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  1. mamaem

    Introducing baby chicks to adult ducks?

    Ah, I see! I didn't realize that it would be hard to get the chicks to go up the ramp. Maybe that's one advantage to the whole run being as secure as the coop ... if they don't go into the coop, then maybe the worst case is their eggs get laid in inappropriate places (meaning, I could leave...
  2. mamaem

    Introducing baby chicks to adult ducks?

    Thanks a lot! (although I wish I were getting a more hopeful response about the idea of 3 ducks and 5 chickens sharing a 75 square foot run). We're so cramped for space, I hate to give more space up for poultry (especially given that I have to build with full rat-, raccoon-, and eagle-proof...
  3. mamaem

    Introducing baby chicks to adult ducks?

    Thanks for your perspective, oldhenlikesdogs! Since it sounds like you're an experienced keeper of both ducks and chickens, I'd love to draw you out on your ideas... specifically, I'm wondering what aspect of getting the chickens up top and ducks below do you think will be difficult? The ducks...
  4. mamaem

    Introducing baby chicks to adult ducks?

    We have three 1-year-old Welsh Harlequin ducks (all female), and just got our first batch ever of five baby chicks about two weeks ago. Of course they're still in their brooder right now, but I want to be prepared for how to introduce them to each other because they are going to share an...
  5. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Sorry to hear what you're struggling with; thank you for sharing it. Hearing how many deaths you experienced chicken-keepers have dealt with is a good reminder to me to try to be prepared for the sad eventuality that goes hand-in-hand with animal raising. An update on that little chick with...
  6. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    What a good perspective on animal death with children. Thanks for that. Yes, I'll continue to do what I can for her, although I've explained to the kids that, at least in our family, chicks (and ducks) are in a different category than our dog for example ... so, no vets, surgery or expensive...
  7. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Thanks, Bocktobery 10, I don't know anything about kefir (and live in an urban area, so I don't know anybody growing it). I have been adding some chick probiotic powder to the water every other day, which I hope would accomplish the same thing as yogurt.
  8. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Thanks for the reply! I haven't tried giving oil (which I think I recall reading means using a syringe and squirting some olive oil down it's throat?). Maybe that's the next step. If she's not going to survive, I think the kids and I will be ok with it... I just don't want it to be drawn out...
  9. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    It's been another 4 days, and I've been removing food overnight. Each morning, the chick with the swollen crop still has a bulge about the size of a grape or black olive, and it's kind of hard (and still seems to have a faint crunchy sound when massaged). Then, by the end of the day, it has...
  10. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    OK, the kids and I will keep a close eye on behavior throughout the day, but I'll continue to allow access to food (and plenty of grit, I guess). Thanks again!
  11. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    OK, thanks, so that tells me that this chick didn't eat overnight (because it was dark and I'm using the heating pad cave set-up), so does that make it a bigger problem that her crop was so swollen this morning? Or should I just watch her behavior, as EggSighted4Life suggested, and make sure...
  12. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Thanks, Junebuggena! Is it ok for all the chicks to go without food overnight, or should I isolate this one with the swollen crop? I don't think they were eating overnight because it was totally dark and I'm guessing they were under their heating pad cave (they were silent, at least).
  13. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Well, I don't know about the vomiting either, but it seems like on some of the other impacted crop threads I've read, people have said that when they massage their chicken's crop while it's upside down, it vomits. But mine didn't... and I don't even know if I should be trying for that!
  14. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Thanks a lot! For this photo, I had a heat lamp on, but we are actually not using it (I only had it on to pre-warm the new bedding that I was about to put in). I'm using a heating pad cave in the brooder and it works really well. Have a thermometer in it and it's staying 92 degrees, so the...
  15. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    Forgot to add: those photos are from first thing in the morning today (I noticed the bulge last night).
  16. mamaem

    update: 1 wk old chick- swollen crop

    I'm a new poster (although longtime lurker), and the kids and I got our first batch of five chicks from the feed store 4 days ago. The chicks had arrived at the store that day, so I'm guessing this chick is one week old now. Last night I noticed that one of them (a Barnevelder) has a swollen...
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