So... I have several breeds of hens and roos, and one cream legbar. They have access to 18 acres but generally stick close to the coop. Except my legbar and salmon faverolle hens who tend to wonder further afield, but always together.
There are often pheasants around- and up until a week or so ago, we had a regular pheasant hanging around with the faverolle and legbar. (he had a limp so i knew it was the same bird and not a different one).
3 weeks ago my faverolle sadly died. Vet said they couldn't perform toxicology as she was dead on arrival, but post mortum made him suspect Hepititis A. I asked what to do about the rest of the flock and he said they cant treat them with antibiotics as the broad spectrum ones are being used for the NHS and that they think al I could really do is watch and see if any others become ill/die.
As yet, they are all seemingly well. (Bar the ladies being mated mercilessly and consequently I am rehoming some of my roosters).
BUT-
As some of my hens are related to the roosters, I am careful which eggs I incubate. As the cream legbar is often AWOL and she is the only bird of that breed, i thought it best to incubate some of her eggs. I chose 7 in the hope 2 or 3 would be fertile. Of those, 4 were viable: 1 died during incubation, leaving 3. Of those 3, all pipped internally, but none externally. So I carefully made air holes in each egg after 2 days. All 3 were still alive, 1 cheeping very loudly but none of them were making any effort to hatch. I figured my incubator may have been running a little high (38.5-39. deg C) and thought maybe they were shrink wrapped so I slowly began an assist. I've done this before and know it's VERY slow and careful. The first assisted hatch went really well- the chick pulled herself out of the egg. The other 2 didn't. I let them rest, checking in on them, but when i cracked a larger hole for number 3 to begin more assistance, I noticed its head- eyes too low in relation to the beak. It looked like a mantis from the front! It wasn't cheaping but was moving. The second one was the same but worse- it was bug eyed, and had no eyelids. I wasnt even sure it was alive until I removed a little more shell and saw it breathing. "Phew!" I thought- they are all breathing so now we just wait for them to finish absorbing their yolks.
So, stupidly, I left all 3 to it and went to sleep. (It was gone 4am).
Next morning- 2 were dead, still in their shells, 1 was out and sleeping. Fluffed up but TINY.
I looked at the bodies of the 2 dead ones- the bodies looked okay, but the heads lookd weird- one had absorbed the yolk but had a really odd shaped head. (Flat on top). The other hadn't absorbed the yolk at all. So i had a little cry and went to tend to the 1 solitary hatchling.
Here's the issue(s)
1 )It won't eat. 4 days and nothing. I thought maybe it wasn't hungry yet, but it was getting smaller not bigger, so now I feed it with chick starter in tweezers straight into her beak, washed down with a drop of water from a pipette. I do this several times a day- until i can feel some of the food in her crop. Then i stop. Ive been doing this about 3 days now and she finally started pooping 2 days ago.
2) She peeps constantly. I think she's lonely. (i've been trying to find any day olds for company but can't get them anywhere, so tomorrow i'm bringing in my silkie hen to see if she will help the chick).
3) She didn't seem to be splayed legged, at first- she was hopping around the incubator fine, but on day 2 i noticed she doesn't walk- she hops forward, and falls. So now she has a splint. Now she does walk, but-
4) She stands really tall. Like, stright legged, not like chicks do.
5) She sings a little song when she poops. Not the usual "peep peep" noise of a chick, but more like a sparrow or something- it's a trill and a song like any hedge bird you'd hear outside.
6) Her wings are HUGE. They started to feather on day 2, and they are triple the size of her body- not the usual short stubs that chicks have. Based on wing sexing and colouring, I'm guessing she is a female, but I am not certain.
7) Her body is still TINY. All my previous chicks have had large tummys, but this one doesn't. Despite me constantly feeding her.
8) I have no idea what breed she is- The only breeds she could be are- cream legbar X Buff orpington
cream legbar X Blue Orpington
cream legbar X Lilac Orpington
cream legbar X Brahma
Cream legbar X Salmon Faverolle.
OR Cream Legbar X Pheasant.
I'm thinking Pheasant becasue her colours are close to that of a female legbar- she has the dark stripe, but not the eye liner. (her mum was a purebreed and had all the typical female colours/patterns). Given how her mum looks more like a female pheasant than any other of my hens, and she's often seen with a male pheasnat, I'm wondering if that's what she bred with?
Could the faverolle hen have caught HepA from the pheasnt and thats why non of the other hens seem to have it? But if that's the case, why doesn't the Cream Legbar have it?
Could varying incubator temp lead to deformities in the hatchilings? (it didn't vary much).
I've never seen any of my roosters mate with the Cream Legbar- she's usally well away from them. And I've seen her around the pheasant. But she does share a coop with them at night.
After some googling, my understanding is that Phicken CAN exist but are usually infertile, and the chances are them hatching are slim to none... but... is there any hope for my little Finch? (That's what my kids have called her). Will she ever start to eat on her own? Her beak is fine- no scizzor beak or anyting. She just refuses to eat. I've given her a mirror for now, but hope my silkie can show her how to be a chick...
Does anyone have any advice? Has anyone ever seen an actal Phicken? Do they really exist? Can they live well or do they die before they mature?
There are often pheasants around- and up until a week or so ago, we had a regular pheasant hanging around with the faverolle and legbar. (he had a limp so i knew it was the same bird and not a different one).
3 weeks ago my faverolle sadly died. Vet said they couldn't perform toxicology as she was dead on arrival, but post mortum made him suspect Hepititis A. I asked what to do about the rest of the flock and he said they cant treat them with antibiotics as the broad spectrum ones are being used for the NHS and that they think al I could really do is watch and see if any others become ill/die.
As yet, they are all seemingly well. (Bar the ladies being mated mercilessly and consequently I am rehoming some of my roosters).
BUT-
As some of my hens are related to the roosters, I am careful which eggs I incubate. As the cream legbar is often AWOL and she is the only bird of that breed, i thought it best to incubate some of her eggs. I chose 7 in the hope 2 or 3 would be fertile. Of those, 4 were viable: 1 died during incubation, leaving 3. Of those 3, all pipped internally, but none externally. So I carefully made air holes in each egg after 2 days. All 3 were still alive, 1 cheeping very loudly but none of them were making any effort to hatch. I figured my incubator may have been running a little high (38.5-39. deg C) and thought maybe they were shrink wrapped so I slowly began an assist. I've done this before and know it's VERY slow and careful. The first assisted hatch went really well- the chick pulled herself out of the egg. The other 2 didn't. I let them rest, checking in on them, but when i cracked a larger hole for number 3 to begin more assistance, I noticed its head- eyes too low in relation to the beak. It looked like a mantis from the front! It wasn't cheaping but was moving. The second one was the same but worse- it was bug eyed, and had no eyelids. I wasnt even sure it was alive until I removed a little more shell and saw it breathing. "Phew!" I thought- they are all breathing so now we just wait for them to finish absorbing their yolks.
So, stupidly, I left all 3 to it and went to sleep. (It was gone 4am).
Next morning- 2 were dead, still in their shells, 1 was out and sleeping. Fluffed up but TINY.
I looked at the bodies of the 2 dead ones- the bodies looked okay, but the heads lookd weird- one had absorbed the yolk but had a really odd shaped head. (Flat on top). The other hadn't absorbed the yolk at all. So i had a little cry and went to tend to the 1 solitary hatchling.
Here's the issue(s)
1 )It won't eat. 4 days and nothing. I thought maybe it wasn't hungry yet, but it was getting smaller not bigger, so now I feed it with chick starter in tweezers straight into her beak, washed down with a drop of water from a pipette. I do this several times a day- until i can feel some of the food in her crop. Then i stop. Ive been doing this about 3 days now and she finally started pooping 2 days ago.
2) She peeps constantly. I think she's lonely. (i've been trying to find any day olds for company but can't get them anywhere, so tomorrow i'm bringing in my silkie hen to see if she will help the chick).
3) She didn't seem to be splayed legged, at first- she was hopping around the incubator fine, but on day 2 i noticed she doesn't walk- she hops forward, and falls. So now she has a splint. Now she does walk, but-
4) She stands really tall. Like, stright legged, not like chicks do.
5) She sings a little song when she poops. Not the usual "peep peep" noise of a chick, but more like a sparrow or something- it's a trill and a song like any hedge bird you'd hear outside.
6) Her wings are HUGE. They started to feather on day 2, and they are triple the size of her body- not the usual short stubs that chicks have. Based on wing sexing and colouring, I'm guessing she is a female, but I am not certain.
7) Her body is still TINY. All my previous chicks have had large tummys, but this one doesn't. Despite me constantly feeding her.
8) I have no idea what breed she is- The only breeds she could be are- cream legbar X Buff orpington
cream legbar X Blue Orpington
cream legbar X Lilac Orpington
cream legbar X Brahma
Cream legbar X Salmon Faverolle.
OR Cream Legbar X Pheasant.
I'm thinking Pheasant becasue her colours are close to that of a female legbar- she has the dark stripe, but not the eye liner. (her mum was a purebreed and had all the typical female colours/patterns). Given how her mum looks more like a female pheasant than any other of my hens, and she's often seen with a male pheasnat, I'm wondering if that's what she bred with?
Could the faverolle hen have caught HepA from the pheasnt and thats why non of the other hens seem to have it? But if that's the case, why doesn't the Cream Legbar have it?
Could varying incubator temp lead to deformities in the hatchilings? (it didn't vary much).
I've never seen any of my roosters mate with the Cream Legbar- she's usally well away from them. And I've seen her around the pheasant. But she does share a coop with them at night.
After some googling, my understanding is that Phicken CAN exist but are usually infertile, and the chances are them hatching are slim to none... but... is there any hope for my little Finch? (That's what my kids have called her). Will she ever start to eat on her own? Her beak is fine- no scizzor beak or anyting. She just refuses to eat. I've given her a mirror for now, but hope my silkie can show her how to be a chick...
Does anyone have any advice? Has anyone ever seen an actal Phicken? Do they really exist? Can they live well or do they die before they mature?
Last edited:
