something grabbed my baby chick

[bantymum]

I am really taking care of her 2 babies for her.
I bring them in at night, they sleep in a comfy plastic bunny hutch on wheels with wire top, with a red globe at one end to provide warmth.
They are 3 weeks old and are getting their feathers.
They stand about 15 centimeters tall and they are real characters, we call them the "cheepies".
I hope they arent roosters though, when I put them out in the morning sun in their run they fight.
Does this mean i have 2 roos???or is it a pecking order thing.

 

[mudhen]

bantymum, I chocked up reading about how Brownie put the down feathers iin a sunny corner for her peeps before she passed.

What a sweet mom!
So sorry for your loss, :aww.
Sorry I'm of no help with the chicks fighting, but it sounds like they are thriving with your care!

 

[AccidentalFarm]

I am always amazed when I hear stories of animals showing compassion and concern for another. I suppose we sometimes forget that though they are animals, they are intelligent creatures.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Brownie sounds like she was an exceptional hen.
I'm sure your babies are just playing and sorting out who's who when they go out to play. I wouldn't worry about it unless blood gets drawn- then they may need separating. It's likely that this behavior will stop in a few days.
Keep us posted.

 

[bantymum]

Yes i tend to agree there with the fighting as it stops within a few seconds then they are friends again,.
I have just had the 2 "cheepies" inside on my tummy with an old snuggle blanket draped loosely over them to keep them warm. They loved it, it was sheer bliss watching the telly this evening with them.
They poked out from under the blanket and lay their heads down flat to sleep with the blanket on their backs. It also kept my sore tummy warm too.
I would thoroughly recommend this mutual "heat treatment" to any chicken mum or dad with a sore tum with mumless chicks!!!

 

[bantymum]

Here is a photo of my beloved Brownie the day before she passed away

 

[bantymum]

The little chick on the left has a little tail so may be a rooster?????any thoughts?

 

[Llysse]

Hens usually feather out faster than roosters do, so if anything, the one with a tail is probably the hen.

 

[the_great_snag]

If she was broody for a while it might have run her down. Birds are notorious for concealing illness until they are in REALLY bad shape. It's an instinct that wild birds have developed due to the fact that most predators will target the weaker members of the flock. Unfortunately it makes it hard to know if your birds are sick.

I've seen recommendations that you hold your birds everyday and examine their keel bone to see how fat they are, but barring this it's dang hard to know if your chick is sick.

Sorry for your loss. I would have suggested you just raise the peeps yourself too, and let the mommy just keep the one baby, but that's your choice. I'm glad both babies are doing well.

Finally, I don't think that chicks that are a few days apart will bother a broody hen. Don't most naturally hatched clutches hatch over a period of days anyway?

Personally I think that it's just as easy to just raise the babies in a brooder if they aren't the hen's own babies. I believe chickens (and other precocial birds) do not pass anything on to their young such as some bird species do that feed their chicks mouth to mouth until they are "weaned"... Altricial or nidiculous birds, such as most song birds give their babies "crop milk" or something to that effect when their chicks are newly hatched that helps their immune system. It's sort of a corallary to the colostrum that mammals give their newborn babies instead of regular mother's milk.

This why most people who breed caged birds will not take the babies from the mother for hand-feeding until they are a few days old. Again though I see no reason why a brooder-reared chick would be less healthy than a momma-raised chick.