THEY ARE TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING AND I DONT GET IT

[Lilla]

Hi,
I'm a teenager (16) raising 4 chicks. I have a Easter Egger, a Golden sex link, a Australorp and a Salmon Faverolle. I got 3 from the same place and time. I got the salmon faverolle a week later somewhere else (that might be important). In September I lose my last 3 chickens to raccoons so the circle of chicken life isn't new to me.

The problem
My chicks for the most part never stop yelling as if something is very wrong. They have clean water, food, there box is 2.5 x 3.2, I spend time with each one every day , access to heating lame and shade. Plus I give them some meal warms and fruit every day. It dose seems like they pick on the faverolle a little more then the others but its not that bad. I feel like everything should be fine and they should only be giving me happy soft cheeps. I'm siting next to them as I type this and one is yelling at me. More like she is sad or wants help. The others aren't even messing with her PLUS SHES FALLING ASLEEP DOING IT?!? THEY ARE CUTE AND ALL BUT THAT REALLY RUFFLES MY FEATHERS! They all do this at some point. I don't know whats wrong and I don't know what I can do to help. If you could help me you'd be a big help to my sanity. I love all animals and its hard to watch them be upset.

Thank you for your time,
Lilla H-R

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Depending on how old they are, they might need more space or less heat. But that is completely dependant on how old your chicks are.

Also...what are they eating besides treats?

 

[Lilla]

Depending on how old they are, they might need more space or less heat. But that is completely dependant on how old your chicks are.

Also...what are they eating besides treats?

hello,
three of them are two weeks old and one of them is one week. They eat natural chick starer. we get it from a family farm.

 

[Mamas_Looney_Farm]

At two weeks old I take them off the heat lamp, but I’m also in Texas and there’s really no need for a heat lamp here. I have 2 that are day olds w/out a heat lamp right now. Where are you from and can you post a picture of the ingredients of the feed? Maybe you just have loud chicks?

 

[Tre3hugger]

What are the other behaviors? Are they eating pooping and drinking normally? Are they huddling in one section of the brooder, or scattered around the edges? Are they in a low traffic area? If all the other things are ok I would say don't worry about the noise. It's hard to say without more detail. My chicks would often go into loud choruses for no apparent reason. Or cause they were on top of the brooder plate and the rest were underneath. The one on top thought it was alone and lost!

So other than chirping a lot, how else are they acting?

 

[SE WA Guy]

Is the crying constant, even when they're together with no other view of you?

My daughters like to handle the chicks too, but even picking one up to 'hand train' it would cause a bit of panic in the chick being picked up. The chicks at a young age, more than anything else, just wanted to have constant line of sight with each other. When we let them free range in the yard, if one wanders too far away, it would panic and call out until it literally got back to the group and touched every member of the flock.

There's nothing wrong with spending time with your chicks at all, but they may be associating your presence with being picked off from the group - and that could distress them a bit.

Best bet if you're trying to tame them is to place treats in your hand or on your legs and let the lot of them come to you as they please. As they get older and more independent, they don't need to see each other as often and will start to tolerate being singled out for attention a bit more.

 

[Lilla]

At two weeks old I take them off the heat lamp, but I’m also in Texas and there’s really no need for a heat lamp here. I have 2 that are day olds w/out a heat lamp right now. Where are you from and can you post a picture of the ingredients of the feed? Maybe you just have loud chicks?

hi,
I live in Washton state.

the pitcher was loading took 15 minutes. sorry

 

[abpatchy]

It could just be their temperament... I was hatching this spring and the first hatch was wonderfully quiet. Soft peeps it was lovely to have them in the house. The next batch was just the oposite. They were loud and peeping. Really annoying to be around. There was nothing wrong. They had water and feed, a heat source. Everything was fine. They were just a noisy bunch. That's all.
I had 4 hatches and each was different.

 

[Lilla]

What are the other behaviors? Are they eating pooping and drinking normally? Are they huddling in one section of the brooder, or scattered around the edges? Are they in a low traffic area? If all the other things are ok I would say don't worry about the noise. It's hard to say without more detail. My chicks would often go into loud choruses for no apparent reason. Or cause they were on top of the brooder plate and the rest were underneath. The one on top thought it was alone and lost!

So other than chirping a lot, how else are they acting?

hello,
they are eating drinking pooping etc normally. they walk around nominally. so it doesn't seem like they are to cold or hot but the weird thing is they are trying to jump out of the box. i have tried moving the light to different spots but they don't care, they want out. i do let them walk around the room 2 times a day but they still will do it.

 

[LaFleche]

Could you post a picture of your setup?