Chicks hatched to early, help!

[roamingchick]

I will keep dipping ...they are crosses 75% silkie but oh so cute hard not to fall in love with and want to help them.

 

[roamingchick]

Should I incubate the Bantys differently

 

[Lanlul]

Remove the bantys when the others start hatching. I am sure you have heard to put Apple cider vinegar in the chick's water. I make it strong! 1 &1/2 cap ( cap from the bottle) full to 20oz of water. This is after they are 4-5 days old.
For your sick bantys ( the stress of premature hatch) I would give this dose.
Now, what I would do...you do as you wish...I would get some H2O2 from a health food store and a good eye dropper and measure 1 drop into 20oz bottle ( soft drink bottle) of water and dip their beaks in that. Perhaps your health food store will be open weekends. Mine is.
Why do I do this? Growing up on the Farm, I noticed that Mother hens took their newly hatched chicks to foamy dew drops and they drank that. Years later I would learn that dew drops are powerful. Let's get your chicks past this critical stage and then give the H2O2 ( foodgrade hydrogen peroxide) a shot. I keep it around always.

 

[roamingchick]

****Update****

So this morning they are still not 100% but slowly improving! I continue to message them and dip their beaks. I do worry they seem lopsided and hope they don't stay that way. The one laying down sill cant stand upright the other one standing can stand but holds its head to one side.

 

[Lanlul]

They should be fine. Continue with the care. You are doing a great job.

 

[roamingchick]

They should be fine. Continue with the care. You are doing a great job.

Thanks for the support, I just cant help but worry, especially since the one still is not standing. They do seem like fighters.

 

[yellowherb]

I had some button quail who started off like this. It took them 3 days to get up on their feet. Luckily I had a small pipette and some chick saver. I found the pipette works great for getting them some water safely. They will peck the drops off at the end when you squeeze the pipette once they learn it's water and yummy stuff.

Another way I found to help them, you will have to modify this for chick size since buttons are so tiny, I used a shot glass and gave them "stand up" therapy for 30 minutes at a time several times a day. It helps to have rubber shelf liner in the bottom of the cup so they can get a good grip with their feet and are not slipping. It's my thought that it builds leg muscles up. You may have to use a very small bowl for chicken sizes Hope this helps, it worked for my button quail.

edit: shelf liner and cup therapy also works great for splay leg, I had a button who was completely on the ground with legs to either side and the cup worked wonders with no need to splint the chick or cull as I was afraid I would have to do. He's now a completely normal 5 week old button and you can not tell he ever had a problem.

 

[roamingchick]

That is interesting, I was using other eggs in bator as "stand up" therapy. Now Ill have to try your way! I don't dare put them in brooder with other chicks until they can stand up and walk on their own. Thanks for the tip!

 

[yellowherb]

I'm not sure how big silkie chicks are but maybe one of the shorty drinking glasses that are always in drinking glass sets would work. Or something like a small but deep sided plastic storage bowl, normally the size that comes with assortments you look at and then put to the side since you can see no use for something so small.

I like the idea of clear glass or plastic so you can easily monitor the chick while it's undergoing "therapy". If the cup is too big the chick will just lay down in it, you need it pretty close fitting to force the chick to stand, it can lean against the sides to help it support itself, but the cup or bowl should be too small diameter for the chick to be able to lay down comfortably. If normal cups or small bowls are too big, maybe a tube from paper towels or toilet tissue cut to height and somehow mounted on a base to keep it from falling over...

 

[roamingchick]

Woo hoo both are now in the brooder awaiting their blrw friends they are both walking eating drinking and doing what chicks do!!! Thank you for your support and Lanlul the one we are calling dew drop!