October Hatch-A-Long

[btguy]

day 20... this is even slower than waiting for christmas!

 

[Citychick11]

Drama at our house this morning! One of our week-old chickies died in the night. No clue why. Maybe wasnt eating and drinking enough. And then the last of our eggs never pipped. It died in the shell overnight. So sad! . The kids all cried. If that isn't enough, I have a chicky with a bad leg and I'm trying to splint her feet so she can stand up. Here are some photos.

Tried a bandaid. Helped a little. But feet are still curling.

The bandaid hurt her knees and they were close to bleeding. I held her for an hour with her feet taped to a skateboard made with a craft stick. Her hips got some exercise and she had her first poo. Still weak in the hips. Probably because she hatched sideways and upside down. Hope this helps her survive. She is our only blondie, WR/BR mix. The rest are dark.

Do you have any suggestions for helping her? The right leg is weaker and she tries to stand on one leg.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Drama at our house this morning! One of our week-old chickies died in the night. No clue why. Maybe wasnt eating and drinking enough. And then the last of our eggs never pipped. It died in the shell overnight. So sad!

. The kids all cried. If that isn't enough, I have a chicky with a bad leg and I'm trying to splint her feet so she can stand up. Here are some photos.

Tried a bandaid. Helped a little. But feet are still curling.

The bandaid hurt her knees and they were close to bleeding. I held her for an hour with her feet taped to a skateboard made with a craft stick. Her hips got some exercise and she had her first poo. Still weak in the hips. Probably because she hatched sideways and upside down. Hope this helps her survive. She is our only blondie, WR/BR mix. The rest are dark.

Do you have any suggestions for helping her? The right leg is weaker and she tries to stand on one leg.

A friend of mine suggested using Vetwrap. You can get it at most feed stores. They have it in human pharmacies, too. It's like self-sticking wrap?


I don't have a picture of how I did it, but I cut a strip the width of the chick's leg below the knee/hock. I folded it around one leg, squeezed the material against itself to secure it. Then wrapped it over to the other leg, squeezed it around the leg firmly, then back to the other leg to secure. It doesn't stick to the skin or chafe. Worked pretty well. The chick didn't make it for other reasons, though.

 

[darkbluespace]

Drama at our house this morning! One of our week-old chickies died in the night. No clue why. Maybe wasnt eating and drinking enough. And then the last of our eggs never pipped. It died in the shell overnight. So sad!

. The kids all cried. If that isn't enough, I have a chicky with a bad leg and I'm trying to splint her feet so she can stand up. Here are some photos.

Tried a bandaid. Helped a little. But feet are still curling.

The bandaid hurt her knees and they were close to bleeding. I held her for an hour with her feet taped to a skateboard made with a craft stick. Her hips got some exercise and she had her first poo. Still weak in the hips. Probably because she hatched sideways and upside down. Hope this helps her survive. She is our only blondie, WR/BR mix. The rest are dark.

Do you have any suggestions for helping her? The right leg is weaker and she tries to stand on one leg.

Sorry about your chicks! For my weak babies I give them a mixture of mashed hard boiled yolk, yogurt, brewers yeast, vitamin water in a runny consistency... it can help injuries heal faster too. I hope she pulls through. With splayed leg, I tape the legs like you did with a bandaid and but them in a berry box or something similar for a day, taking them out occasionally for food/water. I find once their legs are fixed the toes flatten out once they start walking.

 

[CharterChick]

No more baby pictures of this last batch! I took them to the school and a friend who works there has chickens and took the 8 home! That saves me the problem of trying to figure out where I was going to put those when the class hatch comes home in a month. I was worried about a 3 week difference in the babies. But they have a good home now!

 

[Citychick11]

I'm done with this round of hatching. I hope everyone sticks around without any more casualties or I might have to hatch some more. I became worried about cocci infection when the same little yellow baby started having yellow, mucus poo. Especially since we lost one last night to unexplained causes, should I treat my whole flock? Everyone seems fine tonight other than the baby. I bought medicated feed, some sulfur-something powder, some electrolytes and some probiotics. (and the kitchen sink!

) If it is cocci, then my outside flock might pick it up. (I foolishly dumped the soiled bark into the dirt of the run outside where my hens scratch and peck....)

 

[Fullofstitches]

I heard a cheep! Wednesday is "hatch day," so they might be on time!

 

[Fullofstitches]

Newb question: how long should it take from internal pip to external pip? I've read up to 24 hours before hatch. Does that mean 24 hours before pip, too? I hear a strong peep just twice last night; figured the chick went to sleep. This morning, (I've been up too long...) I didn't hear it, so I used the flashlight to shine on the eggs. There was a very quiet peeping after a while from the egg in the back corner. Should I (or rather, at what point) be concerned? This is a legbar, ae the shells harder? Thankfully, I have things to do this morning, otherwise I might be hovering! I'll check back in around lunch hour (pacific).

 

[darkbluespace]

I'm done with this round of hatching. I hope everyone sticks around without any more casualties or I might have to hatch some more. I became worried about cocci infection when the same little yellow baby started having yellow, mucus poo. Especially since we lost one last night to unexplained causes, should I treat my whole flock? Everyone seems fine tonight other than the baby. I bought medicated feed, some sulfur-something powder, some electrolytes and some probiotics. (and the kitchen sink!

) If it is cocci, then my outside flock might pick it up. (I foolishly dumped the soiled bark into the dirt of the run outside where my hens scratch and peck....)

I hope everyone is okay!!

 

[btguy]

i have babies!!! i went out and herd TWEETTWEETTWEET from under smokey but its pouring down rain so i dont want to disturb them to find out how many... go away for just 5 mins rain. 6 cream legbar eggs 6 ameraucana eggs.