Lessons from Chickenlandia: About Baby Chicks

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By Dalia Monterroso, President of Chickenlandia

I remember it like it was yesterday. I had just returned from the farm store. In my hands was a paper sack containing ten tiny, peeping chicks. By the time I picked them out they already knew how to peck and scratch like miniscule dinosaurs. Surely my anxiety about their welfare was unfounded; they appeared so robust! As I placed them one by one into the brooder, a passion awoke in me like nothing else I had experienced. But that’s another story for another time. For now, let’s talk about my first tough lesson in Chickenlandia.

The Mighty Journey of Baby Chicks

Most baby chicks sold at farm stores in the United States are born in a hatchery. The hatcheries brood them in industrial-sized incubators (imagine giant, mechanical hens) that turn them at just the right time and keep them at the exact right temperature and humidity level. Once they’ve hatched and fluffed out they are almost immediately sent on a journey across what to them must feel like the universe. That journey normally begins before they are twenty-four hours old. Could you imagine? I mean, when I was one day old all I did was sleep, scream, and eat! Luckily for those around me, I’ve since become more active.

The process hatchery chickens experience before arriving in our backyards is only possible because baby chicks have about 48 hours after hatch before they need food and water. This grace period ensures that a mother hen can sit on her nest until all her babies have arrived. It also means that newborn chicks can survive a short trip through the mail before an emergency occurs. The day I brought my baby chicks home, I didn’t realize the scope of what they had experienced prior to their final destination. Consequently, I didn’t know the stress signals to watch for so that I could take appropriate action if needed.

My First Teachable Moment

I hate telling this part of the story, but I know it could save many others from unnecessary heartbreak, so tell it I must. There were two impossibly small Rhode Island Red Bantams in my baby flock; an impulse buy, but in my defense they were the cutest things I had ever seen in my life (my children excluded). When I looked into the brooder, they peered right back at me in a way the others didn’t. But while I interpreted their gaze as one of true love, in reality they were listless and staring into space. I wonder sometimes if perhaps they were pleading with me in the only way they knew how. Regardless, I should have noticed their wings were droopy and they weren’t eating or drinking. I should have recognized the danger signals, but I didn’t. By the next morning, they were both gone.

Perhaps my little ones passed from some invisible condition I couldn’t have done anything about. This is certainly a possibility, and is the reason mother hens hatch out several baby chicks. What’s more probable, though, is that they died from something called “starve-out,” which simply means they did not get to food and water soon enough after hatch, and thus failed to thrive. Starve out is unfortunately common in shipped chicks, but if you know what to look for there are actions you can take to possibly save them. A chick with starve out will have droopy wings, be listless, and won’t be eating or drinking much, if at all. They will stare into space or onto the ground. They’ll always seem sleepy except when they are peeping loudly. Closely observing your baby chicks for these behaviors during their first 24 hours with you is critical.

Hatching the Sick Chick Protocol

Once I was over the shock and guilt of my first hard lesson in Chickenlandia, I picked up the pieces, went back to the farm store, and got another two baby chicks. One of them was the last bantam Rhode Island Red they had. Her name was Popcorn and she was a delightfully friendly and cuddly hen. I’m happy to report that she lived a happy, long life in Chickenlandia. So, while losing those two babies was hard for me, the silver lining (aside from Popcorn) was that it prompted me to create what I now call Chickenlandia’s Sick Chick Protocol, which is featured in my book Let’s All Keep Chickens. The following is an excerpt containing a recipe and simple steps that can be taken if you have a baby chick showing the signs of starve-out.

How to Make the Sick Chick Slurry

You can make the following formula when you have a sick chick who is struggling, then hand-feed the slurry to your baby chick via a needleless syringe several times a day.

Ingredients

✤ 1 green tea bag
✤ 1 cup tepid (not hot) water
✤ Electrolyte, vitamin, and probiotic powder for chickens (EVP)
✤ 1 egg yolk
✤ small needleless syringe
✤ 2 drops Bach Rescue Remedy, or other similar flower essence (optional)

Instructions

1. Steep the green tea bag in the water for about 1 minute to prepare a weak tea.
2. Mix in the appropriate amount of EVP powder per the package instructions.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of the tea mixture to the egg yolk and stir. (You can save the remaining tea mixture in the fridge and use within 24 hours. Always bring to room temperature before administering.) Add 1 drop of Rescue Remedy, if desired, or place 1 drop of Rescue Remedy on the chick’s back each time you feed it the slurry.
4. Place drops of the formula on the side of the chick’s beak so that the chick can lap it up. If they are not drinking it once it pools inside their beak, they are likely too far gone to be saved without the help of a licensed veterinarian, and even then it’s unlikely they will make it. Do not force-feed, as doing so can easily cause a chick or chicken to aspirate food or liquid. Repeat several times a day.

(Recipe excerpted from Let’s All Keep Chickens © by Dalia Monterroso, used with permission from Storey Publishing.)

If you don’t have all of the above ingredients, don’t worry. In a pinch you can use green tea alone, just egg yolk and a little water, or simply give your baby chick some honey or sugar water. The goal is to get energy and hydration into them so that they gain the will to eat and drink on their own. It’s certainly rewarding to see a chick that was near death bounce back and thrive. But sometimes nothing you do is enough to keep them alive. If this is the case, take comfort in the fact that while they were here you gave them a better life than most chickens in the world. And that definitely makes you a good egg.

You know her as The President of Chickenlandia, but her non-feathered friends call her Dalia. Some years ago, Dalia decided to bring home 10 little chicks and start a hobby. That hobby quickly grew into a full-feathered passion that she couldn’t stop talking about. Before long, she was part-owner of a farm store, teaching beginner chicken-keeping classes, and delivering seminars across Northwest Washington. While the store has since closed, Dalia continues to help others start their chicken-keeping adventure while sharing peace, laughter, and inspiration.

Published in the Apr/May 2024 issue of Backyard Poultry magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.