Help with new chicks

[Granny Hatchet]

your doing every thing right .

good luck with the rest. you should be able to save some but if not, its not from anything you did.

 

[KaziCritter]

I have koolaide packets (thats where all the suger went in fact). The nutrition facts on my honey has it listed as 16g sugar per 1 tablespoon, and I read somewhere that someone used it with good results like this so I figured it would be better to try then to twiddle my thumbs and just watch.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

well i agree with that !! did you use a bit of honey? bit o honey heheh i want some candy. i meant dont be afraid to use a lot in their water for the first few times.

 

[KaziCritter]

As long as I'm not the one doing it (yet), then I'll just do what I can I guess. First time with baby birds so the specifics are new. So far I'm down from 16 to about 8 with 2 borderline on being pulled for special care. At least once I get refunded I see about waiting til the local feed store has some in and try their stock. Got these with every intent of eventually eating all of them, so at least the losses aren't painful (much, lost too many critters over the years to be effected by a lot of them (save the longer lived ones))...just disapointing that I can't keep them going.


Using about half honey to half water right now. Tried adding just a bit of yolk and that got even more response then the honey/water mix.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

ya, i have been there a couple times too but i dont eat mine

they are a hobby hahah

 

[KaziCritter]

With meat birds they can only really go to the table and the layers will get a good life with plenty of grass and bugs for a few years and then slowly go to the table as well, eventually...maybe... Well at least that's the plan, but plans can change of course. But first I have to get them to survive their first week.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

they will die of heart failure right? always made me wonder about my little cornish cross hen, she is bantam and i wondered if she would die early but nope she is still just as fat and sassy as ever. think she is 2 now.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

way past my bed time. let me know how you make out.

 

[KaziCritter]

From the reading I've done, if you don't limit their feed after about 3 weeks they will grow too fast and drop dead from any number of things (including heart failure) because their body (and systems) can't handle the extreme growth rate. I did see a few people online that had cornish crosses that lived for at least a few years, but most of them were the runts of the group and so didn't grow as fast or as much (so their bodies could keep up with them).

 

[KaziCritter]

Well, down to what looks like 4 that are still moving about (finally started eating thir feed) and 1 that doesnt look so good. 2 of them didnt look so good, but they managed to come around and seem ok. I gave the group some softened feed before bed last night which they gobbled down in minutes.