Chick-A-Dee First 5 Days

I don't want to say that I under estimated the amount of work that goes into raising chicks because we have done a ton of research and talked to many people before we started this adventure, but OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!!  

So, first off... we had one that wasn't really acting right.  She hadn't been right since we got her.  She would just stand in one spot and sway back and forth.  I was feeding her mushed up grit and giving her water through an eye dropper ever 30 minutes but unfortunately, we lost her Sunday morning.  I don't think that it had anything to do with disease... just something that happened.  Maybe she got knocked around a little too much in transit?

Also, since you get birds that are 2 days old (who would normally be with their mama for about 6 weeks) you have to do all the stuff that their mama would do... I have been cleaning chicken butts as well.  GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING  They have these things called "vents" that can get clogged with poo, and a mama chicken would clean this normally, but since I am the mama, I got to do it... YAY for me!!  I put the girls in a warm little bath in a small Rubbermaid container and it kind of just falls off.  Not too nasty, but not the most attractive attribute!

Clogged Vent

Bath Time!!

All warmed up!

Also, I have two little misses that have a crusty eye... I was worried at first, but after looking at it, I see that it is because of our darling little girl, "Stripes".  She created some scabs around the other chicks eyes from trying to peck their eyeballs out!  I am happy to report that she has calmed down quite a bit, but she did some damage!  With the two little girls that have the eye situation, I just get a warm washcloth and wipe their eye until it opens.  I have been told to use some boric acid with some water on their eyes, but I havent done that yet.  I am not too worried since I can see that its a scab... no swelling or puss, so fingers crossed, we are good!

Also, the little darlings are MESSY!  They scratch in the shavings, which is totally natural, they are looking for food, but they throw the shavings everywhere!  I clean their waterers out a few times a day, but they are still always messy.  just part of the game I guess.  We are having a lot of fun with the girls, we each have our favorite, and I will start introducing them soon. We are learning a ton, and its just a really fun thing to have going right now.

Our Girls

Yes, they are still in my shower... easier for me to keep an eye on them.