help please!!!! Lethargic chick wont move etc. Splay leg also? HELP

[ellend]

The baby is suffering. End it. It's the only kind thing you can do for it. It's painful to do, but it's over in a flash, and then the baby won't suffer any more.
Call the seller and tell him you want a refund/exchange, and send him the photo.
The car tire will be SO fast a euthanasia that no pain message will be able to get to the brain and be registered, and the chick won't suffer; just do it FAST.

 

[MakMurrayFarm]

Baby #2 is gone. No blood in stools. I started treating with corid and probiotics when I got them just in CASE! It is all so instant when they start going down hill. I have no clue what's happening. It upsets me so much. I researched and researched this breed and looked forever till I found a reputable breeder and this is my luck. He is supposed to have more hatch tomorrow and I'm gonna let him know about these two. He already told me he would refund or replace the chick I lost the first day I got them, but I havent let him know about this one. I've been upset and pouting since this baby died.. Ugh. I just KNOW it's nothing I'm doing and its upsetting I dont know what is happening. These poor Angel's

I'm so sorry about your babies!

I know the chicks are a little young to suspect coccidiosis but that behavior and the fact that now another has the same symptoms makes me wonder (it's contagious). Do the chicks have any blood in their stools?

I ordered some silkie chicks from cackle hatchery a few years ago, they arrived in great condition but after 2 days one started acting a lot like yours (lethargic, wouldn't open its eyes) we checked and saw it had some blood in its stools as well. The feed store was closed and we weren't able to get Corid (amprolium) until the next morning. The baby didn't make it through the night but we started treatment to make sure none of the others died and they never came down with symptoms. With coccidiosis I've heard once they start getting really lethargic it's hard to bring them back from that and they usually pass pretty quickly. Maybe someone else will chime in about the possibility of coccidia because if yours have it they'll need treatment to survive.

I never had issues with coccidiosis before or after that incidence, I have no idea why they got it (if it was indeed that).

Good luck with your little ones, I really hope your able to save your remaining babies.

 

[MakMurrayFarm]

At this point I think I'm going to order from a hatchery and see how that goes. I'm tempted to not even get replacement chicks from this guy with the luck I've had.

Maybe the breeder would give you hatching eggs to hatch yourself, so you know they will get a healthy start. Sorry that you are losing these birds. When I have recieved bantams in shipping, they tend to be a little more fragile the first 2 weeks, so I really concentrate on giving them NutriDrench, make sure they are eating and drinking well, and inspecting for pasty butt daily. I used to want a lot of more unusual or rare birds, but I quickly found that the ones I bought did not lay well, eggs did not hatch well, and those breeds did not live long. Some of the old fashioned breeds such as heritage RIR, were the better layers and their shipped eggs had much better chances of hatching. Now I just want hatchery birds who hopefully are carriers of disease from a breeder’s chickens, and who lay well.

 

[LynnaePB]

I'm so sorry, I hope your last little one doesn't succumb to whatever the other two babies had. It sounds like you are taking great care of them, I'd be so frustrated and sad in your situation too. Good luck with whatever little d'uccles you decide to get, if you go the hatchery route I hope you are able to get some decent quality ones!

I know cackle hatchery actually has videos of their breeder flocks and lots of pictures of chickens from their hatchery on the individual breeds page. At least you'd be able to try to evaluate the quality you might get there. The silkies I got there were the best quality silkies I've ever seen from a hatchery.

 

[MakMurrayFarm]

Hey girl.. I figured I'd give you a little update. So the breeder has 6 porcelain duccles and 13 silver duccles... He said he will replace both of mine that I've lost.. now the question is do I really want to get replacements from him or should I just let it go?

Well, if he hatches like 600 of them there must be one porcelain one for you.

I currently have 15 babies. I originally got 11 babies with the intention of keeping 7 (the bantams were straight run, so I got 3 each of the white and self blue ones in the hopes of getting one female of each color). After my one silver spangled hamburd died I contacted the hatchery and they sent me a girl and a boy one (since I wasn't sure if it was the pullet or cock who had died) but they couldn't ship just 2 chicks, so I got two silver phoenixes and one extra RIR (mine had been sitting down that morning and I thought she was dying...after the SSH died I was even more paranoid than usual. The sitting was just more adult behaviors coming out, like preening and scratching/digging, so in retrospect I feel very silly, but oh well). There is a woman at my mom's work who wants all of my extra ones, so I guess I'm currently looking at keeping 8 birds, 1 rooster, 7 hens.

How about you? What is your flock composition like? I know you said you were planning on having several bloodlines to breed the d'Uccles. Are you planning on getting the chicks from multiple different sources?

Well, if he hatches like 600 of them there must be one porcelain one for you.

I currently have 15 babies. I originally got 11 babies with the intention of keeping 7 (the bantams were straight run, so I got 3 each of the white and self blue ones in the hopes of getting one female of each color). After my one silver spangled hamburd died I contacted the hatchery and they sent me a girl and a boy one (since I wasn't sure if it was the pullet or cock who had died) but they couldn't ship just 2 chicks, so I got two silver phoenixes and one extra RIR (mine had been sitting down that morning and I thought she was dying...after the SSH died I was even more paranoid than usual. The sitting was just more adult behaviors coming out, like preening and scratching/digging, so in retrospect I feel very silly, but oh well). There is a woman at my mom's work who wants all of my extra ones, so I guess I'm currently looking at keeping 8 birds, 1 rooster, 7 hens.

How about you? What is your flock composition like? I know you said you were planning on having several bloodlines to breed the d'Uccles. Are you planning on getting the chicks from multiple different sources?

 

[Eggcessive]

I think that is up to you whether or not to accept the replacements. Is he offering a refund for the two you lost?

 

[AmyJane725]

Hey girl.. I figured I'd give you a little update. So the breeder has 6 porcelain duccles and 13 silver duccles... He said he will replace both of mine that I've lost.. now the question is do I really want to get replacements from him or should I just let it go?

Hey. I'm really sorry I didn't write to you on the day this all happened. I needed to move my babies out to the garage and building their pen took a LOT longer than I had anticipated. I read your post on my phone and I started responding but I never got to finish.

I'm so sorry about the second baby. That's just horrible. I'd be really upset as well.

As far as what to do going forward, I'd give it one last try with this guy (just because I'm stubborn and I expect things to go according to plan, even if it's just by sheer force of will). If any more die, get your money back and buy some hatchery birds. (Maybe buy some anyway just to compare). You can get 5 chicks from a hatchery for the cost of one of this guys.

Ideal Poultry sells the porcelain ones, and many others. They have a huge selection of birds. I have heard that they don't necessarily have the "best" stock, but I got all of my chicks from there. Only one out of sixteen has died so far, and I think the others are all gonna live. One of my cochin bantams has vulture hocks, meaning it is automatically disqualified from shows, but that was only one out of the six cochin bantams I got, and doesn't have any bearing on the d'Uccles. It's very clear you have your heart set on the porcelain d'Uccles and no other birds will do. This is the breed for you. Don't give up.

Here's a link to the page for them if you're interested: https://www.idealpoultry.com/product/1316/0

Here is the disclaimer off of the page also: Our bantams are purebred and represent the breed and variety; however, we do not guarantee or represent that they are of show quality.

I take that to mean that while they don't guarantee that the birds are show quality, it doesn't mean that some of them might not be. If they're purebred and everything it seems like there should be a few good ones in there somewhere.

 

[Cyprus]

Uh, Hi
I thought I would chime in. I have 4+ years of experience raising and now breeding d'Uccles. All of my chicks had pasty butt, both hatched here and elsewhere.
As for this random death.... Been there, done that unfortunately.
I ordered in eggs from a reputable breeder. 5 chicks hatched and on day 6 chaos happened. 1 drowned and 2 chilled to death despite two heat sources. All in three hours time. The surviving 2 both died the next day in 1 hour after going completely limp. We never found out why. I've lost almost every single d'Uccle chick I've ever had. Nobody else gave me issue, ever. In 6 years.

This whole sudden death thing is starting to prove to be a d'Uccle thing. Fragile, fragile breed.

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

I'm so sorry. Sounds terrible. Can't imagine what wrong. Must have something going on inside of the poor little guy that gave it the pasty butt.

 

[AmyJane725]

How are you doing, OP? Have you gotten more chicks yet, or are you still figuring out what to do?