solitarysiren
Happiness in Slavery...
I am raising a chick for the first time and i was wondering if anyone else out there raises chicks. anyone have a chick as a pet?
ever raised chicks?
- Thread starter solitarysiren
- Start date
moreluck
golden ticket member
I found this little blurb.....
Little chicks drink a lot of water. Always make sure there is enough. Also, clean the water as often as possible. Chicks leave droppings everywhere - even in their water dish! As soon as chocks hatch, they start scratching for food. This can get messy, so a good idea is to get a feeder. This will keep food in one place. Just like with water, change is often! The first thing you should feed the chicks is called "crumbles". Buy this in any pet or feed store. It has everything chick needs as well as medicine to prevent diseases that can kill them.
Little chicks drink a lot of water. Always make sure there is enough. Also, clean the water as often as possible. Chicks leave droppings everywhere - even in their water dish! As soon as chocks hatch, they start scratching for food. This can get messy, so a good idea is to get a feeder. This will keep food in one place. Just like with water, change is often! The first thing you should feed the chicks is called "crumbles". Buy this in any pet or feed store. It has everything chick needs as well as medicine to prevent diseases that can kill them.
moreluck
golden ticket member
Several sites on the internet had a common instruction.....and that was to wash your hands thoroughly after handling chicks or handling their doodoo. Make sure your kids do the same and they probably shouldn't nuzzle or kiss a baby chick.....there are germs that can spread to humans.
Ok, that's all you're going to get from this city girl.
Ok, that's all you're going to get from this city girl.
diadlover
Well-Known Member
Yes, I have great chick-magnet skills, only some of which I have as yet discovered.....You need to direct this to DL....he's the chick magnet
Hi solitary, Congrats on your new baby, and a baby it will be. he, he Chicks tend to think that whoever feeds and cares for it is Mama. They'll follow around peeping and want to fall asleep in your hands.
What kind of chick is it? We've had goose and peachicks. Had to raise some in the house. Is the chick eating and drinking? Many chicks love shiny things so if it's not drinking put a clean marble in the dish. Dish should only be an inch or so deep if it's a very tiny chick. He'll peck at the marble and accidently drop his beak into the water and say "hey, this is my water bowl!"
Put food around on the floor of the cage plus in a shallow bowl. He'll peck around, as it's normal, and eventually get coordinated enough to get what he's after.
Yes, clean water is important and they'll certainly poop in it. Let the little stinker follow you around the house and just clean up the little droppings with a rag or some tp. I know about germs but have kissed countless chicks right on the beak and I'm still kickin'.
Don't leave yarn or thread around as they will try to eat it and just keep sucking it in. Eventually it can wrap around intestines and that's very, very bad. Lady I know had a pet goose in her thrift shop (with diapers LOL) and it gobbled down six ft of yarn before she caught it. Luckily it was soon enough she could pull it out. I also had a little guy get into embroidery floss and also got to him quickly enough to gently pull it out.
I'm no vet and no expert but have had a bit of experience so ask any questions and I'll try to help. Also, come in and let us know how the little guy is doing and what mischief he's getting into. Sweet little chicks just peep softly when they are going to sleep. Not much cuter. dw
What kind of chick is it? We've had goose and peachicks. Had to raise some in the house. Is the chick eating and drinking? Many chicks love shiny things so if it's not drinking put a clean marble in the dish. Dish should only be an inch or so deep if it's a very tiny chick. He'll peck at the marble and accidently drop his beak into the water and say "hey, this is my water bowl!"
Put food around on the floor of the cage plus in a shallow bowl. He'll peck around, as it's normal, and eventually get coordinated enough to get what he's after.
Yes, clean water is important and they'll certainly poop in it. Let the little stinker follow you around the house and just clean up the little droppings with a rag or some tp. I know about germs but have kissed countless chicks right on the beak and I'm still kickin'.
Don't leave yarn or thread around as they will try to eat it and just keep sucking it in. Eventually it can wrap around intestines and that's very, very bad. Lady I know had a pet goose in her thrift shop (with diapers LOL) and it gobbled down six ft of yarn before she caught it. Luckily it was soon enough she could pull it out. I also had a little guy get into embroidery floss and also got to him quickly enough to gently pull it out.
I'm no vet and no expert but have had a bit of experience so ask any questions and I'll try to help. Also, come in and let us know how the little guy is doing and what mischief he's getting into. Sweet little chicks just peep softly when they are going to sleep. Not much cuter. dw
solitarysiren
Happiness in Slavery...
well, i don't know what kind of a chick he is. i work at an elementary school and the teacher has her class keep chicks every year. And every year she gets a mystery chick. Renfroe, as i've named him, is the mystery chick. He's black and yellow, though his feathers are coming black wih white tips. his beak is black and he has feathers down his shanks. he's about three weeks old, i've had him for about a week and a half. yes, he's convinced i'm mama. when it's time for a nap he'll follow me around and peep and peep and peep loudly. i'll let him snuggle up to me with a blanket on my nap. he'll burrow underneath the blanket or in my shirt if i'm on the floor, lol.
he's eating and drinking fine. he seems to like eating out of my hand. he's allowed to roam around the apartment, though he stays with us. if one of us (either my fiance or I) walks away, he starts complaining and chases us. he doesn't really like the linoleum, though. when he wakes up in the morning, or after he power naps, he gets playful and pounces at us or runs between the two of us in a zigzag.
by bed time he gets ultra cranky, so i'll let him get under the covers for a bit and he'll quiet down and make this soft warbly 'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...' sound.......oh, it just melts my heart. he talks constantly, too, but his calls are very distinct. we've vacuumed and try to pick up everything he shouldn't eat, but he pecks at everything! it's like having a baby...we have to chick proof everything!
today he saw squirrel run across the fence and he freaked out! he made a sound that we've never heard before, too. he was staring that thing down!
i suppose my main worry right now is that he picks up fuzz every now and then and i hope it doesn't make him sick. how do i know if he's sick? is it bad if he sneezes? also, when he grows up, is he going to forget who i am? that's what i was told, anyway. i'll see if i can post a pic...
thanks for everything, guys!
he's eating and drinking fine. he seems to like eating out of my hand. he's allowed to roam around the apartment, though he stays with us. if one of us (either my fiance or I) walks away, he starts complaining and chases us. he doesn't really like the linoleum, though. when he wakes up in the morning, or after he power naps, he gets playful and pounces at us or runs between the two of us in a zigzag.
by bed time he gets ultra cranky, so i'll let him get under the covers for a bit and he'll quiet down and make this soft warbly 'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...' sound.......oh, it just melts my heart. he talks constantly, too, but his calls are very distinct. we've vacuumed and try to pick up everything he shouldn't eat, but he pecks at everything! it's like having a baby...we have to chick proof everything!
today he saw squirrel run across the fence and he freaked out! he made a sound that we've never heard before, too. he was staring that thing down!
i suppose my main worry right now is that he picks up fuzz every now and then and i hope it doesn't make him sick. how do i know if he's sick? is it bad if he sneezes? also, when he grows up, is he going to forget who i am? that's what i was told, anyway. i'll see if i can post a pic...
thanks for everything, guys!
helenofcalifornia
Well-Known Member
My daughter and boyfriend are trying to raise three hens. They read that if you don't have a rooster, one of the hens will morph into a rooster. Well, son of a gun if the white hen didn't start crowing and getting bigger. They know they were hens when they bought them so I don't know how a hen turns into a rooster. One weekend when we were visiting them, we found the "rooster" dead on its back with its feet in the air just like in the cartoons. LOL.
siren, sounds like one spoiled little chick you have there! Little teeny pieces of lint probably won't hurt it but sweep often and keep everything up. He'll try to eat anything he can get his beak into. If he stops eating and seems sluggish you'll know he isn't well and it will happen quickly with a young one. I imagine that he'll be just fine the way you're spoiling him.
He will certainly remember you and conitnue to follow you around. In fact, he'll think he can sleep with you forever. LOL! We had a sweet little hen who followed me around the yard and expected me to flip rocks and logs over so she could get the bugs. She made the cutest little noises and was quite the pest, but a welcome one. Made us laugh all the time and if I ran, she'd chase me, flapping her little wings and carrying on.
When she's outside watch for hawks, fox, raccoons and other nasties. We had baby geese outside in a very well enclosed pen and damned raccoon got them all. We called critter control out and he did find raccoon fur on the pen wire in a very small open spot. He said if they can get their head in the rest of the body will follow. We were sick over it.
I'll be watching for cute chick stories so keep 'em coming! dw
He will certainly remember you and conitnue to follow you around. In fact, he'll think he can sleep with you forever. LOL! We had a sweet little hen who followed me around the yard and expected me to flip rocks and logs over so she could get the bugs. She made the cutest little noises and was quite the pest, but a welcome one. Made us laugh all the time and if I ran, she'd chase me, flapping her little wings and carrying on.
When she's outside watch for hawks, fox, raccoons and other nasties. We had baby geese outside in a very well enclosed pen and damned raccoon got them all. We called critter control out and he did find raccoon fur on the pen wire in a very small open spot. He said if they can get their head in the rest of the body will follow. We were sick over it.
I'll be watching for cute chick stories so keep 'em coming! dw
Helen, how interesting on the morphing hen, I never knew that!
We do have an old peahen, about 20 years old who grew long tail feathers and looks like a male this year. I looked online and, sure enough, birds have hormonal changes like we do and can take on male characteristics. She's still going strong and my husband wonders just how long she's going to live. He wants her shed to store his toys but he's never going to get it. When Martha passes on I'm going to get some egg-laying chickens! dw
We do have an old peahen, about 20 years old who grew long tail feathers and looks like a male this year. I looked online and, sure enough, birds have hormonal changes like we do and can take on male characteristics. She's still going strong and my husband wonders just how long she's going to live. He wants her shed to store his toys but he's never going to get it. When Martha passes on I'm going to get some egg-laying chickens! dw
daytonupsfreightguy
freight relocation guru
Chicks grow fast,chickens don't really make good housepets,might want to relocte him/her outside lol
