Okay, this chick is a barnyard mix, a couple generations down the line. He's a little roo who otherwise seems fine, but had a brother/sister die a couple of weeks ago -- but who was in a SEPARATE brooder! I am concerned that it may have been a brother/sister breeding that resulted in this chick and his brother, but I have read that it will take several generations to start having adverse effects, so I didn't worry about incubating it! The other chick seemed fine before he died, but it was a hot day and I'm afraid he may not have run out of water. I felt like a terrible chicken owner, but I've had SUCH good hatch rates and low mortality rates that I tried not to beat myself up about it too much, plus I wasn't sure that was what had caused it because all of his brood mates were fine and his crop was a bit squishy like he still had little liquid in it. Now THIS chick is having trouble!
Here's what's going on: VERY noisy breathing -- squeeking/honking/snorting sounds, kind of labored, sometimes with mouth open, I checked his mouth and saw no "gunk" at the top or elsewhere, no runny nose/bubbly eyes, seems to be eating/drinking fine, otherwise seems healthy, running around, there have been some "bloody" type poops from him or his other brood mates, but nothing I would consider way out of the ordinary, and everybody else seems healthy with no breathing problems. Oh no, now he's sneezing!
I'm worried it might be the inbreeding thing, and I'm also worried about My mother house sat for DBF and I when we went out of town for his father's funeral, and while we were gone she bought a huge bag of bedding for everybody. I was SO happy and have been using it in their cages. It looks/smells like pine, nothing unusual about that, but it doesn't say pine anywhere on the bag -- but does say, "Horse owners: add cedar to your horse bedding" or something like that. It doesn't say what it IS, seems to be more of an advertizement. My mom insists that the feed store told her it was pine and that cedar would be red anyways, but I am still concerned since it mentions cedar.
Oh! This morning I realized that the last couple of times I fed the chicks I MIGHT have accidentally fed them "Meat Bird" which we have for the goose. My mother also rearanged everything while she was over here . . . a lifesaver now that everything's organized, but I'm afraid the Meat Bird may have gotten confused with the chick starter! Could that be it??
I'm sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to get all the details! Please tell me if you think you might know what the problem is!!!!
Here's what's going on: VERY noisy breathing -- squeeking/honking/snorting sounds, kind of labored, sometimes with mouth open, I checked his mouth and saw no "gunk" at the top or elsewhere, no runny nose/bubbly eyes, seems to be eating/drinking fine, otherwise seems healthy, running around, there have been some "bloody" type poops from him or his other brood mates, but nothing I would consider way out of the ordinary, and everybody else seems healthy with no breathing problems. Oh no, now he's sneezing!
I'm worried it might be the inbreeding thing, and I'm also worried about My mother house sat for DBF and I when we went out of town for his father's funeral, and while we were gone she bought a huge bag of bedding for everybody. I was SO happy and have been using it in their cages. It looks/smells like pine, nothing unusual about that, but it doesn't say pine anywhere on the bag -- but does say, "Horse owners: add cedar to your horse bedding" or something like that. It doesn't say what it IS, seems to be more of an advertizement. My mom insists that the feed store told her it was pine and that cedar would be red anyways, but I am still concerned since it mentions cedar.
Oh! This morning I realized that the last couple of times I fed the chicks I MIGHT have accidentally fed them "Meat Bird" which we have for the goose. My mother also rearanged everything while she was over here . . . a lifesaver now that everything's organized, but I'm afraid the Meat Bird may have gotten confused with the chick starter! Could that be it??
I'm sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to get all the details! Please tell me if you think you might know what the problem is!!!!
