Anybody Have Any Experience Raising "Preemie" Chicks?!

[Chick-a-Latte]

Hi, I am new to the forum, and I was wondering if anybody had ever run into this before. About four days ago we had a chick hatch

(it was under "Mama"), and so we brought it in. I noticed that it was VERY tiny and that it looked like its feathers had not developed yet. It hatched looking like it was at least three days from hatching ( like a featherless robin...nearly). Until about yesterday (three days old) it did not stand or walk around at all. Now it is walking around and looking more developed and mature. He has his own little "Nicu" box, heat lamp, and assistance with food and water). Let me know if you have any experience with this or know of anyone. I will post pictures as soon as I figure out how....

Thanks!

 

[annanimal]

If it was really small it probably just means that it had a small egg. If he seams healthy than he is probably fine, I have never had a chick do that before so i dont really know what i am talking about but i have raised lots of happy chickens and roosters.

I have a question, why dont you let the mama raise it? Please keep me posted on how the little guy is doing!

 

[Chick-a-Latte]

All of it's Americana nestmates hatched out of the same sized egg. They were all "normal" sized. As to it's mama raising them, it would have no chance to compete with the others and would have died most likely. The mama is our only broody hen that is successfully hatching babies. We are currently trying to build up our flock from the chicken "massacre" our former dog committed last fall. Optimally she would raise her own eventually, and it looks like she would do a great job of it!


The baby in question and the Americana (tiny one)(He is three days old at the time of the picture). The light one with a spot on it's head was the hatch of the day Delaware X Americana for comparison (fairly average size to all of the full Americana chicks) .

 

[annanimal]

Oh yeah he is much smaller than the other ones, i dont think you should worry though, if he is eating.

 

[Spice Glen Hens]

It looks fine.
Sometimes preemies dont make it.

Good job bringing it in.

I used to leave my brooded chicks with mom, but we found out quickly that you will lose them.
I bring them in now.
It will probably be a cute little hen.

Spicy

 

[Chick-a-Latte]

....Sometimes preemies don't make it......

Have you heard of this before? How often does this occur? If it is a hen, should I worry about egg binding as it goes to lay eggs? I put one of my Silkie chicks in (she is much older then this little one, however she does not bother chicks smaller then herself) to teach them how to scratch and eat. It eats some and drinks fine by it'self, but I am curious if it would be okay to offer it some boiled egg to give it some extra protein (I have raised and hand-fed canary chicks before, and this is what we always gave them, but I am wondering if it is okay for chickens)? Let me know what you think. Oh by the way, it appears to have had no down at all and it is starting to get it's adult feathers in! Is this normal with this situation?
Thanks!

 

[Spice Glen Hens]

You asked about hatching preemies.

When they come out of the egg they might die if premature.

Just so you know, we always put our newborn chicks in a little padded box under the edge of the light and cover that little box with a hardware cloth screen to keep the older ones from jumping on the newborns, and I dip the beak of newborns in the fresh water to promote growth.
We almost never lose any... but..
I have tried to save babies before they were ready and yolk and guts are bleeding
I've seen the membrane bleeding
I saved cemented in babies
I peeled out babies that I wanted to save, but I sadly found them still and they were dead because I waited too long,
and they die from several reasons after hatching (or being removed from their shells) like,
Blood loss
Intestines outside of the body
Intestinal blockage
Never open their eyes
Never move.
They just die in the baby box

The 80 chicks I have in my 3 indoor brooders right now will will tell me if they have a problem with a loud repeating chirp.
I never ignore a loud repeating chirp because that one might not make it.

And pasty butt is a big part of the babies problems that they chirp about.

That is about all I know about preemies

I hatched a few normal chicks today,
made baby boots yesterday,
(and had to redo them twice because they fell off, again last night for bent toes).
On Monday I hatched 15 in one 12 hour period.

I think we lost two chicks today. For unknown reasons.
Just dead and stiff on the brooder floor.

2 out of 80 lost in a day in brooders is a normal loss in the first week of their lives.

Spicy


.

 

[Chick-a-Latte]

Thanks Spicy for all the info! Well little baby chickie is doing well. It is eating on it's own and getting bigger! It seems to be doing just fine. My only concern is that if it is a hen, will it have problems with egg binding, should we keep her as a layer?
Anybody have some thoughts on it??? Or is she perhaps destined for the stew pot.......

 

[Spice Glen Hens]

Life is like a box of "chocklits"....
You never know what your gonna get.

That is great news on your chick.

It is amazing that late ones can be premature.

Good job on the surgery to save it too.

It can be very tricky when they get stuck in a dry egg, or they have blood.
From my experience,
... the dry ones make it more often than the wet, or bloody ones, but of course the normal fluffy hatchers are the best.

I never know what the next one will be like.

Spicy

 

[Kdunn222]

Did you feed preemie extra nutrients?