My brooder had busted and there were no broody hens available this time so as soon as she was born "Peeps" has only known me and my dogs. I was finding it very difficult to get certain things done as she and I had bonded and she didn't like me leaving her alone. Unfortunately, the other eggs haven't hatched ..hopefully, yet. Peeps and my dogs bonded as well. Both are very paternal but I watch them carefully anyway, as they want to play with her but only with a gentle nudge. An over-sized Chihuahua, Mofi, and a Chinese Crested Puffer, Opi. Peeps is only as big as two of their paws and only 4 days old! Earlier today, a Black Polish/Silkie-X, Blackie, decided to peck at Peeps. Fortunately, missed each time. Peeps to my surprise, after each attempted peck, she would zoom in twoards Blackie, dashing in to give her a peck in return and dash back out again. What guts! Peeps is only just a fraction smaller than Blackie's head! ..........................................................
Peeps just died. I had left her in her box with a small dish of food and water. I had extended the sides as she was managing to jump out by climbing the furry toy dog I use to keep her warm besides the light. She.hates not being with me and will peep cotinuously until I return. She might've been alright if she had another chick for companionship. Anyway, Peeps had fallen into her water dish & got wet all over. it wasn't deep enough for her to drown in it. I found her a few inches away from her water dish lying still on her side just in front of the fluffy toy. She was cold but breathing.
Quickly, I grabbed her and rubbed her down with a soft hand towel and massaged her little body all over. I breathed hot air on her little body with an open mouth. She started peeping at me! There was hope! But, she was doing that sudden opening of her beak as if she was having trouble breathing. I've seen that before and knew that it wasn't a good sign. Nevertheless, I repeated the above severaltimes whilst I searched for a stronger light globe. Then, put her on a fluffy dog rug on my bed so I could keep an eye on her, pushed it up around her and put the lamp on it's side with the globe facing as close as I dared. At one point she stood up and wonkily tried to climb the wall of the fluffy blanket. Then, laid against it. The dogs had been watching looking concerned and earlier kept wanting to lick her but, of course, I wanted to keep her dry! To my surprise, Mofi came over and gently pushed up the edges of the blanket like he saw me do! Woah! You're a clever dog, Mofi!
So, there lies little Peeps in front of the lamp still. I know he or she is gone but I'm too upset to move her yet. I keep touching her or give her a little stroke to see if I'm wrong. That maybe she would suddenly start breathing again. Silly me!
Peeps, only 4 days old, has stolen my heart. In a way, she reminds me of a budgie I once had for about 5 years. Rainbow was only slightly larger than Peeps. Wthen she died after being egg bound. I did manage to slowly entice the egg out the day before but she was either internally damaged or still in shock or both. I held her in my hands and cried for her as well. That tiny little thing in my hand, so full of character and personality, had stolen my heart. Just like Peeps has.
Goodbye, my little friend. Until we meet again.
Mummy loves you.
If anyone has any suggestions about what else I could have done, let me know please. Just in case I find myself in the same situation again or it even might help someone else. Though I will use water drippers (similar to the ones used by guinea pigs) from now on, so the problem shouldn't occur again.
BTW, I couldn't use my brooder as it was at my X-boyfriend's place and he won't talk to me. Why? He had gone back heavily into drinking again and I said that I would help him continue to put the rest of the shade cloth up but that I couldn't work with him unless he was sober. He just flipped out!!! He said, "That's it! You don't call me a drunk! You can come over and get your f......g chickens!" and hung up. When he rang back and said that he would start "culling" my Roosters if I didn't come over immediately. I was in shock! Nah! Surely not! A few minutes later, he rang back saying he had "culled" four of my Roosters and if I didn't come right away, he would start culling the chickens as well! I was in complete shock! Knowing his past history, I was too afraid to go there. I never liked the way he culled Roosters so I learnt how to do it myself through research on the Internet and combined a few techniques to ensure that it was done humanely and without the chickens' knowledge. There are Cock Fighting groups over here and I didn't want anyone like that getting hold of any of my Roosters so they could be torn to pieces! Anyway, of course, I called the Police. Long story short, he had killed two of my Roosters. One was left. If there hd been a fourth, it would have been one of my breeder Roosters who I had tamed & got really close to. Admittedly, the ones he killed were possibly going to be "culled" but I wanted to see if I could find homes for them first. The horror that goes through my mind is him killing the poor Roosters in a heavily drunken state which means that the "culling" would incur further misses or part misses with the poor creature knowing what was coming! Sends shivers down my spine! What sort of creature does that!
I hadn't had a boyfriend in donkey's years! Talk about a bad choice! Huh!? So much for his declaration of how much he loves chooks!
ChickyChooky
Peeps just died. I had left her in her box with a small dish of food and water. I had extended the sides as she was managing to jump out by climbing the furry toy dog I use to keep her warm besides the light. She.hates not being with me and will peep cotinuously until I return. She might've been alright if she had another chick for companionship. Anyway, Peeps had fallen into her water dish & got wet all over. it wasn't deep enough for her to drown in it. I found her a few inches away from her water dish lying still on her side just in front of the fluffy toy. She was cold but breathing.
Quickly, I grabbed her and rubbed her down with a soft hand towel and massaged her little body all over. I breathed hot air on her little body with an open mouth. She started peeping at me! There was hope! But, she was doing that sudden opening of her beak as if she was having trouble breathing. I've seen that before and knew that it wasn't a good sign. Nevertheless, I repeated the above severaltimes whilst I searched for a stronger light globe. Then, put her on a fluffy dog rug on my bed so I could keep an eye on her, pushed it up around her and put the lamp on it's side with the globe facing as close as I dared. At one point she stood up and wonkily tried to climb the wall of the fluffy blanket. Then, laid against it. The dogs had been watching looking concerned and earlier kept wanting to lick her but, of course, I wanted to keep her dry! To my surprise, Mofi came over and gently pushed up the edges of the blanket like he saw me do! Woah! You're a clever dog, Mofi!
So, there lies little Peeps in front of the lamp still. I know he or she is gone but I'm too upset to move her yet. I keep touching her or give her a little stroke to see if I'm wrong. That maybe she would suddenly start breathing again. Silly me!
Peeps, only 4 days old, has stolen my heart. In a way, she reminds me of a budgie I once had for about 5 years. Rainbow was only slightly larger than Peeps. Wthen she died after being egg bound. I did manage to slowly entice the egg out the day before but she was either internally damaged or still in shock or both. I held her in my hands and cried for her as well. That tiny little thing in my hand, so full of character and personality, had stolen my heart. Just like Peeps has.
Goodbye, my little friend. Until we meet again.
Mummy loves you.
If anyone has any suggestions about what else I could have done, let me know please. Just in case I find myself in the same situation again or it even might help someone else. Though I will use water drippers (similar to the ones used by guinea pigs) from now on, so the problem shouldn't occur again.
BTW, I couldn't use my brooder as it was at my X-boyfriend's place and he won't talk to me. Why? He had gone back heavily into drinking again and I said that I would help him continue to put the rest of the shade cloth up but that I couldn't work with him unless he was sober. He just flipped out!!! He said, "That's it! You don't call me a drunk! You can come over and get your f......g chickens!" and hung up. When he rang back and said that he would start "culling" my Roosters if I didn't come over immediately. I was in shock! Nah! Surely not! A few minutes later, he rang back saying he had "culled" four of my Roosters and if I didn't come right away, he would start culling the chickens as well! I was in complete shock! Knowing his past history, I was too afraid to go there. I never liked the way he culled Roosters so I learnt how to do it myself through research on the Internet and combined a few techniques to ensure that it was done humanely and without the chickens' knowledge. There are Cock Fighting groups over here and I didn't want anyone like that getting hold of any of my Roosters so they could be torn to pieces! Anyway, of course, I called the Police. Long story short, he had killed two of my Roosters. One was left. If there hd been a fourth, it would have been one of my breeder Roosters who I had tamed & got really close to. Admittedly, the ones he killed were possibly going to be "culled" but I wanted to see if I could find homes for them first. The horror that goes through my mind is him killing the poor Roosters in a heavily drunken state which means that the "culling" would incur further misses or part misses with the poor creature knowing what was coming! Sends shivers down my spine! What sort of creature does that!
I hadn't had a boyfriend in donkey's years! Talk about a bad choice! Huh!? So much for his declaration of how much he loves chooks!
ChickyChooky