Mellowmalt
Songster
So unfortunately sir-sleep-alot did not have a good hatch, he hatched by himself but he was a day late and he was very weak. Had curled toes and couldn't stand on his own.
He was born 2 days ago and I am adding a small documentary to keep me motivated to save him.
It's been 2 days of non-stop hand feeding and last night I felt like throwing him against a wall! I know that will sound terrible so let me explain what happened (apart from me not having had much sleep)
I've seen people post pictures of little slings they have made for their chicks so I thought I would try it since he has splayed legs. Well first of all he started shivering from being out of the incubator, then crying. Ok I told the little chick, lets get this on you and you can go back in the incubator. The chick kept squirming and crying and trying to escape.
I persevered. About an hour later I got the sling on him. Ok in the incubator he went and plop, over he fell. I left him for 10 minutes when I came back he had pecked the sling off. Ok new sling design with rubber bands. That design actually worked (after spending another hour trying to get it on him). Seriously I don't know if other people have struggled getting a sling on a chick before but it should be worth mentioning it can take 2 hours!
At one point this chick which was too weak to stand become so upset with the whole ordeal himself he literally started biting me. He tried his best to peck and pull at my skin in protest. He was not happy with the new sling. Wouldn't even give it a chance. After half an hour of watching him squirm and bite at the sling I gave in and took it off him. So that was a waste of a good 3 hours and not something I will ever try again.
He settled down but he wasted a lot of energy, I wasted a lot of time.
He is still not eating or drinking by himself yet on day 2 so it will be tricky, I have been feeding him a watered down egg yolk mix but tomorrow he needs to try some feed mash or I don't think he will make it. I've tried dunking his head in water and food, no luck yet. He can barely keep his eyes open, the only signs of success so far is that he is pooping and able to open his mouth wider than before. He can move about by now by shuffling but it's a very circular motion, ie he moves in circles, using his bad leg sort of as a paddle to create some push which eventually gets him somewhere but he has developed a sore on his leg from chafing doing this.
Wish me luck with this one. He will need it.
He was born 2 days ago and I am adding a small documentary to keep me motivated to save him.
It's been 2 days of non-stop hand feeding and last night I felt like throwing him against a wall! I know that will sound terrible so let me explain what happened (apart from me not having had much sleep)
I've seen people post pictures of little slings they have made for their chicks so I thought I would try it since he has splayed legs. Well first of all he started shivering from being out of the incubator, then crying. Ok I told the little chick, lets get this on you and you can go back in the incubator. The chick kept squirming and crying and trying to escape.
I persevered. About an hour later I got the sling on him. Ok in the incubator he went and plop, over he fell. I left him for 10 minutes when I came back he had pecked the sling off. Ok new sling design with rubber bands. That design actually worked (after spending another hour trying to get it on him). Seriously I don't know if other people have struggled getting a sling on a chick before but it should be worth mentioning it can take 2 hours!
At one point this chick which was too weak to stand become so upset with the whole ordeal himself he literally started biting me. He tried his best to peck and pull at my skin in protest. He was not happy with the new sling. Wouldn't even give it a chance. After half an hour of watching him squirm and bite at the sling I gave in and took it off him. So that was a waste of a good 3 hours and not something I will ever try again.
He settled down but he wasted a lot of energy, I wasted a lot of time.
He is still not eating or drinking by himself yet on day 2 so it will be tricky, I have been feeding him a watered down egg yolk mix but tomorrow he needs to try some feed mash or I don't think he will make it. I've tried dunking his head in water and food, no luck yet. He can barely keep his eyes open, the only signs of success so far is that he is pooping and able to open his mouth wider than before. He can move about by now by shuffling but it's a very circular motion, ie he moves in circles, using his bad leg sort of as a paddle to create some push which eventually gets him somewhere but he has developed a sore on his leg from chafing doing this.
Wish me luck with this one. He will need it.
