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

[debid]

Guys, just checking in to say that at almost one week with my chickies, they LOVE it.  They are in and out of the MHP all day, off an on, and sleep in there all night with barely a peep.  Hah.  


One of my chicks has (what I've internet-diagnosed) the beginnings of wry-neck, and I find that I'm much less worried about her being beat up on by the others, I think because when she goes to nap under the MHP, she's somewhat protected?  I feel like if she were sleeping out in the open, it would be easier for her to be trampled?  Maybe?  Anyway.  I'm keeping a close eye on the whole situation, medicating her, and loving the MHP.  


 

Isn't wry neck from a vitamin deficiency? I've never had a chick with it but I thought it was curable if you took steps early on?

 

[lazy gardener]

Vitamin E encephalopathy. Occasionally, it can be "fixed" with early intervention. But often the systemic damage has been done by the time the issue is identified. The one chick I treated was a little roo. I brought him back from comatose to not being able to pick him out from his siblings within about 10 days. At that time, it was hard to catch him to treat him. However, he had systemic damage, and developed a severe case of scoliosis, had chronic vent gleet, and by the time I culled him, he had CHF.

Birds with vaulted skulls are prone to wry neck. Makes me wonder if there is both a structural component as well as a metabolic component.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: If it is from a vitamin deficiency it it treated with thiamine.

 

[Blooie]

As cruel as it sounds, I had one chick with wry neck last summer and I simply culled him. Hated to do it, but I've been through that "save a chick no matter what" stage and although Scout was special and he lived well and happily, I didn't want to do it again. He suffered, I suffered, and everyone who had to listen to me worry about him suffered. I'd rather spend my time, resources, and energy on chicks who don't need hours and hours of special attention.

BUT THAT'S ME AND I GET THAT NOT EVERYONE FEELS THAT WAY. I would have ignored all advice to cull Scout. In fact, I think I did ignore it.

Maybe I'm a coward and don't want to face the trials of trying to save chicks when the outcome is so uncertain. So while I admire those who do, it just ain't me.

Well, my broody broke and I've got no one to blame but myself. She was sitting tight for over a week, and I mean TIGHT. She had a few stops and starts at first, and I even TRIED to break her when she first went broody few weeks ago, but she wasn't having it. Then she parked that hiney in the most hard-to-block-off nest in the whole coop (naturally) and she was going to raise chicks no matter what! I've heard Cochins are like that. The others were laying in with her and although I marked the first few eggs I gave up when the count hit 18. I only have 10 fingers and I think the Good Lord intended me to keep them all when He gave them to me. <sigh> So Ken ordered some Silkies from Cackle. I know, I know.....pocket lint with legs. Worthless. Useless. But not when Kendra will talk and eagerly interact! So he figured that by the time she had been sitting long enough, she'd be ready to take the new chicks. And the chicks are due to be shipped April 3, so for once I had a broody with perfect timing. In a perfect world I would have just put a wire dog crate around it with her food and water in there and left her the heck alone. But my world ain't that easy.

However, that nest site was going to make it hard for us to even get to her to put them under her without losing an hand (yes, she was that grouchy) so I set up the chicks' brooder pen in the run exactly as I had for our "motherless" chicks, and for Agatha when she went broody. Then we tried to move her. Oh MAN! What a fight! Couldn't take the nest off the wall with her and the eggs in it so we just decided to move her first . It's one of those gray plastic commercial nests - kinda rectangular with a hole in the front for the hen and vents along the sides, screwed to the back of the coop - so we had to reach in and grab her. She spread her wings in there - couldn't pull her out. Tried to lift her up and her head got hung up on the top. She got so agitated and upset she was attacking her own feet if she saw them under her. It was UGLY. And yes, this was at night - supposedly the best time. Wrong! Finally got her out and Ken held her while I grabbed the eggs and transferred them to the new place. Then we pulled the cover around the sides to make it nice and quiet so she could settle down. That was 3 days ago. She hasn't had a thing to do with them or the nest since. Nothing. Nada.

So it looks like I'll be breaking out MHP again this season. The brooder is already set up, so all I have to do is take the eggs out (I've left them in, just hoping) and put the cave up. And of course Ken's surgery is tomorrow so he's gonna be pretty limited for the next 12-15 weeks, according to the surgeon. Great. I'm a tree - I can bend!

 

[casportpony]

As cruel as it sounds, I had one chick with wry neck last summer and I simply culled him. Hated to do it, but I've been through that "save a chick no matter what" stage and although Scout was special and he lived well and happily, I didn't want to do it again. He suffered, I suffered, and everyone who had to listen to me worry about him suffered. I'd rather spend my time, resources, and energy on chicks who don't need hours and hours of special attention.

BUT THAT'S ME AND I GET THAT NOT EVERYONE FEELS THAT WAY. I would have ignored all advice to cull Scout. In fact, I think I did ignore it.

Maybe I'm a coward and don't want to face the trials of trying to save chicks when the outcome is so uncertain. So while I admire those who do, it just ain't me.

Well, my broody broke and I've got no one to blame but myself. She was sitting tight for over a week, and I mean TIGHT. She had a few stops and starts at first, and I even TRIED to break her when she first went broody few weeks ago, but she wasn't having it. Then she parked that hiney in the most hard-to-block-off nest in the whole coop (naturally) and she was going to raise chicks no matter what! I've heard Cochins are like that. The others were laying in with her and although I marked the first few eggs I gave up when the count hit 18. I only have 10 fingers and I think the Good Lord intended me to keep them all when He gave them to me. <sigh> So Ken ordered some Silkies from Cackle. I know, I know.....pocket lint with legs. Worthless. Useless. But not when Kendra will talk and eagerly interact! So he figured that by the time she had been sitting long enough, she'd be ready to take the new chicks. And the chicks are due to be shipped April 3, so for once I had a broody with perfect timing. In a perfect world I would have just put a wire dog crate around it with her food and water in there and left her the heck alone. But my world ain't that easy.

However, that nest site was going to make it hard for us to even get to her to put them under her without losing an hand (yes, she was that grouchy) so I set up the chicks' brooder pen in the run exactly as I had for our "motherless" chicks, and for Agatha when she went broody. Then we tried to move her. Oh MAN! What a fight! Couldn't take the nest off the wall with her and the eggs in it so we just decided to move her first . It's one of those gray plastic commercial nests - kinda rectangular with a hole in the front for the hen and vents along the sides, screwed to the back of the coop - so we had to reach in and grab her. She spread her wings in there - couldn't pull her out. Tried to lift her up and her head got hung up on the top. She got so agitated and upset she was attacking her own feet if she saw them under her. It was UGLY. And yes, this was at night - supposedly the best time. Wrong! Finally got her out and Ken held her while I grabbed the eggs and transferred them to the new place. Then we pulled the cover around the sides to make it nice and quiet so she could settle down. That was 3 days ago. She hasn't had a thing to do with them or the nest since. Nothing. Nada.

So it looks like I'll be breaking out MHP again this season. The brooder is already set up, so all I have to do is take the eggs out (I've left them in, just hoping) and put the cave up. And of course Ken's surgery is tomorrow so he's gonna be pretty limited for the next 12-15 weeks, according to the surgeon. Great. I'm a tree - I can bend!

Culling is a viable option, especially when there are so many things that can cause "wry neck". Below is one I tried to treat. I posted some question on BYC about how best to treat and then went to a bunch of store to get all of the various vitamins suggested, and there were many. By the time I got home he was dead. Being the curious type I packed him up on ice and shipped him off to have a necropsy done. Cause of death was a yolk sac infection, not a vitamin deficiency.



Hope Ken's surgery goes well and that he has a speedy recovery!

 

[debid]

@Blooie, silver lining: now you know how to break your stubborn broody. Just order chicks and try to move her in the middle of the night.

 

[smallmonster]

I am hoping it's from a vitamin deficiency. That's how I'm treating her.

It isn't very bad yet - almost like she has weak legs? She is sort of tending to walking on her hocks. Anyway, I realize she may die. But giving her vitamins isn't taking a lot of time, and these are my first chicks ever.

We shall see!

 

[casportpony]

I am hoping it's from a vitamin deficiency. That's how I'm treating her.

It isn't very bad yet - almost like she has weak legs? She is sort of tending to walking on her hocks. Anyway, I realize she may die. But giving her vitamins isn't taking a lot of time, and these are my first chicks ever.

We shall see!

I'm trying to get a bunch of vitamin info together for you, but can't finish until DH let's me on the computer (on old iPad now, too hard to post from). A BYC member called fancychooklady raises silkies, and has some experience treating crook neck, so you might want to send her a PM.

 

[smallmonster]

I'm trying to get a bunch of vitamin info together for you, but can't finish until DH let's me on the computer (on old iPad now, too hard to post from). A BYC member called fancychooklady raises silkies, and has some experience treating crook neck, so you might want to send her a PM.

I have actually been reading through a bunch of old BYC crook neck posts, and have seen a lot from her! Thanks.

 

[casportpony]

I'm trying to get a bunch of vitamin info together for you, but can't finish until DH let's me on the computer (on old iPad now, too hard to post from). A BYC member called fancychooklady raises silkies, and has some experience treating crook neck, so you might want to send her a PM.

I have actually been reading through a bunch of old BYC crook neck posts, and have seen a lot from her!  Thanks.

She's a great resource.