ncsknm1218
Hatching
- Mar 17, 2019
- 1
- 0
- 7
Hey everyone!
Kiki and Nick from Texas posting here! This is our first time posting on BYC. We have 2 baby chicks who are about 10 weeks old. One of them, our blue cochin, named Dolly, has been chirping funny (you can hear her in the video below). Here's the story:
We got these babies in late July when we had to return 2 roosters to the breeder (very sad, but we couldn't keep them). Once the babies were old enough, we set up a little place for them in the backyard in the "cat habitat" off the back of the house, which has a little roof and the sides are lined with garden mesh. There's a little bench back there that we wrapped up in tarps in order to house their food and water and provide them a safe/dry place to eat, drink, and sleep. We put pine shavings inside the enclosure and throughout the larger space where they roamed around. It was also ideal because it gave our big girls (we have 5 of them) a chance to come and see them. It was working out really well!
Anyways, this week, we were hit by Imelda. While the tarped enclosure stayed dry, the rest of the cage got pretty water-logged. But the girls wouldn't really go inside. On Tuesday night, we had to place the girls inside, where they stayed warm and dried off. Wednesday was calm, but Thursday brought even more rain! When I went out to put the girls inside, I noticed a really, really awful foul smell coming from inside the tarped enclosure (which I did NOT smell on Tuesday or Wednesday) and had to scrape it out and put new shavings down in the pouring rain, which made it smell a little better. I tried to keep the girls inside, but they seemed to prefer wandering around the caged-in area where the rain blew in.
When the rain finally stopped, we went out to tuck the girls in and check on everything, and we noticed Dolly and Scarlet (our Speckled Sussex) laying together in the front corner of the enclosure. Dolly was not chirping normally, so I immediately went inside to check her out and make sure she's okay. The thing is, she seems to be breathing perfectly well. She only makes this noise when she tries to chirp. Scarlet, who won't leave her side, sounds like a perfectly normal chick. Both chicks are not displaying abnormal behavior. They are eating and drinking normally, as far as we can tell. I do think there has been a little bit of diarrhea though, but I'm also unsure if we're just overthinking things. Yesterday, we got them some electrolyte/probiotic powder for their water, which they're drinking. We want to integrate them into the larger flock soon, but we don't want to risk our big girls getting sick!!!
If you know what's going on, please, please, please let us know. We love our babies and don't want to lose them! <3
~Kiki & Nick
Kiki and Nick from Texas posting here! This is our first time posting on BYC. We have 2 baby chicks who are about 10 weeks old. One of them, our blue cochin, named Dolly, has been chirping funny (you can hear her in the video below). Here's the story:
We got these babies in late July when we had to return 2 roosters to the breeder (very sad, but we couldn't keep them). Once the babies were old enough, we set up a little place for them in the backyard in the "cat habitat" off the back of the house, which has a little roof and the sides are lined with garden mesh. There's a little bench back there that we wrapped up in tarps in order to house their food and water and provide them a safe/dry place to eat, drink, and sleep. We put pine shavings inside the enclosure and throughout the larger space where they roamed around. It was also ideal because it gave our big girls (we have 5 of them) a chance to come and see them. It was working out really well!
Anyways, this week, we were hit by Imelda. While the tarped enclosure stayed dry, the rest of the cage got pretty water-logged. But the girls wouldn't really go inside. On Tuesday night, we had to place the girls inside, where they stayed warm and dried off. Wednesday was calm, but Thursday brought even more rain! When I went out to put the girls inside, I noticed a really, really awful foul smell coming from inside the tarped enclosure (which I did NOT smell on Tuesday or Wednesday) and had to scrape it out and put new shavings down in the pouring rain, which made it smell a little better. I tried to keep the girls inside, but they seemed to prefer wandering around the caged-in area where the rain blew in.
When the rain finally stopped, we went out to tuck the girls in and check on everything, and we noticed Dolly and Scarlet (our Speckled Sussex) laying together in the front corner of the enclosure. Dolly was not chirping normally, so I immediately went inside to check her out and make sure she's okay. The thing is, she seems to be breathing perfectly well. She only makes this noise when she tries to chirp. Scarlet, who won't leave her side, sounds like a perfectly normal chick. Both chicks are not displaying abnormal behavior. They are eating and drinking normally, as far as we can tell. I do think there has been a little bit of diarrhea though, but I'm also unsure if we're just overthinking things. Yesterday, we got them some electrolyte/probiotic powder for their water, which they're drinking. We want to integrate them into the larger flock soon, but we don't want to risk our big girls getting sick!!!
If you know what's going on, please, please, please let us know. We love our babies and don't want to lose them! <3
~Kiki & Nick
Attachments
Last edited:
