I had ONE frizzled cochin hatch out of 10 eggs, along with a slew of other chick breeds in two batches. Until recently, I always brooded chicks in the bathroom, but with 33 of 'em and 4 call ducklings I was running out of room with three brooders. So I bought a ginormous brooder and put it out in my new shed. The first night, I miscalculated the heat requirements and lost two chicks to piling. After adding a second heat lamp, all was okay, although I lost a third chick last week to what I can only guess was "failure to thrive." I saw it hadn't grown much and seemed lethargic and brought it into the house. It died the next day.
I still have the 4 call ducklings in their own brooder, and 3 much younger bantam breed chicks in a brooder in the bathroom.
Friday afternoon, the frizzled cochin - which has been very lively, active, and thriving in the ginormous brooder in the shed, suddenly demonstrated NO energy and just laid flat, not even lifting its head. I brought it into the house and put it into its own Rubbermaid bin brooder, with Pedialyte in its water. It doesn't need as much heat as the littlest ones in their brooder, so I set up a heat lamp quite some distance over the brooder to replicate a median heat level similar to where a chick its age might spend most of its time in the ginormous brooder.
Without lifting its head much, it ate and drank. I thought, crap, maybe its Marek's?
It has slowly improved, and I have been picking it up and cradling it 3 or 4 times a day. Yesterday it lifted its head without difficulty. Today it's standing and moving around, peering over the edge of the brooder and cheeping when I come into the bathroom. It trills when I hold it. And it appears very interested in its surroundings now. Eating, drinking and pooping well.
All those details are leading me up to how danged cute this little frizzled cochin is, and how much I like its snuggling. It was ill, needed special attention, is improving, and I don't want to put it back into the general population with the rest of the chicks in the ginormous brooder. I don't even know if it's a pullet or cockerel. Kinda thought it was a roo when it was really young, but now that it's about 5 weeks old, the comb doesn't seem to have continued to grow much... but it IS the only one, so I have nothing to compare it to.
It's so gentle. Maybe nursing it like this has colored my perception, but I am feeling very close to keeping it in the house...... AT LEAST for the rest of the brooding period, because ...... I just don't wanna put it back out with the others, yet.
I've been calling it Fritzie. (Anybody watch The Closer?) If it turns out to be a pullet, then it will be named Fannie. Or Frannie, not quite yet decided. Right now it's Fritz.
Comments? I think I need to be talked out of keeping a house chicken, when I have so many outside in all their coops.
I still have the 4 call ducklings in their own brooder, and 3 much younger bantam breed chicks in a brooder in the bathroom.
Friday afternoon, the frizzled cochin - which has been very lively, active, and thriving in the ginormous brooder in the shed, suddenly demonstrated NO energy and just laid flat, not even lifting its head. I brought it into the house and put it into its own Rubbermaid bin brooder, with Pedialyte in its water. It doesn't need as much heat as the littlest ones in their brooder, so I set up a heat lamp quite some distance over the brooder to replicate a median heat level similar to where a chick its age might spend most of its time in the ginormous brooder.
Without lifting its head much, it ate and drank. I thought, crap, maybe its Marek's?
It has slowly improved, and I have been picking it up and cradling it 3 or 4 times a day. Yesterday it lifted its head without difficulty. Today it's standing and moving around, peering over the edge of the brooder and cheeping when I come into the bathroom. It trills when I hold it. And it appears very interested in its surroundings now. Eating, drinking and pooping well.
All those details are leading me up to how danged cute this little frizzled cochin is, and how much I like its snuggling. It was ill, needed special attention, is improving, and I don't want to put it back into the general population with the rest of the chicks in the ginormous brooder. I don't even know if it's a pullet or cockerel. Kinda thought it was a roo when it was really young, but now that it's about 5 weeks old, the comb doesn't seem to have continued to grow much... but it IS the only one, so I have nothing to compare it to.
It's so gentle. Maybe nursing it like this has colored my perception, but I am feeling very close to keeping it in the house...... AT LEAST for the rest of the brooding period, because ...... I just don't wanna put it back out with the others, yet.
I've been calling it Fritzie. (Anybody watch The Closer?) If it turns out to be a pullet, then it will be named Fannie. Or Frannie, not quite yet decided. Right now it's Fritz.
Comments? I think I need to be talked out of keeping a house chicken, when I have so many outside in all their coops.
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