I Lost a Button Last Night :(

[Sumatra503]

Last night one of my Button females was acting strange. She was sitting in the center of the cage fluffed up and getting knocked over by the others. I took her out and she didn't fight me like normal, she just sat there and didn't move at all. I gave her a few drops of a Nutrical adn sugar water solution for a boost. She perked up a little bit about an hour later, but when I checked this morning she was gone. She was my only black hen and I'd grown a bit attached to her.

All of the others are acting fine and eating well. This one just never seemed to eat.

 

[tuesdays chicks]

so sorry for your loss, I have 1 yellow chick and the rest are browns I keep saying that this yellow chick is special because ti's different so I can imagine how you feel.

 

[Robo]

Was it being bullied? The others might have not let it eat. Did they all hatch at the same time?

 

[Stellar]

Were they still being housed together? She could have been egg bound. It's tough with buttons. They usual show to be helpless always at the end of their lives. But that is like the other birds as well. I am sorry about your hen.

 

[Rozzie]

I'm sorry! It's hard to lose them.

 

[Sumatra503]

The others didn't seem to pic on her at all. She just never showed any interest in her food. She was the biggest one and would sometimes pick on the the smallest one. She had been acting that way since I got them a couple of weeks ago. She may have been eggbound, but I haven't gotten an egg since the first day they were here. The transition has stressed them out and they stopped laying eggs. Her abdomen wasn't swollen or hard, like an eggbound hen.

She was super thin and I think she just wasn't getting enought to eat.

They weren't separated,cause I only have one indoor pen. I found a hole in my aviary netting the other day and I've been trying to find the wire to fix it. I've also been keeping them in quarantene to make sure they aren't going to make my other aviary birds sick.

It's been raining non stop here for about the last week and I'm worried how this will affect them if they are outside.

 

[Rozzie]

What are you feeding them?

 

[Sumatra503]

I feed a game bird mix that is about 20% protien. I also supplement in some dove and quail mix and a millet sray every couple of days.

Is 20% protien alroght, or should I go higher or lower?

Edited to fix a typo.

 

[Stellar]

20% is not bad. There are feed with 24% which is great too. Manna Pro has high protein, great for buttons. You can grind up oyster shell and add it it to the mix.

 

[Sumatra503]

20% Payback gamebird ration is the only thing available around here. Gamebirds aren't very common, so I'm lucky I could get that. What the feed actually is is an all purpose feed for gamebirds, chickens, and waterfowl. That's whay the protien is not quite as high.