- Thread starter
- #21
Thank you both for taking time to ponder on this strange issue, @azygous and @Eggcessive.
Yeah, I'm not using the Epsom salts. I actually never did, because her feet were cracked when I first looked at them in the morning and I thought it would hurt.
It is not hot at all where the chicks have been outside; it's only been in the upper 50's/low 60's here and they've had a mixture of shade/overcast/sun the whole time. And the chicks have only been outside a few days, as most days it has been too cool/windy to have them outside over the last week.
This chick (Abigail) actually seems much happier when outside; she perks up out there and is more active so she will eat. She cheeps less when outside, too. When she's inside, she more just stands on one leg, or, now that her feet are cracked, she often crouches like it hurts to stand up, and cheeps a lot.
The sand is just from outside here. We have pure sand, no clay, here at our house, and it's not from a dry lake or riverbed. She's not actually standing on sand in the brooder unless she goes into the little sand pit (which we have in there for grit). I've never actually seen her in the sand, she mostly just stays on top of the dry leaves right under the heat lamp.
I suspect that the hatchery is not doing a good job with their stock on the "Ameracauna" (Easter Egger) lines. Out of 4 Ameracauna chicks that we bought, 3 of them have had issues. One of them was weak from day 1 and would never eat or drink anything at all (and force feeding wasn't successful), so of course she died within a couple days. Then there is this one with the foot issue. The other two Ameracaunas are doing fine, but we noticed that one of them has scissor beak. So that is 3 out of the 4 we got having some sort of genetic-type issue. The other chicks we bought (Welsummers and Barred Rocks) all seem happy and healthy, with no signs of genetic issues.
There was a time earlier today when I was wondering if I was going to have to euthanize Abigail, because she was cheeping so long and hard in pain. The cracks obviously pain her much more, such that she doesn't want to stand up much, even on one leg.
When I repertorized her symptoms in my homeopathic software, Silicea was a top match, so I started giving her homeopathic Silicea (administered orally) this afternoon to see if it will stimulate quick healing of the cracks. Thus far, each time I've given her a dose of Silicea, shortly thereafter she has started being much more active, not cheeping, eating and acting almost like the other chicks for a couple hours. So I'm going to keep going with that and see if I can get more healing out of it.
I'm also going to apply a wet solution of homeopathic Calendula directly to her feet, since it works very well as a natural antiseptic and promotes rapid healing. I'll have to see if I can get some Bag Balm tomorrow, depending on how things are going.
Thanks again! Will keep you posted on how things are going.
Yeah, I'm not using the Epsom salts. I actually never did, because her feet were cracked when I first looked at them in the morning and I thought it would hurt.
It is not hot at all where the chicks have been outside; it's only been in the upper 50's/low 60's here and they've had a mixture of shade/overcast/sun the whole time. And the chicks have only been outside a few days, as most days it has been too cool/windy to have them outside over the last week.
This chick (Abigail) actually seems much happier when outside; she perks up out there and is more active so she will eat. She cheeps less when outside, too. When she's inside, she more just stands on one leg, or, now that her feet are cracked, she often crouches like it hurts to stand up, and cheeps a lot.
The sand is just from outside here. We have pure sand, no clay, here at our house, and it's not from a dry lake or riverbed. She's not actually standing on sand in the brooder unless she goes into the little sand pit (which we have in there for grit). I've never actually seen her in the sand, she mostly just stays on top of the dry leaves right under the heat lamp.
I suspect that the hatchery is not doing a good job with their stock on the "Ameracauna" (Easter Egger) lines. Out of 4 Ameracauna chicks that we bought, 3 of them have had issues. One of them was weak from day 1 and would never eat or drink anything at all (and force feeding wasn't successful), so of course she died within a couple days. Then there is this one with the foot issue. The other two Ameracaunas are doing fine, but we noticed that one of them has scissor beak. So that is 3 out of the 4 we got having some sort of genetic-type issue. The other chicks we bought (Welsummers and Barred Rocks) all seem happy and healthy, with no signs of genetic issues.
There was a time earlier today when I was wondering if I was going to have to euthanize Abigail, because she was cheeping so long and hard in pain. The cracks obviously pain her much more, such that she doesn't want to stand up much, even on one leg.
When I repertorized her symptoms in my homeopathic software, Silicea was a top match, so I started giving her homeopathic Silicea (administered orally) this afternoon to see if it will stimulate quick healing of the cracks. Thus far, each time I've given her a dose of Silicea, shortly thereafter she has started being much more active, not cheeping, eating and acting almost like the other chicks for a couple hours. So I'm going to keep going with that and see if I can get more healing out of it.
I'm also going to apply a wet solution of homeopathic Calendula directly to her feet, since it works very well as a natural antiseptic and promotes rapid healing. I'll have to see if I can get some Bag Balm tomorrow, depending on how things are going.
Thanks again! Will keep you posted on how things are going.
