Aggressive? Dumb? Holding head funny, questionably not eating, 2.5 days old chick

[Tonyroo]

I don't see what you've described. The chick at that age is behaving normal.

 

[SarahLadd]

It is eating and swallowing and drinking water voluntarily.

 

[SarahLadd]

I don't see what you've described. The chick at that age is behaving normal.

It could be that I'm reading into it too much because I've got my eye on it. They all seem to really like biting that zip tie.

 

[Tonyroo]

Doesn't hurt to be a little bit paranoid, especially with these babies in particular. And by the way congrats on your babies. I absolutely adore barbu de watermaels.

 

[LaFleche]

What could this be caused by? The stupidity, I mean, and poor brain development. Could I be responsible for it through the incubation process?

Sometimes the neck gets stuck like this (jammed neck) when the hatching process takes longer than usual or when the chick was helped out of the shell.
Administering B complex and E + Selenium for a few days might help in case it is caused by a parental deficiency.

And this chick looks like it has a vaulted skull which can lead to a variety of neurological issues.

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

Could I be responsible for it through the incubation process?

Neurological issues tend to come from a line of inbreeding and overbreeding. It’s especially common with birds that people want to make more of. That’s a pretty guy, so it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case. It’s not on you though, incubation didn’t cause any mental issues

 

[SarahLadd]

Is this chick the watermael?

Yes

 

[SarahLadd]

Sometimes the neck gets stuck like this (jammed neck) when the hatching process takes longer than usual or when the chick was helped out of the shell.
Administering B complex and E + Selenium for a few days might help in case it is caused by a parental deficiency.

And this chick looks like it has a vaulted skull which can lead to a variety of neurological issues.

Head feels squishy.

Domed skull is a DQ for watermael, it is a fat pad in all likelihood

They were a few days late. I think it was humidity problems. It was consistently just a little bit too high.

 

[SarahLadd]

Alright, here's some high quality glamour shots of my problem child.