries. Maybe that's why the two other babies left.
I'm going insane. This thing will literally cry for HOURS. Today I've timed three straight hours in a tow with few breaks. The only way I could get her to even think about settling is if I snuggled her. Then she toned it down, but would still be prone to fits between "grinding" and shoving her beak between my fingers.
I know babies cry - Angry Baby was a screamer - but this is excessive. She's healthy, just not as active. What the heck can I do for her? She's keeping me up at all weird hours crying for snuggles she won't get. At this point I think she's made the other chickens angry. I was thinking maybe trying to make the tunnel larger, but what if the other babies won't snuggle with her? Am I doomed to spend my life snuggling a chick because everyone else wants to sleep elsewhere?