Silver Phoenix, I am so sad for you
. At least you have two chicks.
Here is an update on chick #3, the little Silkie baby. She (hopefully she) came out of the shell with curled foot paralysis (thank you BYC for explaining this condition) and all tangled in her umbilical cord and other "glop" that she dragged from the shell with her. After watching her struggle (unsuccessfully) to free herself for about half an hour, I pulled her out of the incubator and put her in a clear plastic bowl under the heat lamp in the brooder. I took some Q-tips and warm water and wiped all the "chicken afterbirth?" off. By this time she had completely ripped her umbilical cord apart and it was oozing a little so I put some Blu-Kote on it and it dried up fairly quickly. She had gotten the cord, etc. completely wrapped around one leg and couldn't even pull it underneath her. After removing all of the post hatch detritus, my daughter and I taped her toes down as per BYC instructions, gave her a couple of drops of Poly-Vi-Sol and popped her back into her chick ICU. She seemed to really appreciate the pep talks that were given to her by the other two chicks. They would come up and peck on the side of the bowl and cheep at her. She always turned herself to face them wherever they were in the brooder. Whenever they took their power naps the would both come over to the Silkie's ICU bowl and lay beside her - very sweet (although I am perfectly aware that if they could have reached her they probably would have pecked and poked her to death!). Anyway, this morning she is very perky - for the 30 seconds at a time that she is awake - and learning how to walk a bit in her "boots". Hopefully they won't have to stay on her more than a few days. Here are some pics:
Better late than never . . .
Chick ICU
Nap time . . . again.
"Wow, where am I?"
Modeling the new shoes - so not a great fashion statement!
My daughter wants to call her Happy Feet, although I don't know how happy she is about her feet at the moment. Other than her feet, so far she seems to be progressing normally. She drank some water from a dropper this morning and took her vitamins. She is pecking around at the chick starter I've sprinkled for her - when she is awake. She can actually stand this morning without falling over so she is getting stronger. Wish me luck with this one. I'll keep you updated on her.
Meanwhile, back at the incubator . . .
. Nothing else going on right now.
I love them and I'm so excited to watch them grow up!
