Babies arrived for a couple first timers!

[adamthomas]

After a first order resulting in 8 dead chicks on arrival at the post office the second batch arrived on Wednesday and 7 out of 8 are healthy and doing well after 3 days. This is the first time for me and my wife at raising baby chicks although my family had a couple chickens when I was a child that we raised from fertile eggs.

One of the new arrivals has some issues standing up and as far as I can tell it's not an obvious case of Spraddle Leg but perhaps weak or displaced tendons due to inconsistent incubator temps maybe??? I'll post a video later so you can see and make suggestions but I'm going to put a hobble on an isolate her for 24 hours to see if we can make any improvements. She has a strong spirit and I'm hoping we can make her better.


The group is a rare breed batch from Meyer Hatchery and a great selection of birds. If we have the identification right we have the following: 1x Lavender Orpington, 1x Jubilee Orpington, 2x Buff Laced Polish, 1x Partridge Cochin, 1x Buff Brahma, and the little struggling one may be a super rare Partridge Penedesenca. They are all beautiful and in all cases will be quite stunning when fully grown.

We're super excited and I'm working on my version of a 12'x6' chicken palace (The Sierra Palace Coop) with major influences from the well known Palace Chicken Coop design documented on here somewhere with major influences from Carolina Coops California Coop design and some of my own in the area of draft control. I drew it all up in Fusion 360 which I learned (sort of) while doing this and will post pics and progress on the Coops thread but I have to go work on it before it gets too hot this morning.....Thanks for looking. Bok Baaawk

 

[adamthomas]

Hobbled, isolated and not happy.

You can see that Penny (Partridge Penedesenca) she has been sitting on her ankles rather than standing which are red with irritation. I'm hoping the hobble will correct this over time. I plan to exercise her today every 2 hours or so and take it off after 24 hrs to see results, then back on in 24 if needed.

Despite being diminutive and challenged Penny craves social contact so I paired her up with Genevieve (french Mottled Houdan) I think? They are always sleeping together anyway. Très sucré!


Adam

 

[ChassiNoir]

Good luck!! I hope all turns out well!!

 

[adamthomas]

Sadly we lost the Genevieve the Mottled Houdan on day 6. We aren't sure what the cause was as she was eating and drinking the day before. Looking back at it now there was a slight reduction in activity that day but not enough to be alarming until the following morning when we found her standing and swaying in a trance. By noon she was gone. I'm surprised how sad I am. I was looking forward to seeing her fabulous display feathers when fully grown. Rest in peace sweet Genevieve...

We also have an issue with our Lavender Orpington who on day 3 or 4 started developing a cross beak. This has gotten worse over the last 4 days and she is now having issues eating and drinking. I under stand there is nothing we can do to correct this and are looking for first hand experience on how to best deal with this in other ways. So far we have removed some of the rocks from the waterer now that the chicks are a little older to make it easier for her to "scoop" up some water. We also changed feeder to one that is a little deeper so again she can again, "scoop" up the food. The last idea we have is to get a water nipple that she can use more easily to ensure that she gets enough water. Hopefuly she makes it and can live a pampered life.

The good news is that Penny seems to be gaining strength in her legs and is standing up more now and fumbling around less after wearing the hobble for 24 hours but does seem to get tired easy. I'm thinking her leg muscles and her heart were under developed at hatch. This is just a guess...

Thanks for reading and comments if you have any suggestions on either Lavender or Penny's conditions and treatment.

Adam

 

[MotherOHens]

Awww-- --
I'm sorry for your loss.
I hope you and your family are able to revive the babies you have left and raise a healthy little flock.

 

[adamthomas]

Update. We bought a vertical watering nipple and mounted it in the bottom of small feeder bottle. The nipple package said they were recommended only for adult chickens and I understand that may be mainly because not all chicks could figure it out, but I also have a regular waterer so I'm not worried about the rest of the crew getting water.

That said, I am a little worried about how hard the chicks peck on the metal nipple and that it might make Lavender's cross beak worse, or create that condition in others that don't have that as an issue. Am I being paranoid?

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Update. We bought a vertical watering nipple and mounted it in the bottom of small feeder bottle. The nipple package said they were recommended only for adult chickens and I understand that may be mainly because not all chicks could figure it out, but I also have a regular waterer so I'm not worried about the rest of the crew getting water.

That said, I am a little worried about how hard the chicks peck on the metal nipple and that it might make Lavender's cross beak worse, or create that condition in others that don't have that as an issue. Am I being paranoid?

View attachment 2244113

I don’t know if you are paranoid or not. I’ve never seen metal nipple feeders, only rubber ones, but metal is hard and that might not be too good for their developing beaks.

 

[adamthomas]

The "nipples" look like this and can be mounted to the bottom of any bucket or suitable container. The chicken pecks or preferably pushes on the little rod/nipple and water dribbles out. One of my chicks (Jubilee Orpington) has figured out how to do this with finesse and gulps water while the others mercilessly pummel it with their beaks and get virtually nothing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The nipple may be more difficult for the crossbeaked chick to use. You'll just need to watch to see how she does with it.

For feed, wet or fermented feed in a deep dish would be easier for her to eat, but expect a bit of a mess. My crossbeak throws food all over her face.

 

[adamthomas]

Thanks @rosematythyme for the suggestion. I'll give the wet food a try. Did you have her as a baby chick and did you have to separate her from the rest to keep her fed and watered without disrupting the rest of the flock.

The water nipple seems to be a little too "interesting" for the rest of the birds and they peck on it constantly so Lavender has to compete to get time. On a funny note she has started to notice when the others are't on the nipple and I often see her dart across the brooder at full speed to get to the nipple. She is very friendly and inquisitive so I'm hoping she makes it.