Ok, you guys know me, I'm a softy with a tough outer shell...lol I see the chickens as bringers of eggs (someday) but right now they are so darn cute!
Anywho, after all the hatchery boo-boos our brooder looks like an elementary school with chicks of all ages and sizes.
One little California white chick is struggling.
First, my "tough outer shell" told me to leave it be, and she wasnt strong enough to make it, then so be it. Well, today I watched while she huddled under the light and other chicks were stepping on her.
When she finally moved a little I noticed her bottom was pasty, so I took her in to clean her up. About an hour later, she was pasty again, so I clean her up again, making sure to dry her really well this time. When I checked her awhile later, she was pasty AGAIN so this time I cleaned her bottom, dried her off, and then clipped the feathers on her bottom nice and short. Ah ha! No more pasty!
She is very weak, and wobbly. She is half the size of the other chicks her age (about 4 days old) and hardly eats or drinks. Although, after I trimmed her bottom, when I went out to tuck them in before locking them up for the night, she was gently pecking at some feed spilled on the brooder floor, so I have SOME hope for her.
The kids have named her Willto (which they got from me saying "If she's going to live she's got to have the will to...") and are out there all the time talking to her and encouragin her to pull through. We've experienced a few losses with this weird batch, but this chick seems special somehow.
I am keeping their heat up for now until she gets better (or, passes...
) even though my 1 weekers are complaining. So I rearranged the lights so that one end of the brooder maintains the 95 degrees, and the other end stay around 80-85 which is what the older chicks like. Willto stays under the lights mainly, but is starting to try to move around a bit more. I'm hoping it was just stress and the pasty bottom that was taking her, and she'll pull through this. The kids are awful attached to her.....and a certain "softy" spent an hour tonight getting her to drink a little and singing lullabies to her before bed, but I won't say WHO....
Anywho, after all the hatchery boo-boos our brooder looks like an elementary school with chicks of all ages and sizes.
First, my "tough outer shell" told me to leave it be, and she wasnt strong enough to make it, then so be it. Well, today I watched while she huddled under the light and other chicks were stepping on her.
She is very weak, and wobbly. She is half the size of the other chicks her age (about 4 days old) and hardly eats or drinks. Although, after I trimmed her bottom, when I went out to tuck them in before locking them up for the night, she was gently pecking at some feed spilled on the brooder floor, so I have SOME hope for her.
The kids have named her Willto (which they got from me saying "If she's going to live she's got to have the will to...") and are out there all the time talking to her and encouragin her to pull through. We've experienced a few losses with this weird batch, but this chick seems special somehow.
I am keeping their heat up for now until she gets better (or, passes...
