Hello all! I'm brand new to chickens and forums and I promise to do an introduction later, but right now I need some advice!
We got ten golden comet chicks on Friday (four roosters (!) and six lovely ladies) and I believe they were a day or two old but I'm not sure how to tell. In any case, that makes them around 5 or 6 days old at this point. They've been great. One seemed a little lethargic at first, but with some water and food became really energetic. No signs of distress since then. They get clean water, plenty of starter feed, lots of good perching places, plenty of room, great ventilation, a warm but not too warm light, and so much love. I'm addicted to watching them and noticed during one of my many observations today that a couple of them have started having runny poop. They don't seem lethargic, I don't think. But one of the ones with runny poop is also sneezing a good bit. If any of them are lethargic, it's her, but I can't tell if I'm just overreacting at this point. She had a tiny bit of poop stuck to her rear when I got home from work tonight and I cleaned it off right away. She doesn't have any other symptoms that I'm aware of.
They are on pine bedding and the first thing I did was give them fresh bedding, although it was dry and pretty clean still. Then I started doing research and it seems some people feel like pine isn't that great for chicks. I read that any soft wood could be toxic and that if they eat the shavings it could interfere with digestion. So, after reading that I covered the bedding with a sheet. They were very shocked with this new addition but seem to have adjusted well. This was about half an hour ago so I have no idea yet whether this will solve the problem and thought I'd get any advice I could as soon as possible.
If she ate the pine shavings will she recover if she doesn't continue eating them? Is there anything else I can do? Anything in particular I should be watching for?
We got ten golden comet chicks on Friday (four roosters (!) and six lovely ladies) and I believe they were a day or two old but I'm not sure how to tell. In any case, that makes them around 5 or 6 days old at this point. They've been great. One seemed a little lethargic at first, but with some water and food became really energetic. No signs of distress since then. They get clean water, plenty of starter feed, lots of good perching places, plenty of room, great ventilation, a warm but not too warm light, and so much love. I'm addicted to watching them and noticed during one of my many observations today that a couple of them have started having runny poop. They don't seem lethargic, I don't think. But one of the ones with runny poop is also sneezing a good bit. If any of them are lethargic, it's her, but I can't tell if I'm just overreacting at this point. She had a tiny bit of poop stuck to her rear when I got home from work tonight and I cleaned it off right away. She doesn't have any other symptoms that I'm aware of.
They are on pine bedding and the first thing I did was give them fresh bedding, although it was dry and pretty clean still. Then I started doing research and it seems some people feel like pine isn't that great for chicks. I read that any soft wood could be toxic and that if they eat the shavings it could interfere with digestion. So, after reading that I covered the bedding with a sheet. They were very shocked with this new addition but seem to have adjusted well. This was about half an hour ago so I have no idea yet whether this will solve the problem and thought I'd get any advice I could as soon as possible.
If she ate the pine shavings will she recover if she doesn't continue eating them? Is there anything else I can do? Anything in particular I should be watching for?
