Tough love or all hugs

[teeville5]

This may seem like an odd thing to ask, but what should I do about one of my chicks that will not stop 'crying' until I give her attention? She's 4 weeks old and I'm not sure what breed though I suspect New Hampshire. She's the loudest of the chicks and has earned the name Crybaby. She's in a very large brooder with 18 others and is the only one that does this. The second I open the door to go downstairs she starts her chirping cry. When I walk around the brooder to see to everything she follows 'crying' all the way. The only times she seems to stop are when she's eating/drinking, sleeping, or perched on my hand. I don't mind picking her up and letting her perch, but I don't want her to be the only one who gets the opportunity to do so. I try to give them all a chance although I cannot tell some apart so I probably have a few who have not had many. Bottom line is I don't want to ignore anyone to favor the one. Do I practice a tough love approach in the hopes of getting her to stop the crying or should I just give in and give her the attention she's crying for? Any help or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Josie]

I had a chick like that. Chirped bloody murder until I picked it up. I finally figured out that it was cold (even all its brood-mates seemed fine). Once I lowered the heat lamp, the chick was fine.

Maybe this chick is having trouble in an area that the rest of the chicks have figured out.

 

[riverman]

I've had a couple of those chicks myself and usually they break that habit around month 2. And when they start free roaming they tend to start finding new things to keep them busy. If your gonna pick it up every time it chirps you'll be holding it all day

 

[hennyannie]

One year my daughter only asked for chicks for her B-day. So the day before we took her to the place where we but them, they had one BO pullet. We got her because the man before us thought she had a diease.(She was asleep when he came to pick them up, all layed out like they do) he re fused to take her. So for a few days she was the only chick we had and she thought we were her mom. She cheeped if she could not hear us. Lots of lost sleep that week.

 

[hennyannie]

Gosh I need a proof reader, did you notice the spelling?

 

[teeville5]

Quote:
Exactly!
I wish I could start taking them out, but it's only mid 40's here so I don't know if I should.

 

[lady feathers]

I would check the heat like Josie suggested and in addition keep a close eye on your chicks eating/drinking habits. Make sure this chick is at the same weight as the others and is continuing to hit the next milestones.... I just lost a EE chick at 4 weeks old about 5 days ago that had a pretty severely curved beak like a parrot's) for the first two weeks it was the same size as the other EE's we had bought, but for the following two weeks it didn't seem to grow much at all it was dwarfed by the others. Anyway, we decided to trim her beak because of her constant chirping I started to suspect she might not be getting enough food and was hungry. 2 days later she was dead on the brooder floor. When I went to pick her up I was shocked at the lack of body weight she had on her. I knew she was smaller than the rest, but I had no idea she was starving death- she was always so active and always had room to eat at the feeder. Anyways, be sure to check temp, for abnormal conditions (like a curved beak), and that the others aren't bullying her away from food... if all that seems fine then she may just be an attention hog. Just beware if that's not the case- would hate for you to lose her for overlooking the signs or finding thm too late like I did! If she is just wanting attention I vote to give it to her, but I sit with my chicks about 2 hours a day to socialize them, I'm partial to overly friendly birds!

 

[teeville5]

That gives me a lot to think on. She's one of the bigger chicks so I don't think it's a food issue and her beak looks normal. I'll check the temp under the lamp to see what it's at. Maybe some one on one time would do the trick. Thanks everyone.