Firefly Is Ailing
I’m not sure what happened, but our littlest chick, Firefly, is not doing well. I first noticed this morning when I came in to change the chicks’ water. I easily counted nine chicks. Where was the other one? The chicks were all crowding into one corner and I moved them away from it with my hand. At the bottom of the pile of chicks was Firefly. They had been standing on her. (See her down low in the right back corner? I didn’t yet realize she was being trodden on when I took this photo.)
Her left leg appears to be injured, but I can see no obvious wound. She can’t put any weight on it, and seems to have only enough strength to kind of flop about a little. We have isolated her in a small box with her own food and water. I’ve watched her move about her box, and eat and drink many times today. She is sleeping often. I’m more concerned that she’s getting adequate water than I am about her eating. With other animals, eating is a sign of not yet being finished, but dehydration kills quickly.
She appears to be more comfortable now, but who knows? She is an 18- or 19-day-old chicken. And we are inexperienced at raising chicks. While she has slept today, she has at times appeared dead, with limbs akimbo and neck splayed out on the litter. (But even healthy chicks sometimes look dead when they’re sleeping.) At least we know that if she is indeed on her way out of this world, she can pass in peace; she won’t be tormented by her flock. Chickens aren’t at all compassionate toward other chickens with weakness or injury.
I wonder what happened to her. I keep trying to figure out how she was hurt. I wish she weren’t Lucas’s favorite. I don’t really expect to find her still living in the morning.
March 6, 2011 at 10:37 pm
I’m so sorry….much love to you all.
March 7, 2011 at 5:44 am
Sara, you are a wonderful mommy to your boys and to your chicks. If she doesn’t make it, you certainly gave it your best shot. Blessings to you all
March 7, 2011 at 10:00 am
Well Firefly was awake this morning… you just never know.
March 7, 2011 at 10:37 am
Sara, if you have a moment you might check in with the folks at the Urban Homestead in Pasadena, CA. They have been keeping chickens for years and generally treat all of their livestock ‘in house’. They seem to have a serious storehouse of knowledge when it comes to birds (both ducks and chickens).
http://urbanhomestead.org/
I have no idea what their response time is to email messages, but it might be worth a shot.