Illinois...

[ChicagoClucker]

How is the lonely choc cuckoo egg doing? Hatched?

My broodies are trying again so I gave them a separate coop and nest, so far they have not liked it but I will check in the morning if they took the bait (some store eggs). Meanwhile my incubator is full with 21 eggs. Since they are shipped eggs anything higher than 50% will be a success. Day 4 just started so I will candle them tomorrow night before giving the broodies.

One of the broodies is at the bottom of the pecking order so I am just keeping her as a back-up plan only. I feel bad for her but she is not capable of defending her chicks.

Meanwhile, I let me chicken out yesterday for an hour and all of a sudden a hawk swooped down. All the girls ran for cover plus the hawk got scared by our presence as well so ony came down to about 6 ft level. 3 of the hens took cover under my car and did not come out for 45 minutes or so. I hope it doesn't effect egg production. The hawk looked too small to be able to carry any of the girls accept my Legbar. Maybe that is one of the reasons it gave up. Its underside was almost completely white except for the tail. Maybe a juvenile?

Watch that hawk, even if he can't pick up one of the girls. He could do some damage with those talons trying!
Hope the broody girls stick with it, for your sake! NO brooder, lol.

There is no progress on the cuckoo egg, so I pulled it out to candle quickly today. It looks good and I saw a bit of movement, so it could be a bit behind because of the broody hens fighting and leaving the nests. Fingers are crossed!

The same thing happened here yesterday. Just as I was walking back into the house I heard a scuffle & alarm squawking. I turned back & as I ran I saw the hawk flying away. There were about 1 dozen plucked feathers with gray barring all over the patio. I stayed out & helped guide the chickens back into the coop/run. Everyone was present. Both the CCL & Biele had rooster feather loss - but they both already had some from the roosters.

I've been putting the 4 wk old babies babies outside in the tractor. I also made them a huddle house. They have finally caught on & are using it on a regular basis. I hope to take down the baby gates in a few days but keep the huddle house as a chick retreat.

Peeking out of the huddle house

Little Cookie's BIG family.
Often I'm not seeing any chicks under the back up Mama Heating Pad. They're all squeezing under Cookie. It reminds me of the Nutcracker's Lady with the big skirt. The chicks are under, on top of, or running around her.


With all the standing water out back, my chickens have turned into ducks. Everyone's feet look like this:



@ChicagoClucker
Sending hatching vibes your way!

If you don't have a broody to adopt the lonely only chick & are in need of a buddy let me know. ..... I have a few spares. LOL

Thanks for sending good vibes, I might need the extra good vibes. Nothing as of yet on my cuckoo egg. Pulled it out for a quick candle and saw movement and air cell looks perfect, so we will see. And if it hatches, I plan on putting him in with the Jubilees and mottled chicks I just got. They are less than a week old, and seem very healthy, so I figure I would slip him in there. Thank you for the offer though!

 

[chickendreams24]

Welcome newbies to Byc and to the Illinois thread. Quite the week here so far! Please read below. The chocolate cuckoo Orp chick passed away between 3 and 7 Monday morning and was sent for a necropsy today. Thank you very much red tape. We set chicken eggs for the Easter hatchalong on Monday at noon. Yesterday we discovered something had damaged our kitchen cupboard under the sink. And later learned it's a groundhog. It would seem it hibernated in the crawl space under our kitchen floor and became stuck. Everyone remember those holes last fall under our porch? I believe we know the cause. Well apparently the thing can't find its way out and of course has no access to water. Yesterday it chewed through the water line to our sprayer knozzle on the kitchen sink as well as chewing at the cupboard itself. There is a flap of wood that goes around the pipes that lifts out that is it's entrance point. We were up until past 4 am last night trying to get the thing out. It's large for a groundhog and although I'm not frightened of it I do respect it and feel for it's plight. We are trying to shoo it out through the kitchen and out the back door. Unfortunately this has not proved easy. Hopefully tonight we can manage to get it out. It is very fearful but not aggressive although if it felt cornered I'm sure it could be. In fact after it got out of the cupboard(pushed the cupboard door open) last night the wood fell and it wasn't able to get back down the hole for some time. We weren't able to get the door open and get it out before it got the flap up again. It was quite the fiasco with me trying to soothe the frightened panicked creature. And eventually it turned and walked right up to me in between the kitchen and the dining room. No fear what so ever and sniffed the tote lid that I held as a barricade before looking up at me. I told it gently it didn't want to go that way and turn around and it did. Lol Quite the night. Hopefully tonight we will be more successful. Now my friends please I need your thoughts and prayers for my Grandpa. I was informed today that he was rushed from his Alzheimer's care assisted living via ambulance a couple of days ago. His doctor had changed his meds and taken him off his pills for his mood. From what I understand. It was a short conversation. I will know more later. My Grandpa, who is the kindest most respectful man you'd ever meet, except for his Alzheimer's acted up without his pills. Any change at all is hard for Alzheimer's or dementia patients and he began to act out to the staff. From there they sent him to a hospital with a psych ward. However upon admission tests were run and he has bacteria in his urine which we knew about but his elderly doctor chose to ignore when he saw him Friday. They also did a CAT scan and discovered he has pneumonia and a sinus infection as well as a urinary tract infection. He was not running a fever. For those that don't know illness in patients who are elderly or have dementia or Alzheimer's often confuses and worsens their mental state. In the last three weeks he has not been recognizing family at all which has been spotty. He has good days and bad days but lately there all been bad. We are hoping that treating these illnesses will improve his mental state and lesson his mood swings. If he remains violent or threatening of violence the place will not take him back. Everyone please keep my Grandpa in your thoughts and prayers and keep my family in them as well. My Grandpa is being monitored and treated with IV antibiotics. He did recognize my Grandma for the first time in three weeks yesterday when he looked at her and said her name. I will keep you all up to date on Grandpa and on the groundhog when I know more. Thank you guys

Prayers for Grandpa .. Hope you get rid of the groundhog

Sending hugs and prayers for you, your family and your grandfather. My mother had Alzheimers, and it is a cruel disease. So hopefully he will be more himself once everything is taken care of and he is back in his own room. Wishing you luck on the groundhog hunt this evening. Hopefully he will prefer to be outside!

@chickendreams24 Your family is definitely in my thoughts & prayers. While currently going through our own family medical issues, I can understand all the feelings one goes through during these rough times. Also I know you tried hard to keep that little orp alive. I'm sure he knew he was loved & at least is no longer suffering. On a lighter note, you should have charged admission to your house on Feb 2nd to hold your own Groundhog Day party! What fun adventures you guys have up in WI! (Just kidding & trying to make you laugh at a bad situation. )

Hi guys thank you all for the support and sympathy. Please keep the prayers coming. Grandpa is on three IV antibiotics and has calmed down some but we still don't know what the future holds. The little chocolate cuckoo chick was sent out but we haven't received any news yet on the necropsy. The groundhog was caught last week in a live trap and returned to the backyard. Poor thing. We are hoping the trauma will keep it from ever coming back. Well guys I didn't believe it but we heard some noises in the basement last Friday and set out traps expecting to catch a mouse. The next morning there was a rat in the trap. That makes two we've seen here. Hopefully that is all but the traps are all set mouse rat groundhog oh my! Lol gosh this is beginning to seem like a twisted zoo around here lol Hopefully there are no little rats running around bc that would just be nine kinds of awful. Again these two are the only two wild rats I've ever seen and I'm not happy to know they were in my home! Ick! That being said hopefully they're gone and there won't be any more. Now that the groundhog is gone we may be putting poison out in the basement to deal with any other unwanted visitors. We have 3 brooders set up. 1 with almost 2 week old chicks and with bantam chicks hatched in February. I was hoping to get some chicks from our oegb roo Mickey that we lost and unfortunately it's looking like we did not succeed. We also have two quail brooders set up One with week and a half olds(also one 2.5 week old) and one with 4 week olds The size difference is amazing but they are also very different lines.

I'm upset with my roos again today. Moose has been a big bully! Tomorrow is day 20. On day 18, I gave Cookie 2 eggs to sit on, so she'll be in sync & ready to adopt all the incubator chicks. Moose bullied Dummy & sent him running into the coop. Dummy broke through the broody netting, smashed 1 of Cookie's eggs, & pushed her out of the nest box! By the time I went out a few hours later & discovered this, Cookie's uncracked egg was ice cold & the broken one was pretty bloody. I put Cookie back on the egg & will hope for the best. I brought the smashed, bloody egg inside to take a look at the chick color. (It would have been a choc cuckoo orp. ) The yolk was not absorbed. Then all of a sudden it's cold body moved slightly & made a faint peep. I quickly wrapped it with wet paper towel, then put it into a coffee mug in the incubator, but it didn't make it. As far as the incubator, DD found a pip & woke everyone up at 6am to tell us about it! That early chick hatched about 4pm today. About 8 pips in there right now, so we're about on schedule.

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear Moose is being a heat and that the egg was crushed. Poor baby.

Our incubator chicks are doing well. The storm kept me up last night - as well as all the peeping every time a new chick hatched. Right now we have: 4 pips (2 could be blk or lav orps, 1 choc cuckoo, & 1 penciled rock) 4 lav orps 3 black orps 1 female EE (CCLxOrp) 1 choc cuckoo orp 7-8 eggs haven't started yet, but that's actually good because I have several visitors coming today to watch chicks hatch. It's hard to plan these things because it could all be over or the kids could stare at inactive pipped eggs. Of course when the timing does work out, it's so much fun to see a child's delight as they watch the wet little chick crawl out of the egg. My son's school is on spring break, so we have a few play dates today.

The Jubilee and Mottled chick's have arrived. They are all very active and hungry.

Congrats on the new babies! Where'd you order from?

Sorry to hear your grandpa is not doing well. He will be in our prayers. May his life become easier.

Thank you

Busy day! At one point I had 15 people in my living room. So far 27 visitors have stopped by & I haven't had time to count all the chicks. Cookie's other choc cuckoo chick hatched this afternoon, so I moved her & the chick into the bog brooder. I’ve been slipping the incubator chicks under her. Poor gal can’t count, but I wonder if she realizes that she’s adopting about 20 more chicks. That’s a lot of babies from one egg! LOL


It looks like some quail eggs may have pipped, but none have hatched yet.


Here are a few of my fav pics....

Last night around 10:30pm when I 1st tried going to bed. See those lonely 2 chicks.

This morning at 10:30am. A very crowded incubator!



Here are 3 of the choc cuckoos. The one on left is darker. The other 3 are pretty light (almost like my mauves were). Brick & Godiva are the only combo to make these colored chicks. @Junibutt
Do they have the possibility of being cuckoo mauves or just a lighter brown?



Here's the darker choc cuckoo next to a black orp.


Here are a couple lavs. I think I have 4 (but more may hatch)



Black orps


This chick had something important to say.



Cookie in the brooder. (in the garage)

No Chick dust in the house!


Chicks can go under hen & the overflow can snuggle under the Mama Heating Pad.

Congrats on a great hatch. Beautiful chicks as well. Those choc cuckoos are just choc cuckoos if they are Godiva's eggs. however if they are Oopsie's then we never know. lol. Although mauve cuckoo should have been much lighter.

On my end, I ordered some choc mottled and lav mottled eggs for my broodies. The eggs arrived today. however one of the broodies quit 3-4 days ago and the 2nd did not sleep in the nest yesterday. So I am worried about giving her the eggs. Maybe I should put these eggs in the bator and give her store eggs to make sure she is going to stay. I should also probably separate her so that she is not bothered by others to get off the nest. I will be in trouble if I don't have a broody by the time these hatch. Any suggestions? Haha!

Oh yes I'm with Faraday40 give them to me lol. Wish I could loan you a silkie lol Also don't underestimate the lowest pecking order broody. We had a girl last year that I was worried about with her chicks and the flock. A little grey silkie named Lovey and that bird was probably our best broody last year she was fearless! Lol when another hen decided she wanted to be Mommy she got her butt kicked lol.

[COLOR=0000FF]I would put the shipped eggs into the incubator after resting for 12-24 hrs. I get a better hatch if I keep them upright (no turning) for the 1st 2 days of incubation . That helps the wobbly air cells firm up. In the meantime, give your broodies some fake eggs to keep them going. You can swap the eggs out as late as day 18.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]Oopsie went slightly broody but wasn't up for the task. (Thankfully I didn't give her eggs from the incubator.) She was the 1st LF orp to even try. Once she was sitting tight on the eggs I moved her to a broody apartment. She stayed on them for another 2 days & then kept walking away. I kind of wonder if she was faking just to keep the clumsy roos away. Now she's not laying nor broody. Silly bird! Thank goodness she's cute.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]Cookie to the rescue. She started going full broody & since she's an experienced hen, I blocked off her nest & had her sit on some golf balls. I waited until day 18 & then decided to risk 2 eggs. (Sadly, one got smashed but it wasn't her fault.) Now she's happily clucking away to over 20 chicks in the brooder & I'm still adding more.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]PS- All 3 of the Penciled Rocks hatched overnight! (Plus 2 more lav orps & a ton of brown Coturnix quail) I more pipped orp egg & 1 EE egg left. [/COLOR]:yiipchick

I love hearing about your hatches! Let me know if you've got an extra silver pencilled rock pullet please or any other chicks. Today is day 7 for our Easter hatchalong eggs and I can't wait to candle. We had a birthday party over the weekend for DH2B and sime of the guests were asking me about chickens and quail and everyone wanted to see the babies and such. Then I surprised everyone when I got out the flashlight and candles a few eggs there were lots of oohs and ahs lol If course any reason to talk about my chickens and educate people and I'm there. We had some family and friends over that were fearful of the birds and thinking they might be aggressive. Lol especially when I ended up holding one of our massive chocolate cuckoo english Orp boys. Priceless!! Lol Dinner was provided by the chickens as we had pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches and they were super tasty. Amazingly no one freaked out about it being one of our birds. There were some questions and friendly jokes but it was great! I was able to educate many of the guests on everything from egg to table is really brief conversations. A few people wanted more info and we will hopefully be getting some new egg customers out of it.

While I was outside this afternoon, I noticed a large pile up in the bantams coop. The 3 original girls had been kicked off the nest, I assumed, and another broody hen took over. The 3 others trying to work their way back in. Uggg, and since tomorrow is hatch day for the 1 and only cuckoo egg that made it this far, I decided to pull the egg and put it in the incubator. I don't want the chick getting stepped on by fighting broody mamas. The broody hens still have some bantam eggs to sit with and I was planning on slipping next weeks hatch under them. My only problem it the humidity in the incubator. I have 10 orpington eggs due next weekend in there. Could I try and keep humidity around 50%? Would that be too little for the egg due to hatch tomorrow? Has anyone ever done something similar or a staggered hatch in the same incubator before?

We have done staggered hatches several times and sometimes they do very well and sometimes not so well. I feel that it would be safe to bring the egg in and up the humidity for a few days for lockdown of that egg. Then quickly bring it back down after hatch. We use hot damp paper towels often when incubating so we don't have to mess with the wells they are especially great for staggered hatches bc once you take the towels out the humidity drops almost instantly. We use small shallow gladware containers and place the paper towels in there with a small amount of water in the dish. Make sure the paper towels act as a wick for the water. We also keep any eggs that are due to hatch in strawberry or other containers to keep them away from the water and to allow the other eggs to continue turning. I will have to snap a pic some time of the set up for staggers we do. I would think 50-60% would be fine for 2-3 days for the hatching eggs.

How is the lonely choc cuckoo egg doing? Hatched? My broodies are trying again so I gave them a separate coop and nest, so far they have not liked it but I will check in the morning if they took the bait (some store eggs). Meanwhile my incubator is full with 21 eggs. Since they are shipped eggs anything higher than 50% will be a success. Day 4 just started so I will candle them tomorrow night before giving the broodies. One of the broodies is at the bottom of the pecking order so I am just keeping her as a back-up plan only. I feel bad for her but she is not capable of defending her chicks. Meanwhile, I let me chicken out yesterday for an hour and all of a sudden a hawk swooped down. All the girls ran for cover plus the hawk got scared by our presence as well so ony came down to about 6 ft level. 3 of the hens took cover under my car and did not come out for 45 minutes or so. I hope it doesn't effect egg production. The hawk looked too small to be able to carry any of the girls accept my Legbar. Maybe that is one of the reasons it gave up. Its underside was almost completely white except for the tail. Maybe a juvenile?

The same thing happened here yesterday. Just as I was walking back into the house I heard a scuffle & alarm squawking. I turned back & as I ran I saw the hawk flying away. There were about 1 dozen plucked feathers with gray barring all over the patio. I stayed out & helped guide the chickens back into the coop/run. Everyone was present. Both the CCL & Biele had rooster feather loss - but they both already had some from the roosters. I've been putting the 4 wk old babies babies outside in the tractor. I also made them a huddle house. They have finally caught on & are using it on a regular basis. I hope to take down the baby gates in a few days but keep the huddle house as a chick retreat. Peeking out of the huddle house Little Cookie's BIG family. Often I'm not seeing any chicks under the back up Mama Heating Pad. They're all squeezing under Cookie. It reminds me of the Nutcracker's Lady with the big skirt. The chicks are under, on top of, or running around her. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] With all the standing water out back, my chickens have turned into ducks. Everyone's feet look like this: @ChicagoClucker Sending hatching vibes your way! If you don't have a broody to adopt the lonely only chick & are in need of a buddy let me know. ..... I have a few spares. LOL

We had an interesting weekend around here. Oreo and Brownie were so red by friday there was no denying they were boys. They hit the full five week mark and were like yep, cockerels. We decided it would be easier to make a break with them sooner than later. I posted them and within hours they were gone. I was pretty upset to see them go, so the decision was made to get two new little ones that we could add to our bigger four eventually. So we went to the Farm and Fleet in Woodstock, picked up two new babies. One little light grey/blue EE and an Austra-White with one large black spot on her rump. Everything seemed fine the first night, and then things quickly went down hill to where the little easter egger was buried this morning, and we had to run get another chick so that the other one wasnt lonely. It was stressful and I tried so hard to get the little one to eat and drink, but she couldnt handle it. So now instead of the very nice varied eggs and flock I wanted I have two Austra-whites who are loud and spunky! They have very different markings, so they are easily told apart. There is such a learning curve to this whole thing. I am amazed how often I am searching this forum for help, and can usually find it. The in laws are visiting next week and I am hoping they will help the husband come around to some chicken math so I can get another EE or maybe a Welsummer for that variety It would only be ONE extra, unless I can get my hands on a pullet silkie haha. And our neighbors are pretty relaxed so I doubt we would be tattled on, and our property has some pretty intense privacy bushes so they would be hard pressed to count the chickens.. As of now, the big four are Pepper the SLW, Peaches the Amberlink, Cinnamon the Buff Orpington, and Licorice an EE (we joke she is part hawk, she is all red and grey and looks wild). Pepper is my favorite, always wanting attention and likes to try to get on my shoulder any time she thinks she can. I have had a few good scares from her launching for my face so far. Peaches and Cinnamon are so easily picked up I worry about them if a predator situation ever does arise, but they are nice, quiet and calm. Licorice is the bird that can not be tamed. Her personality is matching her wild looking feathering. Faraday: I was telling my husband about the quails, and he wants to know why keep them? He likes them and thinks they are cute so he wants to know if they have benefits beyond cuteness.

Glad you found them a home sorry to hear they were confirmed cockerals.

Sounds like chicken math has struck your house. It's terribly hard to fight it. LOL Female Quail lay almost an egg a day- starting at only 6.5-7.5 weeks old! The male can be eaten at that age, so it's not like you have to spend a lot of time growing them out. I have to add that the meat tastes amazing. I can't say anyone enjoys processing their birds, but I did my best not to get attached. Emotionally it was difficult, but physically it was easy enough for me to do by myself. That's a good thing b/c DH can't help help with such things. They are similar but also very diff than chickens. I enjoy all the cute little speckled eggs, which can add up very fast. I've been finding all sorts of fun uses for them. ( Hard boiled kid snacks, garnish for fancy salads, appetizers, a tiny bit of egg wash when baking breads, and great for changing serving size in recipes. (You know when you need 1/2 an egg....) Incubation & grow out time is very short. They double in size in their 1st week alone and are just about adult size by 4 wks. They are so quiet & take up very little space, so no one knows you even have them. Then there's the cute factor. Cons: They are tiny, can crawl into small gaps, and I worry I'm going to accidentally throw one out when I clean the brooder. They require a higher protein %, so we have to purchase an extra type of feed. They are seasonal layers - unless you give them supplemental light. They are not as social & loving as chickens. (My chickens come running up to me as soon as they spot me, follow me around the yard, & constantly chatter away as I do my chores. They will fight over who gets to sit in my lap & enjoy snuggles.) The quail are OK and can be handled, the male will even hop into my hand when called, but it's not the same. They are more cats when compared to an in-your-face, loyal dog.

Lol Faraday I know you're allergic but you need to meet my cats bc they will prove to you that not all cats are that way lol Now we love our quail too and I hope you guys don't mind me throwing in my two cents. They are quite quiet and make some of the cutest noises lol. They are also very easy to keep. They can not free range as they will run away and many people keep them in rabbit hutches or even fish tanks. They don't roost. They are also not considered a livestock but rather an aviary bird or somewhere in between so many places that can not keep chickens can keep quail. They lay almost daily and their eggs are beautiful. They also have some very interesting health benefits in regards to their eggs. Do a little research and check it out. The eggs are said to be hypoallergenic- for those people that have allergies to chicken eggs. They are also not supposed to carry salmonella which is why raw quail eggs are found in recipes. They are also said to help asthma and other breathing troubles as well as heart disease and high cholesterol. They're very interesting and curious little birds and ours run to the run door when we go in to see them. They can not co-mingle with chickens bc the chickens will kill them but they don't need much space. We plan to build ours an enclosed tractor this summer to get some sun and free range. They do have some cons. They can be quite aggressive with their own kind if space is an issue or if the breeding group has too many males. They also don't use nest boxes. The chicks are very prone to cold when small(you can't expect a chick the size of a quarter to be able to heat itself of course) and I highly recommend keeping quail using nipple drinkers only. They're cleaner and safer for them all. U also recommend handling them frequently as chicks to avoid have flighty scared birds. We recently went to a breeder to pick up some chicks when we had a lone quail chick hatched and as we were getting the tour the owner pulled a bird out of a cage to show us their size(btw @faraday40 they were double the size of ours-if you want a meat line) but the female he grabbed panicked and prolapsed bc she wasn't usually handled. The prolapse did go back in but it was quite worrisome at the time. The chicks we received from him were very flighty at first but have now calmed down quite well. Still we feel that their pros far outweigh their cons and just love their antics. We try to keep them with as much space as possible and that really helps to keep them docile with each other as well. Some people say that can not be kept outside without supplemental heat in our northern winter's but they could easily be moved to a pen in the garage or basement. Sorry for the ramblings guys talk to you more later.

 

[Faraday40]

@chickendreams24
So glad your Grandpa's doing a little better. I haven't heard from you for a while, so I was getting nervous about that.

Also glad to hear that you got that groundhog out of the house. DH would be doubly concerned if it happened in our house. (When we were 1st married, I used to own Prairie dogs as pets. I bet he'd worry that I'd want to tame it for a pet! LOL)

Here's Yahoo = my all time favorite pet of a lifetime.



If you can, send a pic of one of your jumbo quail. Are they A&M or Coturnix?
Ours are pretty big. The white ones lay eggs almost as big as my sebright's. The brown ones not as big in meat or eggs, but I like being able to sex them early.
I may want to hit you up for some eggs next time we meet.



Please send your DH2B our Birthday wishes. Today is DS's 7th birthday. For dinner he wants breakfast. I went one step beyond & gave him some HB eggs, granola cereal, fruit & cheese for lunch. I added a note & told my little Hobbit that it was time for 2nd breakfast. Tonight we're having pancakes. I also made a Minecraft cake & decorations. (He likes the game & it's easy enough to draw..)

 

[Faraday40]

Here are some pics from DS's bday party decorations. I had fun with a Minecraft themed cake & even made a creeper pinata. I called the balloons TNT. (He's 7 & a boy, so of course they're all going to explode!) I even made his gift of clothes look like an Enderman. Yes, I realize that boys don;t like to get clothes as birthday gifts, so I at least made the presentation a little fun. It was just the 4 of us, and we had a nice celebration at home.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Happy Birthday to your son @Faraday40, cake and decorations looks great!
Happy Birthday to your husband @Chickendreams24 like you have been very busy. You had asked where I got the chicks from, bought them from a gentleman up in Michigan, he posted them on FB.

Nothing to report on the cuckoo egg yet, getting a bit nervous. The Jubilee and Mottled chicks are doing wonderfully, I am pretty sure I have some extra cockerels, so if anyone needs 1 let me know.
Broody hens still sitting and another proven broody has joined in. So, the 2 first timers have been kicked off and the 2 proven broody hens are sitting but who knows it might change tomorrow. Wish they wouldn't have minded being moved when they get broody, it would have prevented a lot of problems this year. Guess I need to just to work on that this summer and figure it out.

 

[megpie021]

@Faraday40
And
@chickendreams24

Thanks for the quail info. They might be a future project.

For now I would like some advice. The chick that came home with the EE that passed is now going the same way. We are worried its somehow contagious and that the new one we got will now get sick. We just want to know if we are being crazy or not. We are going to go somewhere else to get new ones today (partly cuz they are sold out til tomorrow, and partly because all our Big R Chicks were awesome, but they dont have any variety there) but are scared if there is a chance of something contagious happening that they will just die too if we put them in with yesterdays chick. I am probably being crazy and over reacting. I can accept that. But I dont really feel like going through a whole bunch more chick death. I know these two could have had any number of things wrong we dont see. It just seemed strange that they started out great and then suddenly were declining.. They were eating and drinking. EE had some pasty butt on day two, but it was cleaned off as soon as it was seen.


Its the same brooder I used to get the original ones up and running. Old guinea pig cage, heat lamp on one end. Nutrena chick starter, electrolyte water... Also ideas where else I can get chicks on the fast so this one isnt alone if it is safe to co mingle them?Editing: anyone know anything about Lake Barrington Feed for chicks? They are only 20 minutes away.

 

[Thebiebers]

Hi... I'm from Kankakee, just joined so a little new at this, mom to 8 silkies

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40
And
@chickendreams24

Thanks for the quail info. They might be a future project.

For now I would like some advice. The chick that came home with the EE that passed is now going the same way. We are worried its somehow contagious and that the new one we got will now get sick. We just want to know if we are being crazy or not. We are going to go somewhere else to get new ones today (partly cuz they are sold out til tomorrow, and partly because all our Big R Chicks were awesome, but they dont have any variety there) but are scared if there is a chance of something contagious happening that they will just die too if we put them in with yesterdays chick. I am probably being crazy and over reacting. I can accept that. But I dont really feel like going through a whole bunch more chick death. I know these two could have had any number of things wrong we dont see. It just seemed strange that they started out great and then suddenly were declining.. They were eating and drinking. EE had some pasty butt on day two, but it was cleaned off as soon as it was seen.


Its the same brooder I used to get the original ones up and running. Old guinea pig cage, heat lamp on one end. Nutrena chick starter, electrolyte water... Also ideas where else I can get chicks on the fast so this one isnt alone if it is safe to co mingle them?Editing: anyone know anything about Lake Barrington Feed for chicks? They are only 20 minutes away.

There are several members on this thread that experienced a similar situation called cocci. When chicks quickly decline & die in about a day it's a likely cause. It's very common in chicks because adult chickens build up an immunity. One symptom is chicks looking lethargic & fluffed up like they're cold. There's also runny poop & often blood in poop. The good news is that a med. called Corid & a good brooder cleaning can help save lives - if it's cocci. Putting it in their water at the 1st sign of cocci symptoms also increases survival. Because of all the sad stories I've read, I keep a package in my chicken 1st aid kit. (It saves time & a long drive when you want to start treating ASAP.) I can't say for sure what killed your chicks but it's something to research.

Also look at the environment. Could they be eating something strange like shavings, styrofoam? Judging by their actions, are they the right temp? (Huddled in the warmest spot = cold, spread out far away from heat source = too hot) Are they getting stressed out by a pet or young child?

 

[Faraday40]

Hi... I'm from Kankakee, just joined so a little new at this, mom to 8 silkies

and share some pics when you can.


DD just hatched some silkies last month. Now we're hoping for a female.

This one's her fav. The breed is very new to us.

 

[Thebiebers]

and share some pics when you can. DD just hatched some silkies last month. Now we're hoping for a female. This one's her fav. The breed is very new to us.

Hoping for females out if this bunch too !