2011-07-26
My babies are here!! I feel amazingly numb from the excitement.
Silver Laced Wyandotte, Elberta; Speckled Sussex, Mamie; Light Brahma, Annie; Golden Laced Polish, Mabel; Silver Cuckoo Marans, Sylvester; and a Partridge Cochin, Lenora. They are all named for my husband & my grandmothers. Those are quite the names, hey!? Anyway they were all wonderful ladies in our life, and each of my chicks have some quality that relates to a story about our grandmothers & great-grandmothers.
I feel prepared to raise my girls due to all the wonderful advise, clever techniques and building skills, and cute stories that each of you share here at BackYard Chickens. Thank you so much!
Here is a picture of my very active babies in their John Deere trailer brooder in my garage.
2011-07-29 Day 5 and my chicks are growing well... except for one, my golden laced polish. Yesterday morning, it became clearly noticeable that she, Mable, was not as active as the other chicks. She became clumsy and stopped wanting anything to eat or drink. I quickly went into action. I love the fact that before I got my chicks, I spent hours upon hours reading many different posts here at BYC and I recalled a few things to do. My laptop has been with me in the garage with my chicks while I check the www to make sure I'm doing things as best I can and keep an eye on those cute little peepers.
Checked her hind-end and there was a bit of dried poo. I quickly washed and dried her as she continued her peeping. I added a small amount of olive oil which may not have been the best thing to do because the other chicks later decided that her feathers needed preening and were tasty. I separated her for the rest of the day and she peeped all the more. She really wanted to be with her girlfriends. It seems that when I increase the temperature to 95 everone is too warm except for Mabel. 90 degrees is perfect for all but one, hmmm. Hopefully this will work it's way out as time goes by.
I gave Mabel some Karo syrup and sent my husband on a wild goose chase to find Poly-Vi-Sol, our Wal Mart only had it with iron and I know that's a no-no. Walgreens came through for us and I gave my girl her vitamins. What a long wait for those to work.
This morning she is a little more active and has begun to eat on her own and the others are not messing with her feathers any longer. I'm so happy! I continue to give her vitamin water with a dropper because she doesn't seem as interested in drinking. Here is today's photo of my chicks. Notice how Mabel is on her own next to a 1x2 for a perch.
2011-07-31 Day 7: After getting some very good advice through the sick chick forum, I started Mable on Corid to treat her for cocci the evening of day 5. I'm also continuing her PolyViSol twice a day. I decided to just treat the one sick chick in hopes that the others will stay well since they have the help of medicated feed. Hopefully this exposure will further strengthen their immune system. I am watching them very carefully for any symptoms and so far, they are very active & trying to fly out of the brooder when I lift the top.
I'm happy to report that Mabel is slowly getting better. She has begun to eat much better, her eyes are brighter, she nestles down to rest like the other, she is preening herself, and has times where she takes off on a quick sprint. She is still a little wobbly and uses her wings to steady herself when she gets off balance. She was pasty this morning so I cleaned her bottom again and she was content with her blow dry. She is no longer peeping continuously or needing so much heat, and is joining in with her gal pals very nicely.
This morning I caught her trying to perch, but she doesn't have the balance to stay up there too long, but the fact that she is tying gives me hope for a full recovery.
I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for the support that a newbie like me can get from this wonderful forum. May God Bless you.
My babies are here!! I feel amazingly numb from the excitement.
Silver Laced Wyandotte, Elberta; Speckled Sussex, Mamie; Light Brahma, Annie; Golden Laced Polish, Mabel; Silver Cuckoo Marans, Sylvester; and a Partridge Cochin, Lenora. They are all named for my husband & my grandmothers. Those are quite the names, hey!? Anyway they were all wonderful ladies in our life, and each of my chicks have some quality that relates to a story about our grandmothers & great-grandmothers.
I feel prepared to raise my girls due to all the wonderful advise, clever techniques and building skills, and cute stories that each of you share here at BackYard Chickens. Thank you so much!
Here is a picture of my very active babies in their John Deere trailer brooder in my garage.
2011-07-29 Day 5 and my chicks are growing well... except for one, my golden laced polish. Yesterday morning, it became clearly noticeable that she, Mable, was not as active as the other chicks. She became clumsy and stopped wanting anything to eat or drink. I quickly went into action. I love the fact that before I got my chicks, I spent hours upon hours reading many different posts here at BYC and I recalled a few things to do. My laptop has been with me in the garage with my chicks while I check the www to make sure I'm doing things as best I can and keep an eye on those cute little peepers.
Checked her hind-end and there was a bit of dried poo. I quickly washed and dried her as she continued her peeping. I added a small amount of olive oil which may not have been the best thing to do because the other chicks later decided that her feathers needed preening and were tasty. I separated her for the rest of the day and she peeped all the more. She really wanted to be with her girlfriends. It seems that when I increase the temperature to 95 everone is too warm except for Mabel. 90 degrees is perfect for all but one, hmmm. Hopefully this will work it's way out as time goes by.
I gave Mabel some Karo syrup and sent my husband on a wild goose chase to find Poly-Vi-Sol, our Wal Mart only had it with iron and I know that's a no-no. Walgreens came through for us and I gave my girl her vitamins. What a long wait for those to work.
This morning she is a little more active and has begun to eat on her own and the others are not messing with her feathers any longer. I'm so happy! I continue to give her vitamin water with a dropper because she doesn't seem as interested in drinking. Here is today's photo of my chicks. Notice how Mabel is on her own next to a 1x2 for a perch.
2011-07-31 Day 7: After getting some very good advice through the sick chick forum, I started Mable on Corid to treat her for cocci the evening of day 5. I'm also continuing her PolyViSol twice a day. I decided to just treat the one sick chick in hopes that the others will stay well since they have the help of medicated feed. Hopefully this exposure will further strengthen their immune system. I am watching them very carefully for any symptoms and so far, they are very active & trying to fly out of the brooder when I lift the top.
I'm happy to report that Mabel is slowly getting better. She has begun to eat much better, her eyes are brighter, she nestles down to rest like the other, she is preening herself, and has times where she takes off on a quick sprint. She is still a little wobbly and uses her wings to steady herself when she gets off balance. She was pasty this morning so I cleaned her bottom again and she was content with her blow dry. She is no longer peeping continuously or needing so much heat, and is joining in with her gal pals very nicely.
This morning I caught her trying to perch, but she doesn't have the balance to stay up there too long, but the fact that she is tying gives me hope for a full recovery.
I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for the support that a newbie like me can get from this wonderful forum. May God Bless you.