California - Northern

[ronott1]

Kathy ive been just opening his beak and putting food jist inside then he will eat it. ive been making a mash of it.
he has been pooing i think so does that mean he is eating or no?

Eating, drinking and pooing are good. Keep up with it and he should start eating on his own soon.

Keep watching for pasty butt though.

 

[casportpony]

Kathy ive been just opening his beak and putting food jist inside then he will eat it. ive been making a mash of it.
he has been pooing i think so does that mean he is eating or no?

If his poop looks like the the other poop, brown, not green, then yes, he probably is eating some. Do you have a kitchen scale? Chicks should gain weight daily, if he's not gaining wieght, he's not eating. You could also use a postal scale.

-Kathy

 

[EZFarms]

I made a mash of scrambled eggs and cumbles and he is pecking at it a little

 

[chiqita]

So......today is day 20 and the broody has hatched out at least 3 chicks...2 BC Marans ans one of the Mottled Ameraucana.  I have one pip in the incubator so I am hopeful I will have a fair hatch!  

Huzzah! Chicks chicks everywhere chicks

Ive never had this much trouble i got 25 LF chicks last year and lost 3 in several weeks. could the fact that im up in the mountans with high elevation be a factor?

It could. I know hatching can be different in denver. (Someone wanted me to tuck wet paper towels around her egg said it helped very high)

You could get some small crickets or very small mealworms and force feed him a few. That just might perk his interest. Other things I've heard of are putting crumbles on foil and that the reflective surface encourages them to peck. You could also try putting water in the crumbles or scrambled eggs.

-Kathy

I use an aluminum foil muffin tray for turkeys. They peck at shiney and are shocked to find food!

 

[EZFarms]

Im gonna try the foil. the little chick keeps falling asleeplol

 

[ronott1]

Im gonna try the foil. the little chick keeps falling asleeplol

You are doing great with him!

It is a great sign that he is pecking at the food. The eggs and scratch will get his digestion and organs started up nicely too.

Cut back on the electrolytes when he perks up. They do sleep a lot.

 

[casportpony]

I made a mash of scrambled eggs and cumbles and he is pecking at it a little

Just keep at it and he might be okay. There is a condition called "failure to thrive", which I don't know much about, but I believe that unless their organs have shut down they can be saved with lots of attention.

-Kathy

 

[EZFarms]

Hopefully he will be okay. hes snuggled against my hand atm. hes eating a little at a time

 

[Audio51]

Quote: I need to put one together, and it's not as easy as tubing larger birds, plus it requires that one get a small enough tube *and* baby bird food. It will take me awhile, but I will do it.

In the meantime one could get some baby bird food and make a very runny slurry, put it in a small container and then lift that container to the chick's beak rather than pushing the chicks head down to it. Does that make sense? I have a really hard time writing what I mean these days. Seems that weak chicks do better when standing and the food is listed to them to sip. One could also force feed small crickets, but only if the chick has been drinking force feeding.

"A sick or debilitated bird should always have its hydration corrected prior to attempting to initiate oral gavage-feeding."
Source: http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf

-Kathy

I have hand-raised hatchling finches before. I use a TB sized syringe and a feeding canula. With them they are naked though so you can see the food go into the crop. They also generally open their mouths for the food unless they are not doing well.

 

[EZFarms]

:/ We have another silkie doing what the doms did earlier (jist laying there not moving)