Just Clucking Around

[apgreen79]

So on with the journey,

So it seems to be common for hatchery chicks to have or develop pasty butt, and mine have not been immune to it. I was just released from butt wiping duty when our son decided he was ready to use the potty. Now I get to wipe one butt + many others. I thought I was done with all that. Oh well, at least it doesn't stink, yet!

I did lots of reading about the whole pasty butt thing, and decided to try a few things that I read about on here.
Yesterday after all the booty cleaning was completed I applied a little vaseline to everybody's hinney. Next I ground up the chick starter so that it would be finer, i did notice that they was kicking out the larger pieces, now none seems to be going to waste. In fact now they have created a moat around the feeder, which I find to be quite funny.
Next I boiled an egg, finely chopped and placed on a small saucer and when I put it in the brooder they walked around and looked at like it was the plague. Then about 30 minutes later they was chasing each other around the brooder trying to steal the other chicks egg.
Today the butts looked better and there were slightly fewer to clean. I have been fortunate that no one's vent has been closed or compacted, just some poo stuck to they're fluff.
They do seem to be getting used to us now, wee can put our hands in the brooder and they like to come see what's going on and peck a little (which just tickles). They will even eat out of our hands now. Not all will but that's cool.

However I did find that most of the chicks have a large knot on the right side of their necks.

Some are larger than others.
Obviously I freaked, thought my chicks were gonna start dying on me.
I did a little research and it seems that the crop is full and should go down by morning. Not sure if it's normal or not, or if I did something to cause that I shouldn't do. So any advice on that would be helpful and welcomed. I do plan on starting the chicks on grit tomorrow, so not sure if that will help with the knot(s). But they'll need the grit anyway.

Everybody does seem to be happy and there hasn't been too much picking as of yet. I hope it stays that way.

And lastly we were supposed to cull 2 of our roo's today but haven't been able to. I'm sick, and the hubby had to work too late. We are shooting for tomorrow, no pun intended. Our son won't be here so that will be one plus about waiting.

Now onto something a bit more cheerful!
Todays Chick Pics

Buff Orpington at 6 Days


Ancona at 6 Days


Barred Rock at 6 Days. She was throwing a chirpping fit about me taking her picture.

 

[apgreen79]

Yes they do, but they looked comfortable. There was wiggle room but thats it. I took our son with me to pick up the chicks and he could hear them coming from back of the building. He was so excited by the time the lady got back to the counter he was bouncing and begging to see them. So I opened the box praying

none would be dead. Not ready to explain to a crying 3yr old that one. But everyone was alive and healthy, Thankfully!

 

[UrbanFarming]

Yes they do, but they looked comfortable. There was wiggle room but thats it. I took our son with me to pick up the chicks and he could hear them coming from back of the building. He was so excited by the time the lady got back to the counter he was bouncing and begging to see them. So I opened the box praying

none would be dead. Not ready to explain to a crying 3yr old that one. But everyone was alive and healthy, Thankfully!

My chicks are 4 weeks old. When I got the first 3 at the local feed store everyone was fine for the first couple days. Then one morning I woke up and the smallest one had died during the night. I had no idea why. I removed it and when my two and a half year old son woke up he kept asking where the one other chick was. I told him it flew away. We ended up getting 2 more so we have a total of 4 chicks. But my son often tells people that come over, "one bock-bock fly away" in his cute two year old speak. lol. The things a little one remembers…

I'm so glad all of your arrivals were alive because I know how hard it would be to explain a "sleeping" chick!

 

[apgreen79]

Busy, busy, busy. So busy in fact that I wasn't able to take my chick pics. I was a little sad when I realized that this morning. But I'll get them today.

On a good note though all the chicks are doing well. The crop issue that I freaked out about turned out to be nothing. I spent the better part of an hour yesterday massaging everyone's crop i then placed paper towel on top of the shavings, to ensure they were not eating them and took they're food away. Well it took all of about 10 minutes for them to start moving the paper towels to get to the shavings. Well so much for that idea!

I needed a plan B, this is what I did.
I put they're food back in the brooder and waited till close to bed time (8:30pm). I took everybody out gave them a nice little massage (again) and put them all in a box. Next I cleaned out the brooder, got ride of the old shavings, water and food, put in fresh shavings, laid newspaper on top of that and taped it to the side of the brooder(to ensure they could not get to the shavings), then I put paper towels on top of that. I put their water back in the brooder (but no food), last but not least I put the chicks back in as well. They immediately noticed what I had done and started pecking but this time they couldn't get to the shavings. So they ran around and chirped like mad for a while, I assume they were voicing their opinion on the situation.
I did this to make sure no one was eating during the night so that I could check to see if their crops were full. I got up at 3am checked everybody's crop. And sure enough everybody's crop was empty!!!!! What a relief.
I gave them their food back and needless to say they were happy and eating when I left for work.

Pasty Butt update:
Not a single chick had pasty butt yesterday. Woohoo! Between the boiled eggs, grit (sand), grinding up the food something worked. When I gave them their food back this morning I did not grind it up. Got to thinking that maybe grinding up their food may eventually cause a compacted crop. Not to mention I'll be able to see if the infamous pasty butt returns.

 

[apgreen79]

You know how chicks will sporadically play dead? Well the other day it had been about 30 min since I had done a visual check and when I did I got plum tickled. One of the girls had apparently decided to fall over shortly after my previous check. Because not only was she on her back, but she was flailing around in a circle. Not only that but she had been there long enough to remove all the shavings, she was essentially in a bowl. I put her back upright and she ran to the other side of the brooder and laid down for a few minutes. I felt bad for her. I could only imagine what it would be like to be stuck like that. It probably seemed like an eternity to her before I flipped her upright.

 

[aart]

Aren't they just a gas?

 

[apgreen79]

Yes they are. I came in from work today and 6 of them was standing with necks stretched out pecking at the side wall. The interesting part was that they were all pecking at the same spot taking turns. They are a hoot for sure!

 

[apgreen79]

Thank you for such an interesting read! I loved reading about your journey to raising chicks. Can't wait to hear what happened with your first cull! I don't know if I could do it!! 

We haven't been able to do that yet. I think we're procrastinating. LOL! I'm gonna be the one doing the culling though on Wednesday/Thursday.
Having the elders help me on my first go at it. That way I won't poison anyone.

 

[apgreen79]

With me working I haven't had much time to be with the babies. Soon as I get home it's a routine of change the water, food, and bedding. I missed two days of taking pictures (Friday, Saturday), but I did manage to take them yesterday. And wouldn't cha know each chick waited till I was just about to take her picture and pooped. Ugh.

I decided to remove the covering I had on top of the shavings. Since the chicks are now 9 days old figured they be fine. The immediately started scratching and slinging shavings everywhere!!!
A few have already started trying to fly. And I discovered I have a runt in the bunch. It's one of my Anconas and is almost half the size of her siblings. She seems to be eating and drinking well, and has just as much vigor as the rest, so I'm not concerned. I think she just became my pick of the litter, not that I have any favorites.

I will post picks tomorrow!

I encourage peeps to stop in and say hi! And if you have advice that's all the better.

 

[apgreen79]

So now my babies are two weeks old and I have fell off the wagon on taking pictures everyday.
I do however have pictures and my how they've grown. I have got to get my act together because they literally are changing everyday.

Here's what's been going on:

I have lowered the brooder temp to 85 and everybody seems comfortable with that.

They are starting to perch on things, so I take that as a hint that they are ready to roost. Now Just to find one of those dowel rods around here. I thought of using small PVC Pipe but I'm afraid they fall off in thier sleep. Next stop is the craft store (which is about 30 min. away). Hopefully we'll be able to pick up tomorrow.

I have a few rogue chicks that have been trying to escape (flying). And although the brooder is adeqautly deep if I have the top open a few with actually fly up and land on the side of the brooder. I just pick the perp up give her some lovin' and set her down.

The most amusing thing they do is that if anyone lays their hand in the brooder you will get rushed with chicks. They will perch, peck, and walk all over your hands. Even if you don't have food. They'll even stay in your hand so you can lift them up, once you stop moving they'll take a flying leap. Sometimes it goes well sometimes not so well. I'll never be able to say they aren't adventurous.

The one thing I'm grateful for is that they have'nt started stinking up the house yet......
The screen I'm using to cover the brooder seems to be helping with the dust.

Our 3yr old decided it would be a great idea to bring one of our hens in the house the other day. I was real tempted to put her in the brooder just to see what she would do. Then I started thinking that i'd have to kill her if she hurt any of the babies, I could see it happening in my head. So the closest she got was me holding her so she could see what all the fuss was. She was more than happy to go back outside.

Ok enough of my gabbering.....
On with the pics......

Just as soon as I take todays pic. be back in a few..