My mama hen has her first successful brood--two hatched so she abandoned the nest. The nest had 10 eggs in it--two are peeping, eight were non viable. HOWEVER, we thought there was a dead chick--it's alive. We scooped it up and its head flew up and peeped..we nearly fell over.
She's now 2 days in our care and this morning had a hernia about 1/4 an inch out. She will not stand, she's very weak, and when I try to dropper feed her, she throws her head back and opens her beak, almost as if she wants more, but then when I come near clamps it shut. I've been watching if she poops, but I was at work and she was in with the other chicks who are a week old (kept her calmer--she just huddled in their house and seemed MUCH less stressed than when she was alone--when we left her alone we'd find her on top of the eggs with her wings over them as if hugging them), so unsure what happened then, but she hasn't since i got home three hours ago.
I've been at work for 8 hours, and came home to her still alive, nothing changed. She scoots around, won't stand but if I hold her up her legs come down like they normally would. Turn her on her side and she goes totally limp and you'd think she was dead. Turn her upright and she cheeps and looks at you like 'Whew! that was close."
Ideas????
