Mother of Chicks
Songster
Hi all,
I have silkie chicks which are 2 weeks and some which are 11 days old - 7 chicks in total. So, here's the story of Temago (Japanese for Omlette).
She was hatched on 20th May from an egg which I didn't hold out much hope - detached air cell was very unstable so she was a carton baby. She pipped herself but got stuck during zipping for about 30 hours, so I helped her finish her zip (slowly of course over many hours). She was born with a red/swollen umbilicus and a bit of goo (dried egg yolk?) was clinging to her backside but from the moment she hatched, she was noisy. Very noisy. Anyway, after another 24 hours in the incubator with a buddy, I took them out because they were the stragglers, and popped them in the brooder with the other chicks. Her belly was no longer red but it was a bit soft and her scab seemed bigger than the other scabs from the other chicks. The others were quiet, no pecking and just wandering around not bothering her.
From the minute she went on that floor she started screaming like a peep-peep-peep high pitched car alarm. I may have been wrong to do so, but I scooped her back up, checked her belly and decided that she may need a little longer in the inc. She settled down again. The next day, I made her her own brooder as I was concerned that her distended abdomen meant mushy chick disease. She was originally only happy being held and would only eat and drink when I was showing her how. She had a little brooder of her own with a cuddly toy and mirror and was eating and drinking and having some cuddles to settle her down. I added electrolytes, chick vitamins and a bit of sugar to her water. She had her belly gently wiped with iodine daily.
She's made some improvements because now she makes happy chirps and only screams occasionally, but that is usually so she can cuddle. She potters around her brooder, eats, drinks, sleeps and poops. She is now in a brooder extension to the original so she can see the other chicks but is separated by a bit of chicken wire. Her belly feels less watery and more like the other chicks do. She has had pasty butt a couple of times (cleaned her up) and really likes the brooder plate but is coming out much more often.
So here's the thing: she's tiny, she still screams sometimes and is active but nowhere near as active as my other little terrors. What do I do with her? She's about a third of the size of the others and I am not sure if she has recovered or is on the way to recovering. How can you tell?
Any advice on this situation would be great - thank you all so much.
Bex
I have silkie chicks which are 2 weeks and some which are 11 days old - 7 chicks in total. So, here's the story of Temago (Japanese for Omlette).
She was hatched on 20th May from an egg which I didn't hold out much hope - detached air cell was very unstable so she was a carton baby. She pipped herself but got stuck during zipping for about 30 hours, so I helped her finish her zip (slowly of course over many hours). She was born with a red/swollen umbilicus and a bit of goo (dried egg yolk?) was clinging to her backside but from the moment she hatched, she was noisy. Very noisy. Anyway, after another 24 hours in the incubator with a buddy, I took them out because they were the stragglers, and popped them in the brooder with the other chicks. Her belly was no longer red but it was a bit soft and her scab seemed bigger than the other scabs from the other chicks. The others were quiet, no pecking and just wandering around not bothering her.
From the minute she went on that floor she started screaming like a peep-peep-peep high pitched car alarm. I may have been wrong to do so, but I scooped her back up, checked her belly and decided that she may need a little longer in the inc. She settled down again. The next day, I made her her own brooder as I was concerned that her distended abdomen meant mushy chick disease. She was originally only happy being held and would only eat and drink when I was showing her how. She had a little brooder of her own with a cuddly toy and mirror and was eating and drinking and having some cuddles to settle her down. I added electrolytes, chick vitamins and a bit of sugar to her water. She had her belly gently wiped with iodine daily.
She's made some improvements because now she makes happy chirps and only screams occasionally, but that is usually so she can cuddle. She potters around her brooder, eats, drinks, sleeps and poops. She is now in a brooder extension to the original so she can see the other chicks but is separated by a bit of chicken wire. Her belly feels less watery and more like the other chicks do. She has had pasty butt a couple of times (cleaned her up) and really likes the brooder plate but is coming out much more often.
So here's the thing: she's tiny, she still screams sometimes and is active but nowhere near as active as my other little terrors. What do I do with her? She's about a third of the size of the others and I am not sure if she has recovered or is on the way to recovering. How can you tell?
Any advice on this situation would be great - thank you all so much.
Bex
I gave her a few days more in the main brooder but separated by a bit of chicken wire. She settled down loads and began to eat and drink better on her own. So I thought I'd give it a go and remove the barrier - ready to pop it back in if required. It was seamless and all of her crying stopped. She is now happily accepted as part of the clutch and doing all the normal chickeny things. She even eats meal worms and grit with the big girls and boys so I am really happy. She's still runt sized but her personality has changed and she has started to try to chest bump to be an alpha (she has no idea she's so tiny I guess?). 
