Weird Easter tradition: baby chicks as Easter gifts

[ampad]

My little girls has a friend that tried to give us baby chicks as Easter gifts. Her grandpa gives her two or three every year. Weird thing is that the chicks never live past a couple of days. Reason being is that the kid has no idea how to take care of them. The girls grandpa tried to give my girls a couple of baby chicks but I turned him down. I have no idea how to take care of a baby chick. I just think this is weird and morbid. Anyone else heard of this tradition? I must be out of the loop because the grandpa told me that many people do this every year.

[texanwitch]

1. I remember back in the early 60's the stores downtown would sell baby chicks.

The little chicks were dyed different colors.

I woulld buy one but then we would take it to the farm so it grew up.

Sometimes kids in the neighborhood got baby chicks, some lived but they were tough.

My friend had pet chicken this way, the chicken had a good life.

[mix]

2. funny

My mom brought up today how her grandfather gave her and her brothers baby chicks for Easter when they were little.

She said the dogs killed them a few days later.

[Kali]

3. light bulb, chick starter, little dish of water

in a box will work for a couple of weeks - they are dusty though. they can go outside when they feather out

old tradition - they used to come dyed different colors, most don't make it for the reason you cite, most don't know how to care for them

live animals as toys - I suppose since the holiday is sort of birth and death related...

[tigereye]

5. sensible as ever, Kali

I never got the whole baby chick thing when I was a kid- they would be sold, dyed in the window of the drug store and they looked cute to small kids I suppose. But since we had never cared for chickens, my parents were sensible enough not to get us any - besides I suspect there were laws about raising chickens in the town...

[Quantess]

4. Terrible idea, in general.

If someone gives you baby chicks, and you don't know anyone willing and able to care for them, I recommend offering them on craigslist. Chances are a snake owner will be the one responding to the ad, but who knows, maybe the person sincerely wants to raise baby chicks.

I've raised baby chicks. It's fun, but you have to keep them warmer than room temperature, and always have food and water. And they do grow exponentially. Once they get to be teenagers, they aren't as cute anymore. Their poop gets larger, too.

[nolabear]

6. I'm afraid this was my childhood.

My sweet, well-meaning, hard drinking grandfather would show up with a couple of dyed chicks every Easter, and yes, they died within days. I remember being heartbroken and horrified, trying to save the little things the same way I tried to save the baby Blue Jays we'd find on the ground in Spring, with bread and water and mashed bugs and God knows what, no doubt hastening their demise. Poor little things. It was a shaping experience for me; I went into wildlife rehab at one point and maybe paid back a little, and am beginning a book on just that subject. In fact, this reminder of the Easter chicks will be agood addition to the book. Thanks, and in spite of the innocent cruelty of human beings, Happy Easter.

(Btw he switched to ducks after a while, which was why the local hospital's pond swelled with half-grown ducklings every year. *sigh*)

[alphafemale]

8. I had a "rescue" duckling once.

That was pretty easy. They do grow amazingly fast, though.

I actually thought he was really cute when his fluff fell out and he was covered in pin feathers. He reminded he of a gangly middle-schooler in that in-between phase.

[havocmom]

12. Cousin's boyfriend gave her a pair of ducklings and a baby rabbit one year

Ducks do grow fast! They got huge fast and picked on the rabbit. Rabbit was smart and figured out how to get her ears scritched by ducks.

Ducks were released to the duck pond at Knot's Berry Farm (WAY back when) and the rabbit lived to a ripe old age in the yard, house, garage. She had a passion for chewing gum and would get into any handbag left low and unattended if she could smell gum. She was a lovely pet.

The ducks probably lived a happy life too, being fed by tourists and hanging with other ducks in a swell place.

I would like to be able to raise some ducks. Love duck eggs for baking.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. My parents gave me baby chicks on Easter when I was around 8 years old

The dog next door got into their cage and ate them. At the time they told me they died because they accidentally overfed them. Years later, when I was an adult, they told me the truth.

:eyes:

[qnr]

9. We had some baby Easter chicks when we lived in Winnemucca. We had two large

dogs too. The chickens ended up doing well (though the rooster considered me his mortal enemy), and we eventually gave them to a lady that had a local farm, who wanted to let them just live life.
these grew to

[pitohui]

10. in days gone by it was a very popular tradition, we did it

baby chicks are the easiest of birdlets to raise, but they do need special baby chicken mash, i'm thinking it was 19 cents a pound (probably 2 months supply) back in the day and it's prob. still under $1/pound

you make an incubator with a light bulb in a box to keep them warm and there's no reason if they're probably cared for that they shouldn't do well

as kids we raised them and kept them until they were adults, at which time, my mom would give them away to someone living in the country who had a chicken yard

as an adult i made sure to buy chicks that were guaranteed to be female and i kept them quietly for egg laying -- they will live a number of years, they aren't real intelligent, but they can be affectionate, one of my friends used to bring one of her hens inside to watch TV with her

many suburban neighborhoods are zoned to prohibit poultry so you have to keep them secret from your neighborhood nazi "we'll run your life for you, thanks" association

[frogmarch]

11. In the late 50s when

I was a kid, I begged for, and received, a pink chick and a green chick for Easter, which were sold at our local IGA store. My dad built them a large, safe enclosure in our back yard, and the chicks grew to be roosters. I loved them, and I learned a lot by watching them grow and change. After they were grown and began disturbing the neighbors with their crowing, off they went to my friend's farm. I tried not to think about it - and I never asked my friend - but I suppose they eventually ended up on a plate. :cry:

[applegrove]

13. Twice when i have been at a hotel around easter they have had chicks on display.

Disgusting.