my baker's dozen of lavender cuckoo orpingtons

[ShanandGem]

You can always snip the green tips off for them to eat. I think mine were 3 weeks when I gave them a small chunk of oat fodder. They had a grand old time picking it all apart! Eventually it did get eaten.

Great advice, thanks!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Such adorable little babies!

 

[ShanandGem]

Well ,we're 9 days old and ready to expand our territory! The brooder has a sliding plywood door that I have been leaving open as long as they've been in it. Today was the first day they have come out on their own, without a person in there coaxing them with snacks. I was outside and heard a lot of 'chatter' coming from the coop, which is unusual, usually they are quiet or make that soft trilling noise, I opened the door to find 4 on the outside and the rest inside the brooder, all talking to each other very excitedly! These 4 took off back into the brooder when I surprised them so they weren't stuck.
The yoga mat is so we don't get sore elbows when we lie on our stomachs watching chicken TV.

 

[Mrblue5150]

That's awesome!!!

 

[ShanandGem]

I candled 15 of my 17 incubator eggs yesterday and 14 show definite signs of life! the 15th MAY have something going on, but I wasn't 100% sure. I have to start thinking about where I am gong to brood them post hatch if my first batch of chicks isn't ready to give up the brooder box yet. They like to be cozy!

 

[ShanandGem]

So I know all my boys are double barred cuckoo and my girls are single barred. If barring is the absence of color, does it stand to reason the boys are going to have lighter feathers? If so I think the chick in the center is a boy, and possibly the one with the yellow head to the right of him. The two in the upper left corner I think are girls.
If I am doing this right I only have two or maybe three cockerels.

 

[ShanandGem]

I was up all night with a sick bird. Yesterday morning I noticed he wasn't eating and was sleeping when the other were going bonkers and having breakfast. I left him for the day and checked again in the afternoon, no change. So in the house he came. His crop seemed distended and too large when I knew he hadn't eaten all day, so I fed him oil and yogurt mixed with warm water and a few grains of salt. We sat and watched TV and I massaged the heck out of it (he would actually lean into my hand as I stroked downward). He wasn't pooping, just the white urates and lots of them so I hoped that meant he wasn't dehydrated. After the first few minutes he never fussed, just curled up in a blanket and seemed pretty content.
Last night I slept in the spare bedroom with him (at this point the silent disapproval coming from my husband was deafening) and he pooped a couple of good sized very green deposits. I took this to mean he's not totally impacted and food is still passing through his system.
I put him back in the brooder for the day as the others aren't bothering him and I don't want him to lose his place in the flock. He is eating a little but still lethargic. Every time I go in there he runs over and wants me to hold him . I'll bring him in the house again at the end of the day if I think it's warranted. His crop is still bigger than it should be, in my opinion. Time will tell.

 

[aart]

I was up all night with a sick bird. Yesterday morning I noticed he wasn't eating and was sleeping when the other were going bonkers and having breakfast. I left him for the day and checked again in the afternoon, no change. So in the house he came. His crop seemed distended and too large when I knew he hadn't eaten all day, so I fed him oil and yogurt mixed with warm water and a few grains of salt. We sat and watched TV and I massaged the heck out of it (he would actually lean into my hand as I stroked downward). He wasn't pooping, just the white urates and lots of them so I hoped that meant he wasn't dehydrated. After the first few minutes he never fussed, just curled up in a blanket and seemed pretty content.
Last night I slept in the spare bedroom with him (at this point the silent disapproval coming from my husband was deafening) and he pooped a couple of good sized very green deposits. I took this to mean he's not totally impacted and food is still passing through his system.
I put him back in the brooder for the day as the others aren't bothering him and I don't want him to lose his place in the flock. He is eating a little but still lethargic. Every time I go in there he runs over and wants me to hold him . I'll bring him in the house again at the end of the day if I think it's warranted. His crop is still bigger than it should be, in my opinion. Time will tell.

Was his crop size down in the morning?

 

[Jensownzoo]

Hmmm...I think I would withold all food until that crop empties. Plus I would slightly acidify his water (vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid) to make it more difficult for yeast to overgrow in the slow crop (causing sour crop/thrush/candidiasis). If you think he needs more energy, provide it in liquid form--nutri-drench, a bit of honey or agave in the water, etc.. Keep up with the gentle crop massage.

 

[ShanandGem]

Was his crop size down in the morning?

Yes, it was, although I wouldn't say it was empty.
I checked on him a little while ago and he was much improved. Still not 100% but moving around with the other birds, which he didn't do at all yesterday.