grannys gone and done it

[Granny Hatchet]

UNable did flip on his back this morning. took him 15-20 seconds to get right. (gonna take me much longer) I just cant tell if he has enough food in his crop . i dont know if he is eating or drinking enough. this is a whole new ball game here. I am giving wet food and sugar water. I see him peck at the food but i cant tell if he is eating or not. and if he is pooping thats very tiny too. I honestly think i need to get the magnifying glass out. I do have to say he has a BIG mouth. very loud. more then the silkies. he wants to be with the silkies but the big one picked him up by his foot when i was taking the pictures.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Could you give UnAble supervised visits with the Silkie chicks? I've found that reluctant eaters are stimulated by seeing the others eat.

Few years ago I rescued a Welsummer chick from the Not-Expected-to-Survive brooder at the feed store. It was the last Wellie they had and I really wanted one so... After getting her home, I realized she had very little butt and an umbilical hernia. She was incredibly weak, tipped over easily, and showed no interest in food or water. Needed a lot of TLC. I started feeding her drops of sugar water every few hours during the day. This seemed to perk her up, and she would then try to eat a little. Gave the sugar water drops for about 5 days until she seemed pretty self sufficient (got her some sav-a-chick too). She didn't grow much the first 3 weeks, and the 2 chicks I had in with her got huge by comparison. She did survive, but grew slowly, took almost a year to lay her first egg, and she has spurs! Never has been the best layer, but no problems otherwise.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

been keeping a closed eye out. i scrambled an egg. it pecks the water and tried to drink the egg. I did try the smaller silkie with it and it was a very short visit. the silkie thinks the seramas toes are yummy and has no interest in any thing else. any suggestions on a water supplement? I have rooster booster . its about a yr. old though

 

[mrsc1951]

You're a riot, Granny! But be careful with that foot. The Rooster Booster should be ok if it's been kept at fairly constant temps. I don't think it would be out of date after a year, but what do I know? I've got a screw loose!

It is funny. Mix a little food with some yogurt or buttermilk. Dawg recommends buttermilk. The probiotics couldn't hurt. As tiny as it is, it couldn't possibly eat much could it?

If the silkie likes the serama's toes then there is your name - Sweetoes or Sugarfoot. Are they close enough that the serama can see the silkies all the time? I agree with Wishing4Wings that seeing the others eat could make it want to eat too.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

ya, it sees them all the time. little hard wire separating them I dont have buttermilk or yogurt. I do have a dry mix that makes buttermilk for cooking? it replaces it. and i bought a brand new bottle of probiotics but cant read the directions.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

A tiny amount of probiotics would probably be alright, mixed in water or food. I used sav-a-chick from the feed store which comes in packets like yeast. People recommend baby vitamins (Polyvisol) WITHOUT the iron. I thought it was kind of expensive, though. I got my little Welsummer interested with my finger pecking at the food and making excited broody noises. Something about both sounds gets their attention. She didn't have a choice with the water though. I picked her up and gave her a drop frequently.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

just got off the phone with friend she is at tsc there is a product made by rooster boster that has the probiotics, vitamins and i forgot the last one. lol i told her to pick this up and some vitamin enriched feed for chicks that is very fine pieces chick just cost me 30 bucks

 

[Granny Hatchet]

panicked and forgot about poly-vi-sol. i have recommended it to others. cheaper then what i just told her to get. LOL

 

[mrsc1951]

I wondered the same thing about the powdered buttermilk, Granny since I have that stuff too. I don't - well WON'T drink it myself but do use it to cook occasionally. In the end, I just bought a small jug since I wasn't sure and dawg had recommended it over yogurt. I know you don't want to have to get out in the snow so I would go with the probiotics. Just a little bit in the food. Get your magnifying glass out - the directions on some of those smaller containers are so darn small it's just plain frustrating.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

ya i aint drinking that crap, does make the cornbread a little better though