Arizona Chickens

[Angelray]

I'm so sad...my little Aunt Chilada (crooked beak) is not doing well. She is very thin & bony compared to her brooder buddies & she peeps loudly almost all the time. I'm afraid she is suffering and slowly starving. I'm seriously considering culling her in the morning. She is 2 weeks old. Any feedback or advise? I have been giving her mash & crumbles. She pecks at it & I can feel something in her crop, but she is not as active as the others so I don't think she's getting enough. However, I don't want to spend a lot of money treating her either.

 

[maryhysong]

I'm so sad...my little Aunt Chilada (crooked beak) is not doing well. She is very thin & bony compared to her brooder buddies & she peeps loudly almost all the time. I'm afraid she is suffering and slowly starving. I'm seriously considering culling her in the morning. She is 2 weeks old. Any feedback or advise? I have been giving her mash & crumbles. She pecks at it & I can feel something in her crop, but she is not as active as the others so I don't think she's getting enough. However, I don't want to spend a lot of money treating her either.

I had a sweet little pullet develop cross beak at about 4 weeks. By the time she was 12 weeks she was half the size of her hatch mates, and the cross beak was really bad. I finally put her down. There is no cure for it. It is actually a deformity of the skull and as she grew the deformity was getting worse, affecting not only her jaw and beak, but also the whole shape of her skull. I only regret that I let her live as long as I did, although she didn't seem to be in any pain at the end she was constantly hungry because she just couldn't get enough to eat and I was not able nor willing to go the tube feeding route.

 

[Mikey D]

Don't know if anyone here remembers my story from last year when one of my muscovies escaped early in the morning, flew up on my neighbor's roof, flew over to the other side and landed in a different neighbor's yard, swam in their newly remodled pool, knocked on their arcadia door with her bill and got chased by a 200 pound + mastiff. She is still here.

So yesterday, same neighbors start calling and texting that my duck is on their roofs again, just flying around the cul-de-sac. Weird since I had JUST locked them up and no one was missing. Turns out, a rogue Muscovy is flying around landing on rooftops. Why does everyone assume it's mine?

Hmmm... I couldn't possibly fathom a reason...

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

My Marams are 6 weeks ols. Basil I think is a roo, it is more erect then Angle. but they are developing really close in size, feathers, comb, and waddle.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Oh, boohoo about the little crossbeak girl. That is so sad! Our girls have been home for 4 days now. They get to forage on the lawn for about 30 min every evening we are home from work. I don't think they forage much, pretty sure they don't know there might be bugs in there. Tonight hubby decided to go out and see if he could catch some for them. Got a couple beetles, a few small crickets and even an inch long cockroach looking thing. My chicks were so excited to chase after them in the brooder!! It was about 9:30 and we usually don't turn out the overhead light until 11. We had one girl who has shown no personality at all be the one who caught the most bugs! This is OK to do, right? They were 2 wks old on Tuesday and after many posts we hear that a mother hen would be showing them how to find and eat live bugs. They have grit from the course sand in their brooder.
I just want to be sure I am not introducing too much too soon. It seems as if most guides or books tell you they should never leave the brooder until they are introduced to the coop at 5-6 weeks. I plan to free range whenever I am home so I want them to be comfortable in the lawn and know there are additional treats to be had there.
Kristine

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Don't know if anyone here remembers my story from last year when one of my muscovies escaped early in the morning, flew up on my neighbor's roof, flew over to the other side and landed in a different neighbor's yard, swam in their newly remodled pool, knocked on their arcadia door with her bill and got chased by a 200 pound + mastiff. She is still here.

So yesterday, same neighbors start calling and texting that my duck is on their roofs again, just flying around the cul-de-sac. Weird since I had JUST locked them up and no one was missing. Turns out, a rogue Muscovy is flying around landing on rooftops. Why does everyone assume it's mine?

A new duck for DS!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: At feeding time, separate her from the others so that she can get at the food without competition. Make sure it is ground sufficiently that she can get it into her mouth. Consider mixing in some water to make it clump together like oatmeal. It will be messy, but she will be able to eat more.

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

Oh, boohoo about the little crossbeak girl. That is so sad! Our girls have been home for 4 days now. They get to forage on the lawn for about 30 min every evening we are home from work. I don't think they forage much, pretty sure they don't know there might be bugs in there. Tonight hubby decided to go out and see if he could catch some for them. Got a couple beetles, a few small crickets and even an inch long cockroach looking thing. My chicks were so excited to chase after them in the brooder!! It was about 9:30 and we usually don't turn out the overhead light until 11. We had one girl who has shown no personality at all be the one who caught the most bugs! This is OK to do, right? They were 2 wks old on Tuesday and after many posts we hear that a mother hen would be showing them how to find and eat live bugs. They have grit from the course sand in their brooder.
I just want to be sure I am not introducing too much too soon. It seems as if most guides or books tell you they should never leave the brooder until they are introduced to the coop at 5-6 weeks. I plan to free range whenever I am home so I want them to be comfortable in the lawn and know there are additional treats to be had there.
Kristine

My hen has not quite 2 week old chicks that have been out with the everyone now for a week and she feeds them everything. bugs, fruits and veggies...now she will take bites and throw on the ground for them to try but then they jump right in and eat with her. All my mommas have done this. OK well not the psycho cochin that wouldn't let them out of the brooder area for like 3 weeks and then wouldn't let anyone human or chicken near them for another 3 weeks,

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

I have a broody on eggs that should hatch in two weeks, assuming she continues to sit on them. Might not be soon enough for your situation. Check back with me October 26 if you are still interested.

Thank you for the offer. It seems I spoke too soon, almost exactly 48 hours after the first one hatched we had another one hatch (11pm last night).

There is a third egg.... hmm guess I leave the bator on and see what happens. These are definitely hardy chicks. When momma got off they cooled off before I found them and then put them in the bator (had to go find and plug in) didn't really turn them unless I remembered since i didn't put the turner in (I actually thought they were only a few days behind). The temperature fluctuated horribly-no idea what the humidity was (just put a wet rag in there) and the little things hatched anyway.

 

[tsuninight]

Wow georgeous egg!
So glad Firey is laying that many for you...
Good to hear from you..

Thanks. It's good to a few min of down time to catch up on the thread! I was surprised firey was laying so many eggs. I figured she'd only lay one a week or perhaps fewer. But nope she's determined to lay nearly an egg a day lol.