How do I know when it’s time to put down my little boy?

[JacinLarkwell]

Will he eat a soft scrambled egg?

Good thought. I know practically all my birds will eat raw egg too if they refuse most other foods.

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

@JacinLarkwell has given you the best way to tell if he is not getting enough to eat.

I do feel his crop every night just to make sure he is eating as he isn’t growing as much as his siblings

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Here is a picture of him, it’s not the best but you kinda get and idea on the size difference of him and his sisters.
Excuse the very muddy run, it has been raining for the past 3 months here almost every day

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Here is a picture of him, it’s not the best but you kinda get and idea on the size difference of him and his sisters.
Excuse the very muddy run, it has been raining for the past 3 months here almost every day
View attachment 3679093

Poor fellow, he does have a malformed beak. I can see why he would have a hard time eating and drinking. I like his coloring, I am partial to blue chickens.

 

[chickenlover8969]

im sorry you have to go threw this when i started chicken keeping my dog went into my garage i forgot to close the door were my brooder was and when i went to feed them they were scatterd across the floor most were dead and open some were injured badly and we had to put those down i dont have any imformation that could help you but i can tell that you realy care about them and your gonna do whats best im sorry i do not have anything that could help
ps my dog is trained now to leave my chickens alone its suprising how little she cares about them now

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Poor fellow, he does have a malformed beak. I can see why he would have a hard time eating and drinking. I like his coloring, I am partial to blue chickens.

Yeah he is very cute I also love blue chickens, in my chick bacht this year out of one copper marans(the broody mom), one olive egger(I used 3 of her eggs) and one English araucana(the daddy rooster), I got 3 blue chickens so I was very lucky, if the little guy would also have some copper on his neck if he was bigger
the picture of his brother is how he would have looked

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

I thought the one on the ramp was him until I scrolled down

Yeah, it’s kinda a bad picture but once you see him he is kinda hard to unsee

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

His brother looks very cool with those colors and hair

Thank you, genetics are crazy, his mom(the olive eggers) brother looks exactly like him so it’s kinda fun to be reminded that the roosters that got new homes still kinda are with me in some way. This is the Easter eggers brother, I think you can see that they look like each other in some way

 

[Stipenvlerk]

I have a scissor beak chick who is 14 weeks old, until now the only thing I noticed was different about him was that he was a lot smaller than his siblings and ofc his beak.
I am beginning to notice him struggling more as the beak becomes more and more crooked. He doesn’t like wet food so he will only eat his food dry with is a challenge for him.I do trim his beak every now and then

When do I take the decision to put him down,I know that is how his life unfortunately is gonna end as we can’t keep him bc we already have a rooster and he can’t get sold
I don’t want him to be in pain but I also want him to live the best life he can live

So sweet of you to give the little one a chance... This is a hart call to make. However, When he suffers and can't eat properly... His days are limited I'm afraid...

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

I am afraid once he started to lose weight, I would feel compelled to put him down. Obviously, he will get the best life he could have until then. So sorry you will have to make such a hard decision, but you seem to have his best interest at heart.


Will he eat a soft scrambled egg?

Well kinda, he would much rather have pellets but he will eat them if there are no other food near, he is kinda strange and I have never met a chicken who would put normal food over eggs