I just brought the week old chicks in. They did just fine the past week, but it's supposed to freeze hard tonight. With no broody, I don't want to risk it.
One of the Kraienkoppe has gone broody, and I'll give her the new chicks from the incubator when they hatch.
Her timing was off by a week.
They're rather like cats that way. "I intended to do that." "I moved because I wanted to, not because not moving would be stupid." And the final, "I'm not moving, and you can't make me."
A few posts up, I mentioned my broody who was with my sister's flock for a while. Well, her babies are 6 weeks, 5 weeks and 4 weeks. I think she decided it was time to teach them to roost with the flock.
So yesterday at roosting time she took them over to the main coop. Everyone was already in...
Day 16 (incubator countdown): take into consideration that these temps are taken at different times of day (early morning in this case), with a handheld thermometer so at varying distances.
Temps range from 94.8 to 97.3. I candled and there were two clears and three that I couldn't see. The...
As soon as the chicks are all hatched and floofy, they go out to the brooder coop.
I'd say leave the brooder plate on and let them self-regulate. They do seem to feather out faster if exposed to cold.
I tried to use a piece of a bendy straw as a sort of splint, but I only have two hands and I couldn't secure it. I ended up using vetwrap, which will probably be off tomorrow morning. I am more and more of the opinion that this is a hatching injury, but I'm coming up on the boundary where it...
Day 18 (incubator countdown): the temperatures ranged from 97.9 to 100.6. The highest were one of the Rangers (100.6) and the pink (100.4), but the Marans crosses were all in the 99 degree range.
The Ranger and the pink were right next to each other and were in dappled light from the window...
No improvement in her legs. Therapy seems ineffective except to make the legs stronger. She can get to the food on her own, and push up as long as she has something to push against. She just thrashes into the water, can't seem to coordinate that piece. But she's moving around freely using wings...
Yep, she's pancaked.
Down to 5 boys on the roost tonight. The primary roo, one of his sons, two Kraienkoppe and the Dorking-Sussex. Not sure what happened to the other. No sign of feathers. He could have gotten in a fight and ran off to cool down. They've done that before.
I'm pretty sure one of the Kraienkoppe girls has gone broody. She was screaming at me last night and spent the night on the nest. We'll see if she's still there this morning.
She's just about a year old.
I'm leaving her the fake egg. If she sticks I'll give her a few of the chicks now in the...
Without the two Ranger girls, the birds ate what they wanted and walked away, leaving a good half of the food I gave them. They all headed out to forage, which I guess is more fun.
Just judging by what was left, they must each have been eating 2 cups per day. Maybe more. And that's just chicken...
I put the two Ranger hens in isolation for the moment. When I went in the coop to get the 2nd this morning I didn't need to see to know where she was--I could hear the labored breathing.
I also put most of the chicks in the outdoor brooder. The broody wanted in, badly. Whether to kill them or...
Her legs are turned sideways, hocks straight out to the side, and the feet of course also twisted off center but perfectly in line with the hock. If I gently twist the leg it lines up perfectly to the hip and she shows no sign of pain. It just doesn't stay that way.
She was the second hatched...
My Dorking crosses have short legs, but they roost in the rafters with everyone else. No foot or leg problems with the adult birds. They're a multi-generational Dorking-Sussex cross.
Most of my birds are big. I attribute their comfort with high roosting to being put up there as chicks so they...
If you don't mind, could you give an update to this? Sounds like I may have a chick in the same condition. Feet aren't curled. It appears to be something wrong with her hips.
I found the vetwrap, but no matter how I wrap it she squirms out. One leg appears to have gone back to something resembling normal. The other is still a problem. She still can't stand without her brace, and now she's squirming around in circles and getting stuck in corners.
Physical therapy...
12 eggs for the test, all large or extra large (meaning they wouldn't fit through the holes in the turner tray of my incubator). All eggs are less than a week old. They will go around the outside of the incubator to avoid location discrepancies.
4 MaransX (she lays nearly every day and laid...