Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[monkcat]

Azygous, I'm so glad she's doing better! Good call on the salve. Loving the name, as well!

 

[aart]

I named her Sunny. She's the only one with a name so far. But she's only just staying about the same and not growing at all. Except for her wings. It's very odd. Her wings have overtaken her body, and she looks more like a house fly. The other Cream Legbar is now much bigger, but has only just begun showing wing feathers, still having mostly just her wing stubs. Could "she" actually be a boy? I thought they could sex Legbars pretty accurately. Sunny has a much lighter head than the other Legbar, too. Anyone know about Legbars?

So. Today I brought in a chick from outside to visit Sunny in her infirmary. It was a happy reunion, and they got along great, they ate together, and sunny actually ate more than she usually does. But the other chick ate most of the food then got restless. She is, after all, an outdoor, run-around-in-lots-of-space chick, and she wanted to get back to it.

After a while I did the reverse. I took Sunny out to the grow-out pen and let her visit with the others. But it didn't work out well. The others ran circles around her. She was too cold, tried to go into the cave to warm up, but didn't want to stay in there alone. The others were plenty comfortable and weren't using the MHP at all since it had climbed into the 70s. So all Sunny did was cry, go into the cave for a minute, then turn right around and come back out. Then back in. All the time chirping rapidly.

So I brought her back inside and she went in to her MHP and glued herself to it, slowly warming up and quieting down.

She's still sick, has no real energy like a chick ought to have, certainly nothing like her mates outside that were tearing round and round the pen practically non-stop. Especially when they happened to "find" a meal worm. And they're rapidly becoming much larger. And yes, LG, cold resistant much like your chicks.

I did offer her some tofu after I brought her back in and after she had warmed up. It was a huge hit, and she thought it was a wonderful treat and ate a tiny bit with a dab of Nutri-drench on it.

By the way, I thought to use some of my cannabis salve (legal in my state) on her little swollen vent, and it's dramatically improved. Nothing else was doing anything, but 24 hours later after the magic salve, her sore butt is much better.

Good to expose her to the others and visaversa...should probably keep doing that regularly to avoid integration issues later.
Wonder if you could put her cage, with heater, in the coop so they are always in sight of one another?

Her innards may just be abnormal for some reason and not be absorbing nutrients, could be why she got 'sick' in the first place and may never resolve.....
.....or she might just take longer to catch up to her hatch mates once she recovers and her innards are working again.

Best of cLuck to yas!

 

[lazy gardener]

Azygous, have you considered fermented feed, or perhaps you're already using it?

Deb, I'm perplexed about them not needing the MHP at night. Yes, I agree with you, that's most likely the case, but it just doesn't fit my paradigm!

 

[Blooie]

azygous, I'm glad your little chickie is feeling better. Good call on the Corid.

Blooie, have you checked your eggs to see if Scout is getting the job done?

Am I the only one who has chicks out in temps mid 40's that are not using the MHP? My chicks snuggle down beside it, but don't go under it in the evening. In the morning, they are all perky, with a few running in and out, but I would expect them to be diving under it when the sun goes down. They are 10 - 11 days old now.

The 5 week old chicks put themselves to bed with minimal assistance tonight. Still a lot of complaining. They sleep on the perch like big kids now! 3 of the girls will be going to their new home next weekend, I think. The 2 ? wheaten colored chicks, I hope they are girls are making me start to wonder if they are roos also. If so, that means that I'll be selling 3 of my 5 pullets. I'm so hoping that the 2 questionable ones are girls. One of them has white tips to a lot of her feathers, almost looks like a speckled sussex. They both have black hackles.

LG, they wouldn't all fit under Mama Hen at this point either. We are so used to them "needing" a lot of heat until they are like 6 weeks old that it is a bit disconcerting when they no longer use the pad - and so early, too. But as long as they are "perky" and active, they are doing fine. At this age they should be spending more time on it and around it than under it, so they sound like they are right on track to me.

I checked a couple of eggs yesterday while making Ken's breakfast. One looked fertile, one didn't. So giving Agatha eggs could well be an exercise in futility. We'll see. I'm going to give her all Marans' eggs, hoping that with an EE roo and a Marans hen I'll get some green eggs. I don't understand the genetics all that well, but that's what I read on the Olive Egger's thread, so we'll see. I need to evict the Tinys from the brooder in the next day or so. I'm having more trouble with the Littles attacking the Tinys than I'm having with the Bigs. Doggone it.

 

[lazy gardener]

My littles decided it was time to integrate with the tinies last night. I went out this morning to find the tinies huddled in the corner of their side, and 3 littles in there with them. The tinies were no worse for the wear. But, the littles were making sure that they knew who the bosses were. So, I lifted up their partition, ushered the littles out to the lower level, and let the tinies have the whole loft for a while. Then, I sent the littles to the sun room area, and let the tinies have the loft and the lower level. This coop is fantastic for working out integration issues. Jack and several of the girls have been hanging around the old coop for the past few days, very interested in the action of the chicks. So, I brought one of the tinies out and held it close to the fence so he could inspect it. He gave it a good look over, and then started picking up and dropping little pebbles. Didn't make any noise. I hope it was a tidbitting, "I want to take care of you and feed you" action, and not a challenge. Opinions? He never raised his hackles, never really looked like he was in a challenging mood. He's never been exposed to chicks before. Has been attentive to "semi-broody" dom when she was hugging the nest.

 

[Blooie]

Scout is fantastic with all the chicks, both the Littles and the Tinys. I don't even worry about him, despite his past reputation for beating the soup out of the big girls. He got a 2 day time out for that and I haven't seen that behavior repeated. But I'm prepared, just in case. He does the same thing - that tidbitting behavior - and they come running to see what he's found. So I guess we're in good shape there. My only concern is that the Littles are so tough on the Tinys. Wish I could so it the way you can. All I can do is open the side of their pen up, leave it open just enough for them to fit back in but no bigger birds, then hope.

I really want to use that pen for Agatha. I mean, it's already set up - all I have to do is take out the cave and put her basket in there and she's all set. She's definitely serious. Been sitting on the same wooden eggs for three days now. I really like that if there are any issues and she abandons the chicks, I have a ready alternative in MHP.

 

[perchie.girl]

Azygous, have you considered fermented feed, or perhaps you're already using it?

Deb, I'm perplexed about them not needing the MHP at night. Yes, I agree with you, that's most likely the case, but it just doesn't fit my paradigm!

LOL... may be they have a different paradigm....

people ask me why I dont feed grain to my horse or put a blanket on her in the winter or build a barn for her to live in.

Flat straight out answer... she doesnt need it nor want it. She does need shade so I built her a huge shad shelter. And she uses it. Jet black horse in 105 degree heat.... she uses the shade. But in winter time she will stand till the snow builds up on her back and she looks like Pie Ala Mode. you shove your hands into her very roebust winter coat and she is cool not cold. I was told by other more experienced draft horse owners to only worry if the snow is melted off. This means they have a temperature.

Now a Thoroughbred would be standing and shivvering and needing a wind break and a dry place to get out of the elements... different physiology between breeds of horses... and there will be different physiology within those breeds as well.

I would assume following that logic the same will be for chickens...

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

My littles decided it was time to integrate with the tinies last night. I went out this morning to find the tinies huddled in the corner of their side, and 3 littles in there with them. The tinies were no worse for the wear. But, the littles were making sure that they knew who the bosses were. So, I lifted up their partition, ushered the littles out to the lower level, and let the tinies have the whole loft for a while. Then, I sent the littles to the sun room area, and let the tinies have the loft and the lower level. This coop is fantastic for working out integration issues. Jack and several of the girls have been hanging around the old coop for the past few days, very interested in the action of the chicks. So, I brought one of the tinies out and held it close to the fence so he could inspect it. He gave it a good look over, and then started picking up and dropping little pebbles. Didn't make any noise. I hope it was a tidbitting, "I want to take care of you and feed you" action, and not a challenge. Opinions? He never raised his hackles, never really looked like he was in a challenging mood. He's never been exposed to chicks before. Has been attentive to "semi-broody" dom when she was hugging the nest.

natural daddy roo action... hes going to be good with them I suspect.

deb

 

[lazy gardener]

I'd love to let them all in together, but all they have for fencing is the un-charged electronet. And they can slip right through it. And the juvies have proved several times today that they will take a chunk out of the babies every chance they get. It would be tempting to let the babies in with the main flock for a week, and then let the juvies join them. But, there's the predator issue. There was a small hawk sitting in a tree overlooking the poultry yard today. But, oh my goodness. That second batch of babies is so stinking cute. They came running to me several times today when I called them. Of course it's cause they are looking for food. But... they're awesome. They'll pile into my hand to munch on crumble.

 

[maybaby45]

My girls are a week old today! I turned down the MHP to 5 and removed one of the towels I had underneath. I also folded the towel on top so it was shorter on the side and front. It's not even dusk and they are all hanging out on the edges, running out to eat and drink then back. Maybe it being cooler and being outside for 2 hours has them ready to roost.

I've got 4 that I can't ID the breeds, can someone take a guess?




The black ones are really docile but the yellow and black ones are quite feisty and have pecked my BO around the eye until the fuzz was all gone. I used Neosporin on it and they stopped (it must taste bad)

Thanks!