The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Chrissie on June 30, 2013, 09:38:29 am
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We hatched 2 Silkie chicks (out of 7) from the incubator last Wednesday. Since we have 1 chicken with 2 weeks old chicks we thought to put them in with her – it worked well during the daytime but then in the evening when it was time to go inside the coop the motherhen attacked the 2 new ones so we took them back inside. They are in a shoebox with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel and on our laps in the evening when we are watching tv. Last night one of them looked like it was more or less dead – floppy, eyes closed, seemingly struggling to breathe and unable to peep. We thought it maybe got some food stuck so we started feeding water with a syringe and gently rubbing its throat – after about 30 mins it seemed fine and well again so we thought that was it. However this morning it again looked like it was on his last legs and we did the same thing again and it perked up peeping again…it also struggles to walk and stand up and looks more like a toddler at 6 months who just sits on its bum….Any suggestions or shall we just keep doing what we do and hope for the best?
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Is it under heat or is the only heat source a hot water bottle?
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just the hot water bottle but the lid is on with airholes so it is nicely toasty in there...
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The hot water bottle won't be keeping them warm enough, especially at night. Surely you have to be refilling it every hour at least to maintain any kind of warmth in there? They need to be at a constant 37 C for the first few weeks, as they cannot produce their own body heat. You need to get a heat lamp or electric hen asap.
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I would stick the incubator back on and keep them in there until you can get a proper brooder set up.
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ok thanks - will do that and see how we go - just ordered a brooder online too so fingers crossed - I have been getting up through the night to refill but more every 3 hours rather than every hour...
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Good luck Chrissie and let us know how you get on.
Am doing "chicken hospital" myself at the moment. ::) :-*
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Agree totally with chrissie, can you keep them in their box but take the lid of incubator which should be the heated area and place this in the box, does that make sense. That way they are not pooing in incubator.
Good luck mojo
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Just an idea, we had one that struggled to feed so my wife mixed mash & olive oil and fed chick off her finger, its 5 weeks old and perfect.
eggcellent outcome
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the heat lamps arent too expensive and you can make a safe area for them cheaply - we used an old travel cot at first with the heatlamp tied to a broom handle balanced over the top of the cot. they need a suprising amount of heat, so i think thats your problem. heat, clean water and chick crumbs should keep them ok.
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Thanks so much for all your ideas and encouragement! Sadly the wee chick died this morning :-[ It looked more or less dead when I came in this morning but then I managed to get some water down and kept it warm but it died shortly after....do they get strokes or get brain damaged? It did appear that one side of his whole body wasn't working and I wondered if something happened to it when the other broody hen attacked it and flung it through the grass? I know ultimately it doesn't matter now but I always find it easier to know the reasons so I can improve things for the next time.
The other one, albeit lonely is doing perfectly fine getting more adventurous by the hour - will he be fine growing up 'alone' amongst humans? he is very good company but I just wondered if I need to teach him stuff or when and how it is best to introduce him to the flock? Don't want to run the risk of loosing him by putting him in at night time and hoping they won't know in the morning - that also applied to our 1 month old ducklings ...they are in the field with the other ducks now and unless they get too close to the other drake they are fine. One of the runners had a proper go at one of the ducklings (does that mean he is a male too?) Anyway, they are separated by a fence until further notice now and I will just see how they get on...
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Sorry to hear it died,
It's all part of the learning chicken learning curve!
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Think if it was me I would source day old chicks and get a couple for company , it will be a long journey alone otherwise before it mixes with the flock.
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we once found a stray v young duckling on the road and put it in with our broody and her chicks but when we werent looking, she killed it.
try and sprinkle the feed infront of him to entice him to eat and dip his beak in the water. im not sure how a lone chick would learn without copying others. hed also be colder without someone to cuddle up with.
good luck.
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Yep, I'd try and find some similar aged friends for it. Then when you do introduce them, can you have a run within the main run? I've introduced the broodies with their charges back into the flock this way - so they're penned off for a couple of days but visible to the others. Then let them out under supervision and see what happens. I've also just done the same with some ducklings I hatched in the incubator. They were fine after a day penned off by themselves (but there are 12 of them so safety in numbers).
H
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Sorry to hear you lost the chick.
as alreay said I would get some day old chicks to put in with the remaining chick. there is loads of places have them
at least then it will have company and learn from the others