Silkie Chicken sleeps in a strange position

[Hkcruz]

Hello! I just picked up a Silkie chick today. She’s 5 days old. I noticed she’s been sleeping a bit and sleeps in a strange position with her head on the ground. When I walk into the room she looks as if she’s dead. I’ll startle her and she’ll get up but doesn’t move much. Is the way she’s sleeping normal?

 

[ShannonR]

Is she sleeping during the day? On a roost or on the ground? Sounds like she might be sick.... got pics?

 

[Hkcruz]

 

[Hkcruz]

She’s breathing and opens her eyes. When other chicks come around she’ll stand up

 

[ShannonR]

Some daytime sleeping is normal for that age, but does she do it all the time? She doesn't look too fluffed up or anything, hard to tell with the tiny one's sometimes. That sleeping position is normal for very young chicks, yes. Does she eat n drink okay?

 

[Hkcruz]

Shes been pecking and I seen her drink once. She’s been sleeping quite a bit.

 

[ShannonR]

Hmm, do you have other chicks that age to compare this one to? I don't want to tell you there is anything wrong if it's just the age of the chick... are you giving it access to a warm enough environment?

If there is nothing specifically wrong, except sleeping, maybe some vitamins would help.

 

[Hkcruz]

I have some Orpingtons and they are extremely active

 

[Hkcruz]

They hatched the same day as her

 

[333113]

Hello! I just picked up a Silkie chick today. She’s 5 days old. I noticed she’s been sleeping a bit and sleeps in a strange position with her head on the ground. When I walk into the room she looks as if she’s dead. I’ll startle her and she’ll get up but doesn’t move much. Is the way she’s sleeping normal?

Baby chicks sleep a lot. At 5 days old, your chick will have started eating and drinking, but the wake-eat-poop-sleep cycle will be very short, maybe 10-20 minutes, and will gradually increase as the chick grows. It will be several months at least before your chick has any interest in finding a roost to sleep on. My Nankins don't even try to train their chicks to a roost before 2 months old.

When baby chicks go to sleep, they just gradually slump to the floor. Sometimes their little beak hits the floor first, and then they collapse and are sound asleep for many minutes at a time. Head on the ground is not a strange sleeping position for a chick. At our house, we call this the "boneless chicken ranch" phase, after Gary Larson's cartoon of that name. You should be seeing roughly the same behavior in the other chicks. Every breed behaves a bit differently, and my experience with Orpingtons is that they are very active compared with my Crevecoeurs and Sultans. A silkie is quite a small bird to put together with Orpingtons, so you will want to watch to see that the others don't overrun her.