The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: storm35 on August 15, 2010, 10:47:32 pm
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We got 3 baby chicks, light sussexs, about week or just over old, and a baby duck same age, we have them in a big guinea pig cage thing, with a 40 watt bulb,. saw dust, but one of them is a lot smaller and cheaps loud all night, most of the day aswell, until i bring her/him out and put him/her in jumper, then falls asleep, so i am worried she or he is too cold, can i add another bulb, is that too much? Other ones are fien, just this little one, we got them Fri night.
Any help would be appreciated, cant get a fire red bublb as i have not got a fitting for that, we only have the 2 screw in lamps? I laid a woolly scarf down, they seem to love sitting on that and going to sleep.
Chris x
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If there is room for them to get away from the heat then you can increase it. If they are too warm they will move away. When I had my baby ducks hatched for a friend he left a cardboard box with a lamp attached to it with an ordinary bulb. The bulb blew so I hunted around for another one and put it in (most of my bulbs are these energy saving ones with no heat coming off them.) Anyway, I couldn't understand why they were all huddled right at the far corner of the box as far away from the bulb as they could get, till Brian came for his ducklings later that day and discovered that I had replaced a 40w bulb with a 100w one. They would have been roasted alive if the box had been much smaller ::)
Is the wee one getting enough food? I always remember an old breeder telling me when I started breeding dogs that if my puppies were crying they were either too cold, too hot, or hungry.
Hope that helps
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If there is room for them to get away from the heat then you can increase it. If they are too warm they will move away. When I had my baby ducks hatched for a friend he left a cardboard box with a lamp attached to it with an ordinary bulb. The bulb blew so I hunted around for another one and put it in (most of my bulbs are these energy saving ones with no heat coming off them.) Anyway, I couldn't understand why they were all huddled right at the far corner of the box as far away from the bulb as they could get, till Brian came for his ducklings later that day and discovered that I had replaced a 40w bulb with a 100w one. They would have been roasted alive if the box had been much smaller ::)
Is the wee one getting enough food? I always remember an old breeder telling me when I started breeding dogs that if my puppies were crying they were either too cold, too hot, or hungry.
Hope that helps
Thank you, she is getting food, but gets pushed away a lot, when i tuck her in my jumper she goes to sleep, complete silence, so i think it may be she is cold or maybe not gettin enough food, she wont take mash from my hand only peck it off other chicks, i have saw her go to the feeder and get some.
Was told by a hawk breeder that if the bulb is too hot they will roast and go to sleep and never wake up, dehydrate??
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So long as there is room for the chicks to move well away from the heat they won't roast, I don't think. They aren't that daft ;D If she's being pushed away she maybe isn't getting enough. Try leaving her with the food and one other chick, moving the others for a short time into say a cardboard box with a hot water bottle under the newspapers. She may have hatched just a little too early and isn't mature enough to know how to eat. Is she drinking OK?
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So long as there is room for the chicks to move well away from the heat they won't roast, I don't think. They aren't that daft ;D If she's being pushed away she maybe isn't getting enough. Try leaving her with the food and one other chick, moving the others for a short time into say a cardboard box with a hot water bottle under the newspapers. She may have hatched just a little too early and isn't mature enough to know how to eat. Is she drinking OK?
Yes she is eating and drinking ok, but have took 2 out and left her with another chick and she knows where water is and food, managed to get a 60 watt red spotlight bulb and you never heard a peek out of them today, they are spread out and not huddled together, so think i may leave the red spotlight bulb on them, thank you so much for your help, much appreciated, glad someone was here to help xx
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You're welcome! I'm not an expert by any means, just had a little experience of my ducklings and puppies and can share that. That's what these forums are all about ;D ;D
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Just lost another chick, no idea what i am doing wrong, surely there must be a breeder that rears up baby chickens, i am so upset, it must be something i am doing wrong, called the guy up and he only loses 1 out of 100, so it has to be me :(
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Just lost another chick, no idea what i am doing wrong, surely there must be a breeder that rears up baby chickens, i am so upset, it must be something i am doing wrong, called the guy up and he only loses 1 out of 100, so it has to be me :(
Did he not go over what you are doing to try to help?
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Just lost another chick, no idea what i am doing wrong, surely there must be a breeder that rears up baby chickens, i am so upset, it must be something i am doing wrong, called the guy up and he only loses 1 out of 100, so it has to be me :(
Did he not go over what you are doing to try to help?
Went over everything i was doing and he said he cant understand what is wrong. I have now put 40 watt bulb up and leaving it at that.
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depending how much room there is in the cage... try maybe putting a COVERED warm hot-water-bottle in? just be careful that it isnt too hot.
its a sad fact but chicks do die - it might be they just arent healthy
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We had looked after some chicks for a friend when they were on holiday, they came to us with their Mum as they were raised by a broody.
Sadly one died and when we looked it's bottom was really dirty.....it had 'pasty bum'.
When we read up on it, it is caused by stress like moving. Unfortunately they all got it and we had to wash their bottoms with warm water and apply vaseline a few times a day and still another died but the rest recovered and are doing well.
may be worth checking for that as it is most likely to happen in the first 2 weeks of life.
Sorry to hear that you have lost some :(
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depending how much room there is in the cage... try maybe putting a COVERED warm hot-water-bottle in? just be careful that it isnt too hot.
its a sad fact but chicks do die - it might be they just arent healthy
Will try that, put in under the shavings? The breeder told me he usually loses about 1 in a hundred, i feel hellish as i have lost 2 so far in 4, :( Not seen the little one drink all day, so i got her out, and tried putting water to her beak with my finger, on a clean sponge, i have a syringe, not tried that yet. It stresses her out getting her out and trying her with water, so i dont want to do that as i will make matters worse.
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It stresses her out getting her out and trying her with water, so i dont want to do that as i will make matters worse.
that will get her cold too .
be careful if you syringe... easy to get it wrong sadly.
yes, put the HWB under the shaving, but DONT make it too hot, and wrap it in a towel or something first
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We had looked after some chicks for a friend when they were on holiday, they came to us with their Mum as they were raised by a broody.
Sadly one died and when we looked it's bottom was really dirty.....it had 'pasty bum'.
When we read up on it, it is caused by stress like moving. Unfortunately they all got it and we had to wash their bottoms with warm water and apply vaseline a few times a day and still another died but the rest recovered and are doing well.
may be worth checking for that as it is most likely to happen in the first 2 weeks of life.
Sorry to hear that you have lost some :(
Ok will go check her bum in a sec, its so sad, glad the others recovered ok.
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It stresses her out getting her out and trying her with water, so i dont want to do that as i will make matters worse.
that will get her cold too .
be careful if you syringe... easy to get it wrong sadly.
yes, put the HWB under the shaving, but DONT make it too hot, and wrap it in a towel or something first
I dont want to syringe incase it lets out a huge squirt, but the syringe thing never worked and i cant get to open her beak to put a drop in, as i need to hold her aswell. Will get a hot water bottle and make it warm, put it under shavings, then it wont need a towel if i just make it warm??
Just wished he never gave me chicks as young as these ones, poor wee things.
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How are the chicks now Hope all goes well for them
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Well last night jut before i went to bed, shne went right over to the water, took a long drink was there for a while, and this morning she was drinking again, thank goodness, i can now relax.
Thanks everyone for your help xxxxx
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A long time ago(2001 I think) John and I tried a new project taking on 700 supposedly day old to 13 week slaughter - free range. We had a huge barn, and half an acre for them. We got them at a week old due to the bad weather (it was January - wrong time to start that venture with hindsight, and the promotors didn't tell us, needless to say) They needed so much heat (gas bottles) and food, trailers loads at a time, that we actually lost about £50 overall in stead of making the £350 on the batch that they predicted! Lots of losses due to the cold - found some frozen to the barn wall in a snowstorm, and to scouring, and some just unexplained deaths, although some due to john's big feet ::) ;) They also told us they weren't up all to the required weight of 2 kilos so restricted our payment. We never did it again! I think we were conned to be honest.
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A long time ago(2001 I think) John and I tried a new project taking on 700 supposedly day old to 13 week slaughter - free range. We had a huge barn, and half an acre for them. We got them at a week old due to the bad weather (it was January - wrong time to start that venture with hindsight, and the promotors didn't tell us, needless to say) They needed so much heat (gas bottles) and food, trailers loads at a time, that we actually lost about £50 overall in stead of making the £350 on the batch that they predicted! Lots of losses due to the cold - found some frozen to the barn wall in a snowstorm, and to scouring, and some just unexplained deaths, although some due to john's big feet ::) ;) They also told us they weren't up all to the required weight of 2 kilos so restricted our payment. We never did it again! I think we were conned to be honest.
How awful, sounds like you were conned, poor things, trial and error on a lot of things, but its sad when it comes to animals.
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It was particularly galling for me as John had been made redundant the year before and become depressed and was sitting around doing nothing while I was at the office(except when out climbing - the love of his life ;D). I thought it would be something he could take on as a business for himself that he could build up and earn a little cash too. SAdly we never did find that something before he fell.
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It was particularly galling for me as John had been made redundant the year before and become depressed and was sitting around doing nothing while I was at the office(except when out climbing - the love of his life ;D). I thought it would be something he could take on as a business for himself that he could build up and earn a little cash too. SAdly we never did find that something before he fell.
So sorry to hear that :( xx
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Oh that is sad Doganjo. Sorry to hear that. Are you ok
Helen
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Oh that is sad Doganjo. Sorry to hear that. Are you ok
Helen
Yes, fine, thanks, Helen. Long time ago now - 2003. You can't 'unhappen' things so you just get on with the rest of your life. Remind me to show you the big picture in my hallway when you come here on Saturday. Are you bringing family with you? My grandkids are coming too - 11, 8, and 3 (their granda was killed in a road crash - he saved my life so I could annoy all of you! ;D ;D ;D)
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Well last night jut before i went to bed, shne went right over to the water, took a long drink was there for a while, and this morning she was drinking again, thank goodness, i can now relax.
Thanks everyone for your help xxxxx
glad things are looking up for her, Storm35.
been "offline" for a while (bloomin' BT!) so nice to know... :)
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Well last night jut before i went to bed, shne went right over to the water, took a long drink was there for a while, and this morning she was drinking again, thank goodness, i can now relax.
Thanks everyone for your help xxxxx
glad things are looking up for her, Storm35.
been "offline" for a while (bloomin' BT!) so nice to know... :)
Sorry but the little one died :( i have a duckling and a chick left, duck is getting huge and more smelly by the day, chick thinks duck is her mummy, am stuck as to what to do now, i cant keep duck in with chick as chick wont be able to go out for a while, duck is getting big, cant get a duck house made up to put him even if i could find a duck for company for him, chick goes mad if duck is awya for a swim in bath, so i cant seperate them. Only thing i can come up with is take them back to the breeder, which will be a shame as they have a great bond together, so am stuck :(
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Can you get another chick of a similar size and age? Seems a shame for you to part with them, after what you have just been through, and everything. And another duckling for the duckling you have already ......doubled your numbers for you!!
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Can you get another chick of a similar size and age? Seems a shame for you to part with them, after what you have just been through, and everything. And another duckling for the duckling you have already ......doubled your numbers for you!!
Not really, no one around here has a chick of same age, or duck, the thing is, the duck was to live with the hens, but now that i have only 1 of each, duck is getting huge, he will have to go out before the chick, chick will cry for her, and duck cant go out alone, i been told duck cant go out until 8 weeks, he is smelly juist now but going to outgrow the big pen i have for them, then the chick i am scared to get anymore chicks incase they die on me, so it looks like i am going to have to take them back, just should have got pol hens, i am not sure if anyone on here is close byu that can look after duck and hen, would want them to live together, be a shame to part them?
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Storm keeping the duck in the house will stink to high heaven. The weather is still mild enough to put it outside for a while every day if you have a secure run you could leave it in? Other than that a shed you could move it to with the heat lamp on when necessary? I have had a single hatch duckling once before and I know the smell they are capable of making but getting it outside for a while is good for the duckling too. Hope this helps a wee bit.
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Storm keeping the duck in the house will stink to high heaven. The weather is still mild enough to put it outside for a while every day if you have a secure run you could leave it in? Other than that a shed you could move it to with the heat lamp on when necessary? I have had a single hatch duckling once before and I know the smell they are capable of making but getting it outside for a while is good for the duckling too. Hope this helps a wee bit.
Thank you, i have been told ducklings can go out when 3 weeks old, and i have been told ducklings cant go out until they are all feathered, but if i did put duck out, its cold and raining here, the chick would bawl for duck as she thinks its her mother. Another thing breeder said i can let duck live with hens, or hen in my case, but i have been told that they cant as a duck likes water and will make the bedding and hen house all wet, not good for hen? Its a huge mess, i am stuck as to what to do, i cant get another hen house for the duck, then i would need to get another duck, breeder has not ducks same age, so if anyone can look after the 2 of them, keep them together, i would be happy, i have 1 more person i can ask and then am out of ideas, other than handing them back :(
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You are obviously getting yourself worked in to a state over this situation and it is clear you are desperate to do the right thing for these animals. I think in this case it would be best for them, and you, if you quickly found them a new home. The thing you do not want to do is go back to the farm and say here have them back because if they do not want them you don't know how they would be looked after. It also seems that the person who sold you these didn't bother too much about the animals welfare at the start. If you were close to me I would have helped you out earlier and raised them for you unril they were big enough to come home and join you and some friends the same sort of adult stage. Good luck. :)
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Hi Storm, did you manage to get anything sorted out?
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Hi Storm, did you manage to get anything sorted out?
Thank you, where are you based?
I have found a good loving home for them, a lovely lady, breeds hens and ducks, and will raise them and rehome them, and also give me pics and updates, at least i know they will be looked after well, but i am travelling 100 miles there and 100 back, but its well worth it, to konw they are off to a good home.
Now i need to look for 3 hens, small to medium, as my coop is not made for 3 large hens.
On look out for 3 hens if anyone can help me out?
Thank you
Chris xxx
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Wow that's some journey for you but again shows your commitment to giving these birds the best life so well done you. I am just outside St Andrews. Great that she will keep you up to date with their progress too.
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As an after thought would the lady not meet you half way????
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As an after thought would the lady not meet you half way????
She never asked so i wont ask her lol, i really dont mind, she is doing me a favour, so its fine.
St andrews is a lovely place to live, by the sea, lucky you.
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We are right on the banks of the river Eden, a beautiful setting and my geese and ducks get full use of the river.
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hi Storm35, just caught up with all this, so glad you've found a good place for the litl'uns to live.
dont beat yourself up over it, its all part of the learning curve.
good luck with your next lot! :)
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We are right on the banks of the river Eden, a beautiful setting and my geese and ducks get full use of the river.
Ohh wow am soo jealous, sounds beautiful.
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hi Storm35, just caught up with all this, so glad you've found a good place for the litl'uns to live.
dont beat yourself up over it, its all part of the learning curve.
good luck with your next lot! :)
Hi there and thank you, getting told i am nuts going all that way, but at least they will be looked after, so round 2 starts when i get hens, ::)
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Pleased you have sorted something out for your chick and duckling. I am sure you will find some hens - there is always someone wanting to rehome for one reason or another. Older hens are a lot easier for a beginner to deal with, and you never know, eventually you may want to rear some chicks sometime.
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Pleased you have sorted something out for your chick and duckling. I am sure you will find some hens - there is always someone wanting to rehome for one reason or another. Older hens are a lot easier for a beginner to deal with, and you never know, eventually you may want to rear some chicks sometime.
Thanks roxy, i would love to rear some chicks, but i think i need to work on that a lot more lol.