***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[bruceh]

Okay here is a story I would not have believed If I had not seen it and I luckily had my camera to take pictures for another breed thread.

Delilah lost her 5 week old black chick earlier today. Red brought it's dead little body to me earlier this afternoon. Delilah would have nothing to do with her remaining CW chick and it was chirping for it's mom.
The chick tried to join Annabelle and her chicks but got no encouragement from Annabelle.
Sweet Sally who has never been broody decided the chick was to be hers.
So here are the photos to prove it
The chick calling for Mom obviously getting cold with the drawing evening. Sally is the hen off to the right.


Sweet Sally calls the chick by clucking to it


Then she encourages it to come closer even trying to rake it under her like an egg.


She opens her wings for the chick cooing continuously in encouragement


The chick is under her now, she fluffs up and settles in and Sweet Sally is one happy foster mom


She did this several times in 15 minutes and growled at other hens that came around her. She called the chick to follow her into the hen house. She got up in the nest box, but the chick couldn't follow her. She called and cooed and the chick chirped in response. I picked it up and held it at the opening of the nest cubby. Sweet Sally cooed the baby in under her and I left both purring to each other. They are bonding nicely.
I'll check on them a little later and if need be will move the pair into a box in a floor pen.

Here is Annabelle with her three chicks getting settled for the evening. Her chicks are 4 weeks old now.


Never knew that a hen would adopt another hen's chicks without ever being broody....Gotta love her!

sweet sally indeed. she is a good hen.

 

[erinszoo]

Do not bathe it. all you need is a soft tooth brush to gently fluff the feathers. It will stay much warmer if the down is fluffy. It can chill if you wet it this early in the game.

Only problem is the goo is dried on tight in a pretty big patch on its back. There's no way to fluff it. I'll wait until tomorrow to do anything, then if it's still messed up, I'll just wet that area so I can fluff it up and keep him under his light. Not sure what else to do. It just won't brush or rub at all.

 

[NanaKat]

Do not bathe it.  all you need is a soft tooth brush to gently fluff the feathers.  It will stay much warmer if the down is fluffy.  It can chill if you wet it this early in the game.

Only problem is the goo is dried on tight in a pretty big patch on its back. There's no way to fluff it. I'll wait until tomorrow to do anything, then if it's still messed up, I'll just wet that area so I can fluff it up and keep him under his light. Not sure what else to do. It just won't brush or rub at all.

Use a warm damp cloth to soften the "goo" so you can remove it. That way you are wetting only the area to be cleaned. Then keep chick warm.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

NanaKat is exactly right, she gave me the same advice for a chick of mine that hatched all gooey and it worked like a charm- warm wet cloth on gooey spots until I could peel/ rub the goo off, then fluff with soft toothbrush and put under light. I hope your little one makes it! Maybe a small stuffed animal to snuggle with or a hand mirror will help keep it company.

Rinda

 

[jcatblum]

Erin I use a wet cloth to take off any sticky or gooey parts. Then put birds back in the hatcher to dry & fluff.

Helped a friend catch an insane amount of ducks tonight & delivered them to Mike. We still have more to catch. Anyone with Muscovies be very careful. They multiply before your eyes!! Went from a flock of 15 to 70+ in a season. That never happens with chickens does it???

Will miss yall over the next few wks, I found out this afternoon I must have the left lobe of my liver removed. Think I should have an official date tomorrow, doctor said can't wait & needs to be out before Thanksgiving. 7-10 day hospital stay & long recovery. Have to work out all the details of kids, food & animals over the next few days. Offered to send the kids to family but DH wants them to stay here. So I am going to try & rotate through friends & family that are willing to stay here & watch over the kids & animals. Need to make a daily must do list so no birds goats or dogs get left out. Right now I think planning for the surgery is the worse part, but I am sure I will change my mind soon! I will check in when I can & keep y'all updated.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Erin I use a wet cloth to take off any sticky or gooey parts. Then put birds back in the hatcher to dry & fluff.

Helped a friend catch an insane amount of ducks tonight & delivered them to Mike. We still have more to catch. Anyone with Muscovies be very careful. They multiply before your eyes!! Went from a flock of 15 to 70+ in a season. That never happens with chickens does it???

Will miss yall over the next few wks, I found out this afternoon I must have the left lobe of my liver removed. Think I should have an official date tomorrow, doctor said can't wait & needs to be out before Thanksgiving. 7-10 day hospital stay & long recovery. Have to work out all the details of kids, food & animals over the next few days. Offered to send the kids to family but DH wants them to stay here. So I am going to try & rotate through friends & family that are willing to stay here & watch over the kids & animals. Need to make a daily must do list so no birds goats or dogs get left out. Right now I think planning for the surgery is the worse part, but I am sure I will change my mind soon! I will check in when I can & keep y'all updated.

Christina sorry to hear you have to have surgery, we'll all be thinking about you, Good thing you have help looking after the animals I'd have to hire it out is I had to stay in the hospital for any amount of time... I would have had almost that many Muscovy's this year but Princess' egg sucking worked better than ducky birth control however with the new nest areas I'm setting up should keep her from getting to the eggs the next year should be quite different LOL

 

[BetsyOK]

Christina, thoughts and prayers going your way. Sorry you have to go through this, but at least you can look foward to getting better.

 

[NanaKat]

Will miss yall over the next few wks, I found out this afternoon I must have the left lobe of my liver removed. Think I should have an official date tomorrow, doctor said can't wait & needs to be out before Thanksgiving. 7-10 day hospital stay & long recovery. Have to work out all the details of kids, food & animals over the next few days. Offered to send the kids to family but DH wants them to stay here. So I am going to try & rotate through friends & family that are willing to stay here & watch over the kids & animals. Need to make a daily must do list so no birds goats or dogs get left out. Right now I think planning for the surgery is the worse part, but I am sure I will change my mind soon! I will check in when I can & keep y'all updated.

Wow, Christina you will definitely be in our thoughts and prayers as you go thru this surgery. Hopefully this will make you feel much better in the long run. Your children have been raised to be responsible and your DH is probably thinking that being at home following their home routine will be less stressful on them too. So good to hear you have a support network to help with friends and family available. Please keep us advised of your progress.

 

[Kassaundra]

Erin I use a wet cloth to take off any sticky or gooey parts. Then put birds back in the hatcher to dry & fluff.
Helped a friend catch an insane amount of ducks tonight & delivered them to Mike. We still have more to catch. Anyone with Muscovies be very careful. They multiply before your eyes!! Went from a flock of 15 to 70+ in a season. That never happens with chickens does it???
Will miss yall over the next few wks, I found out this afternoon I must have the left lobe of my liver removed. Think I should have an official date tomorrow, doctor said can't wait & needs to be out before Thanksgiving. 7-10 day hospital stay & long recovery. Have to work out all the details of kids, food & animals over the next few days. Offered to send the kids to family but DH wants them to stay here. So I am going to try & rotate through friends & family that are willing to stay here & watch over the kids & animals. Need to make a daily must do list so no birds goats or dogs get left out. Right now I think planning for the surgery is the worse part, but I am sure I will change my mind soon! I will check in when I can & keep y'all updated.

I'm so sorry about your upcoming surgery, hoping for a successful procedure and speedy recovery for you.

 

[jcatblum]

Thanks guys.
I have more appointments next wk then I can count. Thursday afternoon I go in for a PET scan then go eat one last good meal before surgery @ 530 Friday. So I have this weekend to get the house clean bags packed & such. We are doing Thanksgiving Sunday. Tried to explain to my sister that deep frying a turkey that is still at the grocery store right now could be a challenge. She doesn't seem to understand the time it takes to thaw a turkey. Told her she could put it in the bathtub & she acted as of I was crazy!!!!
I will keep y'all updated hoping for clear test & fast recovery.