Mixed Chicks are not okay???

[confusedgirl]

I have 3 roosters and about 25 laying hens. for the most part, i own at least 2 of each breed (RIR, LAV. ORP, BUFF, EE, OE, Sex link) and 1 ee roo, Blue CM, and creme legbar. why is it that last year when i hatched the EE's babies i got majority healthy chicks, but whenever i hatched a true mix this year the majority died/have deformities? i have a still air incubator and a turner that we tended to everyday. I put in about 38 eggs, 5-7 were infertile (31 left). Everyone else made it to hatching and out of the 31, 11 didnt hatch (20 left) 13 hatched on their own(yay) but 4 have jacked up feet?(7 left) (one i was able to fix he's ok) four pipped and started to bleed and died soon after. and the other 3 made it, but they are sooo jacked up im going to have to kill them. So WHY am i having SO many problems with these babies? Is it the mixed breed? Is it the age of my hens? My incubator? disease? Can somebody give me an idea of whats going on?

 

[lazy gardener]

What do you mean by jacked up feet? Picture? I'm guessing that your incubator temp may have been off. or your humidity, or both. Did you calibrate your thermometers and your hygrometer? Did you check the temp throughout the incubator? What temp were you using? And what was your humidity through day 18 and after day 18? The chicks that bled out and died, did you attempt to assist them in hatching???

 

[CuzChickens]

Hmm, not sure i can be of help, but following the thread to see what others say. I would imagine it has nothing to do with the fact they are mixed breed. People hatch mutts all the time, I am fixing to put 27 mixed eggs in the incubator on Tuesday if i can get enough orders. I would check your thermometer and hygrometer. Almost sound inbred, but from the way you describe it i guess they aren't.

 

[confusedgirl]

their feet look crumpled ? touch your thumbs to your pinkys with your other 3 fingers straight kind of like that, they walk more on their ankles/ outer foot rather than using toes. Incubator Temp was set to 100.7 for the entire 21 days and humidity was increased from 55% to 60-65% until they pipped and increased the humidity. No attempt to help anyone one out was taken they pipped 100% on their own. as far as inbreeding goes, its possible but i only have 3 EE laying hens from my EE roo and everybody has their own flock of girls, usually when free ranging my CLB roo keeps his flock away from the other roos by atleast an acre and a half, and oon top of that i only put in 3 eggs from that flock.

 

[chippy99th]

Curled feet huh? I've heard of people making bandaid "shoes" for them to straighten their toes out and teach them to walk flat on their feet instead of pronated. Might be worth looking that up.

Mutts aren't the issue. I've got birds that haven't had pure breeds in their bloodlines for generations. So no worries there, and it's probably your incubator. Maybe problems with the eggs being turned properly? I've never used an incubator, so I'm not sure about that. If you can post pictures, I'd be really curious to see them.

 

[CuzChickens]

I do suggest trying the band-aid fix for the curled toes, it seems like alot of people do it with succes.

See? Arrange the toes the way they should be and then put another piece on top to hold them.

 

[confusedgirl]

 

[chippy99th]

Wow, I like the picture! I need to learn how to do that, it definitely helps clarify.

Yep, like said before, I'd try the bandaid shoes. They're walking on their hocks because their feet can't support them like that. Bandaid shoes will help flatten their feet out.

I've had chicks with slightly different leg problems that also walked (or tried to walk) on their hocks. I found it helpful to help them sit properly, because they tend to sit back on their hocks and not their feet. Encourage them to sit squarely on their feet. Once they learn that it is easier for them to stand properly.

Best of luck!

 

[CuzChickens]

I can't take credit for the picture, I found it on Google. But it certainly helps to get a visual on what to do.

I presonally have never had curled toes, but I did have a case of Splayed Leg I successfully mended with a band-aid hobble.

 

[lazy gardener]

The next thing I'd look at is diet in your flock. What are you feeding them? What time last year did you set eggs, compared to this year? When I'm anticipating setting eggs, I pay extra attention to their diet, even giving them vitamins. My theory is this: while layer gives the flock the minimum nutrition needed to keep them fairly healthy, and produce eggs, it can be old, and the manufacturer is certainly not going to put more nutrient in the feed than to meet that minimum. And, after mill date, those nutrients begin an immediate down hill spiral in their quality. A well known poultry feed expert states that 42 days is the point when feed is transitioning from good feed to becoming rancid feed. Fermenting your feed actually produces some extra vitamins, though nothing can redeem a bag of rancid feed.