kalaharichook
In the Brooder
Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum and have been keeping chickens for over a year. My ladies were always just for eggs unroll I acquired a Silkie rooster. He had been living with my Silkie hen and a small white hen.the little white hen successfully hatched one chick some months ago and the chick is now quite large. I them out the Silkie in with her again and she sat on a clutch of 10, of which four hatched two days ago. They were doing fine following mum around,but when I went out the next morning I found all four chicks scattered around,looking very dead.on closer inspection,one had died,the other three were still moving their beaks occasionally. I brought them in a put them on a warm water bottle and gradually they came round. I decided to keep them indoors,they were all active,eating,drinking and pooping. But late last night one started to become very lethargic.it died through the night. The other two seemed fine this morning,but then later on another one started up. The get really wobbly,and eventually fall down,peeping occasionally. At first I thought it may have over heated but taking it away from the heat didn't help. I was feeding them chick mash,and their water had a probiotic in it. The mother hen is showing no signs of illness,but I wonder if she knew there was something wrong with the chicks and that's why she didn't look after them?
I have a video of one of the chicks struggling to stand.
Any advice would be great,I'm so sad that this has happened,and for all my research I can't find a definite answer.
I'm new to this forum and have been keeping chickens for over a year. My ladies were always just for eggs unroll I acquired a Silkie rooster. He had been living with my Silkie hen and a small white hen.the little white hen successfully hatched one chick some months ago and the chick is now quite large. I them out the Silkie in with her again and she sat on a clutch of 10, of which four hatched two days ago. They were doing fine following mum around,but when I went out the next morning I found all four chicks scattered around,looking very dead.on closer inspection,one had died,the other three were still moving their beaks occasionally. I brought them in a put them on a warm water bottle and gradually they came round. I decided to keep them indoors,they were all active,eating,drinking and pooping. But late last night one started to become very lethargic.it died through the night. The other two seemed fine this morning,but then later on another one started up. The get really wobbly,and eventually fall down,peeping occasionally. At first I thought it may have over heated but taking it away from the heat didn't help. I was feeding them chick mash,and their water had a probiotic in it. The mother hen is showing no signs of illness,but I wonder if she knew there was something wrong with the chicks and that's why she didn't look after them?
I have a video of one of the chicks struggling to stand.
Any advice would be great,I'm so sad that this has happened,and for all my research I can't find a definite answer.
