HELP!!!! Humidity all wrong!!!

[vivaciouswoman]

DAY 23: Baby prolapse and MURDEROUS Momma

HELP!!! My daughter went out to collect eggs and came back breathless: one of the hens had blood on her comb and beak, and there were spots of blood all over the nesting boxes near where the two chicks had hatched two days ago. We investigated. The Momma in question, a Black Jersey Giant, is one of three broody Jersey Giants I have right now. Coincidentally, one of them is the murderous *#%$ who already killed a chick, and since I can't tell them apart, all I know is that when we got there, this one had been pecked by someone (we believe one of the other Jersey Giants who was protecting the other chick) and was bleeding on her comb. What bothered me was the blood all over her beak. We searched for the second baby, and we heard it peeping. Somehow, it had gotten UNDER the nesting boxes into the outside area where we have two giant totes for storing supplies. Sure enough, we followed the peeping into one of those boxes and found the chick, who seemed to have horrendous pasty butt and...a pecked back.

Triage: We rushed the baby inside and ran warm water over her and used some organic castille soap to loosen up the debris around her vent. At the same time, I washed the wound on her back. I applied a vet spray for poultry skin wounds, but by the time we got the debris away from her vent, I could see what looked like unabsorbed yolk and prolapse. I'll try to follow up with a photo of what it looks like now in a few minutes. I pushed things back in as best I could--we were late for an evening event--and put the baby in the incubator with the 5 remaining chicks, one of whom hatched while we were gone. (Yippee!!)

Murderous Momma: I grabbed her, cut her flight wings, spray painted a white spot on her back, and put her in the hospital ward, which is a dedicated coop for sick chickens. There, she found a basket to sit in, so I will have to remove that to break her of her broodiness. More importantly, will I ever be able to trust her, or do I need to cull her? This is a family friendly farm, and if I can't trust someone around babies, he/she has to go.

I've started reading about prolapses for chicks on this site, and I'm going to see if we have Preparation H anywhere in the house. I doubt it. We're not big on petroleum-based products in this house. (EDIT: I did. My shame knows no bounds.) I have Q-tips, and I will use an aloe preparation I made for my daughter 7 years ago. It has rosehip oil and apricot kernal oil carriers with a low-volatile genus of the Melaleuca family and a few other essential oils. I don't have time to make sure they're all compatible with chickens. The essential oils are about .5% of the formulation anyway. It's what I've got, and it will have to do for now. (EDIT: I didn't need to go this route. But I do need to make sure the following ingredients are all safe for chickens in case I want to use the Tender Defender in the future: aloe, rosehip oil, apricot kernel oil, essential oils of Niaouli--safer cousin of tea tree, lavender, chamomile, and ginger.)

Back to the nesting boxes: I found 2 more dead chicks in the mommy's box, so I divvied up her eggs under the other two Jersey Giants and a Brahma who are all deeply broody. (Where are my Buffs??? Oh, right. The fox got most of them.) I just have to hope one of the other Jersey Giants isn't also murderous because they have been known to play musical chairs a little with their nesting boxes. Just to be safe, I removed the remaining chick out there and placed her in the brooder with the chicks I hatched from the incubator. I'm going to have to hope she didn't bring mites or anything in with her, but I didn't have another solution.

Prolapse baby has no place else to go but the incubator. I don't dare put her in the brooder with all the other chickens, unless I can get that prolapse under control.

Advice on the prolapse or the murderous mommy? I'm so mad at that hen that I have no qualms about culling her, if that's the best solution. Sorry, we're wandering a bit from the aim of this particular thread, but it's truly the next chapter of this saga!

Prolapse photos may follow...

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Prolapse baby’s back and vent. The vent doesn’t look good at all!

 

[vivaciouswoman]

After Preparation H, I’m wondering if this is just inflammation at the umbilical cord site. How would I know the difference? I can push it in with some effort, but the minute she peeps, it gets pushed right back out.

 

[April’s Zoo]

Well, if it moves in and out of an opening in the abdomen, I don’t think you can call it “inflammation”.... but it’s not necessarily a prolapse, either.... it’s most likely just that the yolk hasn’t fully absorbed yet.
Could be that the chick never had a chance to finish absorbing the yolk— maybe the hen chased or threw the chick out before it was ready, or the chick had to find a way to escape and worked it’s way under and out of the nest, and fell to where you found it.
I think the usual advice is to keep the chick on a soft dry surface and limit its movement if it seems to be causing damage by moving around. I’ve heard of people sitting the chick on paper towels or a washcloth in a cup or bowl to restrict them moving around.
Others will come along with more specific advice, I’m sure.
Great job on the hatch overall!

 

[Tiana's chickens]

Fantastic hatch!

 

[vivaciouswoman]

DAY 29:
UPDATES

• Prolapse baby died the next day. She wasn't from my incubator; she was hatched under a broody hen. I'm not surprised, and I did everything I could for her. I buried her next to our beloved Buffy, who was the best mommy we've ever had.
• I started with 42 eggs in the incubator. 32 made it to Day 18. Only 5 of those failed, and they all had very small air cells. This isn't surprising, since the thread started with my assumption that I was going to lose them ALL to drowning because of my humidity problem. But 27 hatched, and all 27 REMAIN ALIVE TODAY. I'm thrilled! Again, I cannot thank this community enough for your support!
• I intervened a little bit on a couple of the hatches (see posts above), but nothing terribly involved. I was very, very thankful to have @Pyxis' article about intervening at my fingertips. I did create 2 or 3 safety holes, and I was ready for further intervention as needed.
• Lockdown? Hardly! Once the hatch got underway, I had chicks hatching so rapidly that I had to get in frequently to right a chick stuck on its back peeping "MOMMA-MOMMA-MOMMA! HELP!!" And removing those who had dried to make room for those who were trying to emerge. And occasionally taking pics and videos. That didn't hurt a thing. I just tried to keep it quick and not let the temp fall too far. The chicks were soaking wet, so humidity was not a problem in my case because of the initial humidity problem.
• At the same time, I had 5 broodies in the nesting boxes. Two of them ended up being Murderous Mommas. Both of them were Black Jersey Giants (one other was a BJG as well, and she's a good mom--very, very protective of her Ameraucana baby and she actually bloodied one of the Murderous Mommas to keep her chick safe). The Murderous Mommas have been separated and had their flight feathers trimmed. They are being fattened up for a NEW life purpose...I won't tolerate infanticide.
• I wish I'd read @WVduckchick's article about incubator hatches before I started. If you're about to start incubating, READ IT!

If you'd like to see where we are as of last night, enjoy this video!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10100340063881413

Oh, and I picked up 8 Buff Orpingtons yesterday. They're amazing mommies, and the fox got most of mine. After finding these Murderous Mommas, I felt the need to pick up some good mommies. And they were only $0.50 each! And they threw in 2 for free because I asked for 6 and they had 8 and didn't want to keep 2. No, I do not have a chicken problem.

I'll check back in again and let you know how everyone is doing! I'm committed to giving back to this community by letting everyone know how the support, ideas, and suggestions worked out. BIG LOVE to all of you!!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

DAY 29:
UPDATES

• Prolapse baby died the next day. She wasn't from my incubator; she was hatched under a broody hen. I'm not surprised, and I did everything I could for her. I buried her next to our beloved Buffy, who was the best mommy we've ever had.
• I started with 42 eggs in the incubator. 32 made it to Day 18. Only 5 of those failed, and they all had very small air cells. This isn't surprising, since the thread started with my assumption that I was going to lose them ALL to drowning because of my humidity problem. But 27 hatched, and all 27 REMAIN ALIVE TODAY. I'm thrilled! Again, I cannot thank this community enough for your support!
• I intervened a little bit on a couple of the hatches (see posts above), but nothing terribly involved. I was very, very thankful to have @Pyxis' article about intervening at my fingertips. I did create 2 or 3 safety holes, and I was ready for further intervention as needed.
• Lockdown? Hardly! Once the hatch got underway, I had chicks hatching so rapidly that I had to get in frequently to right a chick stuck on its back peeping "MOMMA-MOMMA-MOMMA! HELP!!" And removing those who had dried to make room for those who were trying to emerge. And occasionally taking pics and videos. That didn't hurt a thing. I just tried to keep it quick and not let the temp fall too far. The chicks were soaking wet, so humidity was not a problem in my case because of the initial humidity problem.
• At the same time, I had 5 broodies in the nesting boxes. Two of them ended up being Murderous Mommas. Both of them were Black Jersey Giants (one other was a BJG as well, and she's a good mom--very, very protective of her Ameraucana baby and she actually bloodied one of the Murderous Mommas to keep her chick safe). The Murderous Mommas have been separated and had their flight feathers trimmed. They are being fattened up for a NEW life purpose...I won't tolerate infanticide.
• I wish I'd read @WVduckchick's article about incubator hatches before I started. If you're about to start incubating, READ IT!

If you'd like to see where we are as of last night, enjoy this video!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10100340063881413

Oh, and I picked up 8 Buff Orpingtons yesterday. They're amazing mommies, and the fox got most of mine. After finding these Murderous Mommas, I felt the need to pick up some good mommies. And they were only $0.50 each! And they threw in 2 for free because I asked for 6 and they had 8 and didn't want to keep 2. No, I do not have a chicken problem.

I'll check back in again and let you know how everyone is doing! I'm committed to giving back to this community by letting everyone know how the support, ideas, and suggestions worked out. BIG LOVE to all of you!!!!

Great job!!

 

[Ladygarber]

Just starting out and have learned so much I'm on overload. But...your lesson I will remember when I fear all is lost hang in there.

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Just starting out and have learned so much I'm on overload. But...your lesson I will remember when I fear all is lost hang in there.

Absolutely!!

 

[vivaciouswoman]

Day 35 update:

Most of the babies are about two weeks old now, and we have at least 2 who looks like they might become tailless! I am so excited! Everyone else’s tail feathers are beginning to come out, but these don’t show any sign of having tail feathers yet, and one is an Americauna. If he’s a rooster, my greatest dreams will be fulfilled!! Fingers crossed! That’s what I was hoping for!


EDIT: I found a third, also an Americauna. Hallelujah!!!
View attachment 1446619

Compare to the tail feather development of everyone else:

View attachment 144660
The next pic was supposed to be cute, but I fel the hot rolling down my back!!


Finally, we have only had one MINOR case of pasty butt, which is astounding! So far, we are thrilled with their overall health, and we are bringing them out to socialize with us on the lawn at least 2-3 times per week. They love it!!