Smaller number of chicks = greater chance they will all make it?

[MydearWatson]

So, I am anxiously awaiting my chicks next month... so I constantly browse these boards! I try to stay away from the doomsday ones but sometimes I cave. I am really nervous about losing a chick. I know it happens, not much you can do about it but I freak nonetheless. I know I cant be the only one!

Anyway, it seems like a lot of the lost ones were from large groups. I am only getting four, they are going to be in my house in a high traffic area and I will be home all day and night most of the time. So the only time they will really be unsupervised is when I am sleeping our out doing errands. do you think this will up my chances of having four healthy chicks that make it?

 

[N&MSchroeder]

I started out with 5 and they did perfectly fine. Really, once a chick's environment is right, they do very well, but the wait is nerve racking.

 

[katiekuj]

We are new at this too - and we started with three chicks. I think the first 2 days I was constantly doing "dead-chick" checks throughout the day - always tapping on the brooder if one was sleeping funny or seemed "too still". I felt like when my baby's were newborns and I'd check them while sleeping to make sure they were still breathing

However, we followed all the information we'd read and advice given, got our brooder to the right temp and kept the food and water clean and fresh - and they are doing GREAT! After the first day they seemed to perk up a lot more and become more active and comfortable in their surroundings - seemed like the first day they were very stressed.

Congratulations! I'm only in this a week and I already want more

 

[nicokl502]

had had 5 to start out with one my cat got to and that was my flat one couldn't walk something happen in shipping and had had one that lasted 5 months but was egg bound i did all i could but she didn't make so i have two know but i bought more at the feed store and they seem a lot more healthier than the ones who got shipped to me i bought 8 but only because i didn't know the sex of the chicks , but i think you will be fine i just had bad luck with chicks being shipped but the two i have i love so much

 

[cafarmgirl]

If they make it thru shipping and you have a warm, safe environment at home they should be fine. It's not unusual to loose a chick or two, sometimes you get one that just isn't healthy or has a problem of some kind. Other then that they're just like any other baby, keep them warm and fed and safe. Have fun with your new babies, they don't stay little long enough!

 

[MetalSmitten]

i think it's just a matter of statistics. for example, suppose that 1 in 20 chicks is simply unhealthy genetically, was a runt, whatever (and i'm making that number completely up as an example - i don't know how many actually are affected by such things so please take this with a grain of salt). so, someone who orders 5 chicks will probably not even get an unhealthy one, just by the odds. but someone who orders 200 chicks will get 10 unhealthy ones. if that makes sense?

but there's pros and cons to everything. more chicks = more warmth, protection in numbers. fewer chicks = less chance of disease, more personal attention to each. and some batches are just healthier than others.

you never know

sometimes you'll lose one. sometimes not. just do the best you can

they're more resilient i think than people give them credit for.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

and to the wonderful fun of chickeneering! There really are a lot of variables involved in helping chicks survive to adulthood. The best we can do is to provide the best we can for them, and the rest is up to them. I guess the advantage of raising chicks in smaller batches is that they won't make as much mess to keep up with, there's less chance of them piling up on a smaller one and smothering it, and you can give each one more individual attention and may notice sooner if one is ailing.

But remember that Nature's Way is to play the odds. The hen lays more eggs than are needed to hatch, more chicks hatch than are needed to survive, more chicks survive than are needed to grow to maturity. Some chicks just don't have a full component of the Right Stuff necessary for long-term growth, even though they may look fine at hatch.

And life itself is fraught with danger, errors & accidents. Many folks will get at least a few more chicks than their ideal number of grown birds, just in case Something Happens. This is also why so many of us have more chickens than we had originally planned for.

I know you don't want to have to think about it now, but really, you have to keep in mind that baby chicks, like hamsters & goldfish, are vulnerable little creatures. You may want to think about what you'll do if something does go wrong, if you have the budget for professional care, if there's even a vet in your area who treats chickens. Most of us don't, so we rely on the shared wisdom of the community to learn how to tend to our own chickens' needs, even having to humanely dispatch them when necessary. It's not the most pleasant topic to have to think about, but it's better to be well-prepared in advance than to have to do this research in a panic when you've got a bird that's ill or injured.

I do wish you the greatest success with the 4 chicks you ordered, and hope they'll all do very well! It's very possible that they will, remember that many more people post when they have a problem than when things are all going fine.

 

[Aemelia]

I can have 2 hens in town where I am from. So after some reading I went to my favorite farm store and picked up 3 chicks that were all 3 days old. I figured if I bought 3 the odds were better I would have 2 make it to laying age. They are almost 4 weeks old now and all 3 are still doing fine. My small dog and 3 cats haven't gotten to them and my 4 year old hasn't managed to squeeze any too hard.

So now I'm just hoping none of my neighbors notice and complain that I have 1 more than I should. Odds are they won't there are privacy fences up and the neighbor behind me only lives here for one month a year.

Good luck they are so sweet I hope you enjoy yours!

 

[Sinfonian]

I too was worried before I got mine. I knew I wanted 3 or 4 so I bought 4. One had me nervous over what turned out to be an outtie belly button. Otherwise they're all fine now 4 weeks old and wanting out of their brooder. Regular checks will tell you if they're listless or have pasty butt, two common symptoms of bad things. Just be attentive (not while sleeping of course) and they should be fine. Good luck and enjoy the time!

 

[SIMPleChick]

I have bought all of my chicks from IFA here in Utah and I have talked to the lady in charge of ONLY the chicks, while they are having chick days and she said they lose one chick a day out of hundreds..and they have HUNDREDS! Those are good odds. She goes around every day and pulls off all the pasty butt she sees and they dip every single beak before bringing the chicks out...I know because I had to wait an hour for a shipment of chicks I saw delivered, before I could just get 1 Australorp out of the new babies! I definatly overbought, knowing there is a multitude of things that could happen. I am a novice chicken keeper, this being the FIRST year. I have bought 19 chickens, sold 4 healthy roosters and have all of the other healthy 15! (We were only planning on 4 but thats chicken math for ya!) Survival of chick really depends on how well it hatched, how strong it is, how well it travels, if it is more stressed than the others or if it gets cold. But some times chicks just don't thrive...I know the lady at the store will re-dip the beaks of the little chicks that don't look like they are doing well on their own every morning but she can't sit over all of them all day. I have a little TINY Old English Game Bantam that seemed to never get warm we force fed it and had a heating pad and gave it extra care for a couple of days and it is healthy and happy now. Its all in odds, you never know if you will lose one or not, so my advice is plan ahead and get MORE MORE MORE!!!! And...GOOD LUCK!