Sleep deprived- baby chick won't shut up!

[Mom 2em All]

To summarize:

I had one lone egg hatch on Thursday. EE probably. I dont know what kind it is- it was a lone egg I got from my b-i-l's . An olive colored egg, has yellow legs.

My daughter kept that baby company until my lone silkie egg hatched on Monday- well, Monday night, before the baby was acting normal enough to be put in with the Thursday chick.

We were very excited to have this chick be friends with the lone chick. Company- no stress, a friend...no more crying until held- baby chick.

WRONG. The EE baby does NOT care. It wont stop peeping for my daughter. The temps are right, there is food, there is water. A stuffed animal and a mirror. And best of all, COMPANY in the brooder. All night long...peep peep peep peeep and pacing to get out of the brooder. Once held, it quiets down and goes to sleep. I refuse to allow my ten year old to sleep with the chick- too many things could and would, happen. Besides that, i have cats who would be happy to take that chick off our hands. However, at midnight last night, I was tempted. Who would think a little chick could keep an entire household awake all night? It began to sound worse than a smoke alarm.
I covered the entire cage so it cant see out. The top is not covered- so it wouldnt overheat. I made my kid turn off her teevee so there was no light, no sound, nothing in the room....peep peep peep peep....no teevee to drown that out. lol.

When you take that chick out of the brooder, the little Monday silkie baby starts peeping.

Any suggestions? It is going to be a VERY long next few weeks until it can be moved OUT.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i had a silkie do that once for 3 weeks straight till i could hatch it mates.

it was the same way!!!! drove us nuts she still did it for about a week after they were here!!!!

only one thing broke her of it. we took a piece of hardware cloth wire to divide her from the others. it drove her nuts not being able to get to them,lol. so i'd put her over there and she'd still do it, so i'd put her back on her own side so she'd not stomp the new babies. this went on me moveing her and watching her off and on for about a week fineally she gave up and started to mingle with them so i left her and watched them 2 hours later i took the divider out and she has been with them since,lol.

the prob was she was so used to being alone and us she thought we were the brooder mates. she didn't care the others were there cause she was affraid of them and didn't know what they were yet she fought to get through the wire to get to them.

if u try this don't pick ur baby up anymore than neccisary so she understands the chicks r her brood not u guys. oh and we tried everything u tried too,rotfl. oh and we tried the alarm clock ticking but it didn't work closest thing she's snuggle to is a bandanna or a wash cloth,lol.

hope this helps i truely feel for ya!!

silkie

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

we had one like that. Non stop peeping.

turned out to be a rooster

 

[spook]

We had one like that to find out it it was ill with the beginings of Cocci. Try giving it some plain live cultured yogurt also a bit of scrambled egg. Placing a stuffed animal in there can also be a benifit.
Good luck!

 

[walkswithdog]

I had one like that that didn't shut up for three months. Sold him. And it was a him.

And he was one of 25 at the time. My lone hatchling took to the sibs I got from another BYCer really well.

In some cases you CAN modify the behavior and sometimes the chick is an idiot.

Good luck, I'm on my fifth week trying to settle in a Pyr puppy I found abandoned when she was three weeks old. Unfortunately she had coccidia, it messed up her digestion, she was constantly miserable until it went away but her system is still healing. She has to eat four or five times a day, which means waking up LOUDLY at least twice a night. She was badly mishandled so we had a ton of that to work on, and it took her awhile to trust and bond so things have been rougher than getting a normal pup.

I'll be over here totally sleep deprived with you

 

[suzieq]

Oh Gosh...I had a lone chick and it was just as you described a nightmare. Maybe put a wrist watch or something that ticks? You may just have to let them peep it out. Being together beats being alone no matter what the first one thinks.

I put mine in our office and played lullabye music rather loud and threatened anyone who dared to enter. Once our chick knew a human was in ther room we were doomed.

Just do what youare doing and try everything. I do feel for you.

Good luck.

Susan

 

[iread]

How loud do the chicks get? I am totally new to this and I have 20+ babies coming on Feb. 16. I am planning on keeping them in the laundry room for a few weeks and them moving them to the basement or garage. Do I need to plan on music or a tv for them for comfort? I can't stand the thought of them crying!!! Poor babies!!!

My daughter had colic and didn't sleep through the night untill 10 months...no sleep is the WORST!!!

 

[countygirl]

I brought home two baby turkeys, just 2 days old and started to mess with them all the time for the first couple days. Then one of them kept peepin louder and louder each time while I was trying to sleep at like midnight! So I finally took it our and it fell asleep on me. Well I wasent gonna sleep with a turkey so I decided to give it company with a stuff animal. Well that didn't work! So I put my school picture in the brooder with them and it worked! The turkey started to stare at it, then laid down infront of it and fell asleep!

 

[LadyBlackFox]

How loud do the chicks get? I am totally new to this and I have 20+ babies coming on Feb. 16. I am planning on keeping them in the laundry room for a few weeks and them moving them to the basement or garage. Do I need to plan on music or a tv for them for comfort? I can't stand the thought of them crying!!! Poor babies!!!

My daughter had colic and didn't sleep through the night untill 10 months...no sleep is the WORST!!!

I play nature sound playlists for mine and it knocks them right out
Anything with soft rain or small bird sounds or even lake and duck sounds

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Me? I would probably just sleep with the chick. Bet they're super fluffy!
P.S I know that's probably not what you'll do. Do you have any broody hen? Or a clear box that you could put near your daughter with the chick in it?