Hello,
I hatched 8 healthy happy chicks in the Kebonnixs incubator from amazon last Sunday. I had 2 eggs not hatch so I left them in there for a couple more days. On Wednesday, one of the eggs started peeping at me as I went to shut the incubator off, so I left it again. The chick pipped externally Wednesday evening and by Thursday morning, it had a 1 cm long zip starting, but it was going perpendicular to the correct zip direction. I checked on it again after work and still no change, so I gently pulled a small piece of shell off so it could unzip in the correct direction. The chick pushed his way out a few minutes after I did that, so I do believe he was truly stuck.
This chick is lively, loud and unhappy. It never shuts up. It sits back on its hocks and can stand, but usually rests on its hocks. I can't find anything physically wrong with its legs or tendons, it just doesn't seem to have the strength to stand for long periods of time. I tried chick hobbles on it for the first 24 hours. It didn't make anything better and it often got stuck on its belly with legs straight behind it, so at this point I'm assuming it has a vitamin deficiency. The chick will drink water on its own (spiked with extra chick vitamins) but will not eat. I've tried dipping the beak in mushy food, poking it in the face with dry food crumbles, clucking at the food on the floor while I peck it with my finger, and have also tried leaving the chick with the older siblings in the hope that it would learn to eat by watching the healthy chicks. It will not eat anything. The other chicks are being pretty nice to it for now, so I opted to leave it in the brooder with them. It sits under the brooder plate and cheeps constantly when it hasn't fallen asleep. It will take a few steps, but won't actively navigate the couple inches over to the waterer. If I pick it up and put it next to the waterer, it will drink on its own. It is pooping, but it's liquidy and appears to not have any trace of crumbles in it.
I'm kind of out of ideas. I feel terrible but I honestly am starting to wish it would pass peacefully in its sleep because I can't take the constant peeping anymore. Can i force feed it? If it is still lively and responsive, should I wait and try feeding it again when it seems hungrier? I can't even tell if it has a headspot, it was supposed to be a sex link blue and I'd be happy to do more work on it if I could tell it was a pullet (unfortunately I will be putting the roosters in the stew pot eventually), but it is such a light blue and I can't see a headspot like I can with the two male siblings that hatched from the same cross. Any ideas? If it's difficult to read this, please remember I'm sleep deprived and so, so done with the noise.
I hatched 8 healthy happy chicks in the Kebonnixs incubator from amazon last Sunday. I had 2 eggs not hatch so I left them in there for a couple more days. On Wednesday, one of the eggs started peeping at me as I went to shut the incubator off, so I left it again. The chick pipped externally Wednesday evening and by Thursday morning, it had a 1 cm long zip starting, but it was going perpendicular to the correct zip direction. I checked on it again after work and still no change, so I gently pulled a small piece of shell off so it could unzip in the correct direction. The chick pushed his way out a few minutes after I did that, so I do believe he was truly stuck.
This chick is lively, loud and unhappy. It never shuts up. It sits back on its hocks and can stand, but usually rests on its hocks. I can't find anything physically wrong with its legs or tendons, it just doesn't seem to have the strength to stand for long periods of time. I tried chick hobbles on it for the first 24 hours. It didn't make anything better and it often got stuck on its belly with legs straight behind it, so at this point I'm assuming it has a vitamin deficiency. The chick will drink water on its own (spiked with extra chick vitamins) but will not eat. I've tried dipping the beak in mushy food, poking it in the face with dry food crumbles, clucking at the food on the floor while I peck it with my finger, and have also tried leaving the chick with the older siblings in the hope that it would learn to eat by watching the healthy chicks. It will not eat anything. The other chicks are being pretty nice to it for now, so I opted to leave it in the brooder with them. It sits under the brooder plate and cheeps constantly when it hasn't fallen asleep. It will take a few steps, but won't actively navigate the couple inches over to the waterer. If I pick it up and put it next to the waterer, it will drink on its own. It is pooping, but it's liquidy and appears to not have any trace of crumbles in it.
I'm kind of out of ideas. I feel terrible but I honestly am starting to wish it would pass peacefully in its sleep because I can't take the constant peeping anymore. Can i force feed it? If it is still lively and responsive, should I wait and try feeding it again when it seems hungrier? I can't even tell if it has a headspot, it was supposed to be a sex link blue and I'd be happy to do more work on it if I could tell it was a pullet (unfortunately I will be putting the roosters in the stew pot eventually), but it is such a light blue and I can't see a headspot like I can with the two male siblings that hatched from the same cross. Any ideas? If it's difficult to read this, please remember I'm sleep deprived and so, so done with the noise.
