June Hatch-A-Long

[FortCluck]

That’s so awesome! Haha def not cause mine have flushed straight up out of the brooder several times when I clean it they’re starting to calm down now though since I have to clean it so much lol and I caught them all thankfully.

I had one walk up to me that got out of the aviary and 8 ft high fencing. I was watering my plants. It was so funny, you would think it would’ve ran off and not come towards me.

 

[ShrekDawg]

We have amazing neighbors! We have a cow and the are ranchers so they have a lot of cows and they let us use one of their bulls for free!

That’s awesome!!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I had one walk up to me that got out of the aviary and 8 ft high fencing. I was watering my plants. It was so funny, you would think it would’ve ran off and not come towards me.

Oh wow that is so weird!!! Hahah must have been like “let me back in Mom!”

 

[CindyinSD]

OK, lesson learned. There IS a reason they are not able to PIP! I am NOT doing this again.
The dead chick looks completely normal. Normal beak, I can not see what went wrong there. The surviving chick in the incubator (previous post) has a pretty severe cross beak as far as I can tell. Probably will not be able to hatch on it's own. Considering letting it just expire in there without further assistance. That may sound cruel, but I do not know how well chicks with cross beaks do in life. Any one with experience?

The crossbeak will get worse as the chick grows. I have a couple now, and will let them grow until it seems they're getting to where they can't eat. They still appear to enjoy life, though. I'll butcher when the time comes.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I was sent a cross bill in a chick order, once they gave me credit on my next order. I was going to keep him, it seemed to survive ok. I didn't think I would have to worry about him crowing, I used dog toe nail clippers to trim just the very tip of his beak it it seemed too long.

 

[FortCluck]

We got 2 quail eggs today

 

[FortCluck]

Chicken Little is being a mom now! Finally no more broodies! That was a rough few weeks!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

My June wrap up-
First time incubating eggs and they came from my own flock. 18 eggs went into lockdown with 16 live chicks after hatching
One DIS, one accidentally injured and expired during zipping (from 3 rowdy siblings that had just hatched....lesson learned!) and one late hatcher who was stuck and needed assistance.

All 16 are growing well and doing great! I got hooked on incubating and despite a vow in the July thread that I wasn't going to do anymore....I ended up ordering some eggs and have them set along with a few more from my own flock for a July hatch. Yep, I crumbled like a dry cookie!

I too am so thankful for all the support here and the fellow hatchaholics, um.... I mean new chicken friends I have gained.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

So the little crossed bill chick is still alive. Switched her over to ground up chick starter egg yolk and a little warm water into a thin grool and she seems to swallow this easier. Put her in a new set up where she can drink from a water bottle which I think will be easier for her if she can figure it out. She is by herself so I put it in one of my DD’s teddy bears in with her and she does snuggle up to it.
As this is a congenital birth defect I’m not sure it’ll get worse with age, I guess time will tell, if she survives.

 

[FortCluck]

So the little crossed bill chick is still alive. Switched her over to ground up chick starter egg yolk and a little warm water into a thin grool and she seems to swallow this easier. Put her in a new set up where she can drink from a water bottle which I think will be easier for her if she can figure it out. She is by herself so I put it in one of my DD’s teddy bears in with her and she does snuggle up to it.
As this is a congenital birth defect I’m not sure it’ll get worse with age, I guess time will tell, if she survives.View attachment 2219169

Cross beak gets worse in chickens as they grow because they double in size so fast.

It’s like a slipped tendon. If it’s not fixed within days, the chick will need actually surgery to get the tendon back in place because they grow so fast.

Defects never usually get better or stay stable unfortunately.