I never thought I'd be posting this much in one day, but apparently this is my day to participate.
I have three three-week-old Easter Eggers whom I take every day or two for some forage time in their future run. They used to have access to construction sand while in the run, but today I accidentally put out adult grit, which they gobbled right up until I realized my mistake when we packed up to go inside an hour later. Right now their crops are all large and distended to the point of looking like tumors. I'm afraid that my mistake with the grit may have impacted one or more of them. To compound the problem, I had already given them part of a scrambled egg and a few mealworms each earlier in the day. They always find a few bugs when they're outside, and they continued to work on their chick crumbles, which they had access too all day. For some reason I never thought a chick could overeat to the point of harm, but I think they may have done so.
Behavior: They were peeping louder than usual right after I left them to type this. Now they're being quiet again. One of them did seem to be scratching her nose more than usual, but that could've been a coincidence.
Treatment: I put a small amount of ACV in their water, have removed their food, and gave each one a drop or two of olive oil at the end of their beaks, which they licked up. I felt each crop gently and moved it around a little bit, and those were some heavy little crops.
Appearance: Their eyes are bright, and they seem eager to eat.
Eating, drinking, and poop: They were pigging out on their chick starter when I noticed what was wrong and took it out. They seem to be pooping normally, though I haven't sat and watched each one to see who is pooping what. I saw two of them drinking the usual amount while I was there. The only treats I've ever offered were scrambled eggs up until this weekend, when I started with a few mealworms per day. They may be gobbling up plenty while they're outside, but usually I only bring them out for less than an hour. Vents look normal, and nobody seems to be straining.
Bedding and brooder: They graduated from rags to newspaper two weeks ago and will soon be on pine shavings, I hope. I change the bedding daily and add paper at least twice a day to cover the new deposits.
Fever: I don't think they feel hotter than usual.
Should I wait twelve hours to see how they look tomorrow and chalk this up to experience, or is there something else I should be doing? Sheesh, I was never this nervous with new kittens!
I have three three-week-old Easter Eggers whom I take every day or two for some forage time in their future run. They used to have access to construction sand while in the run, but today I accidentally put out adult grit, which they gobbled right up until I realized my mistake when we packed up to go inside an hour later. Right now their crops are all large and distended to the point of looking like tumors. I'm afraid that my mistake with the grit may have impacted one or more of them. To compound the problem, I had already given them part of a scrambled egg and a few mealworms each earlier in the day. They always find a few bugs when they're outside, and they continued to work on their chick crumbles, which they had access too all day. For some reason I never thought a chick could overeat to the point of harm, but I think they may have done so.
Behavior: They were peeping louder than usual right after I left them to type this. Now they're being quiet again. One of them did seem to be scratching her nose more than usual, but that could've been a coincidence.
Treatment: I put a small amount of ACV in their water, have removed their food, and gave each one a drop or two of olive oil at the end of their beaks, which they licked up. I felt each crop gently and moved it around a little bit, and those were some heavy little crops.
Appearance: Their eyes are bright, and they seem eager to eat.
Eating, drinking, and poop: They were pigging out on their chick starter when I noticed what was wrong and took it out. They seem to be pooping normally, though I haven't sat and watched each one to see who is pooping what. I saw two of them drinking the usual amount while I was there. The only treats I've ever offered were scrambled eggs up until this weekend, when I started with a few mealworms per day. They may be gobbling up plenty while they're outside, but usually I only bring them out for less than an hour. Vents look normal, and nobody seems to be straining.
Bedding and brooder: They graduated from rags to newspaper two weeks ago and will soon be on pine shavings, I hope. I change the bedding daily and add paper at least twice a day to cover the new deposits.
Fever: I don't think they feel hotter than usual.
Should I wait twelve hours to see how they look tomorrow and chalk this up to experience, or is there something else I should be doing? Sheesh, I was never this nervous with new kittens!
