Ribh's D'Coopage

[drstratton]

I swear it's enough to make me want to quit chickens for good.
I'd gone down to the coop to check on the chicks & see if the struggling one was progressing @ all. All seemed well but as we've had a ton of rain [thanks, Koji! ] I stayed to scour the run for the bits of broken glass & pottery that always seem to turn up after a deluge & because the Fitzroy is threatening to flood I wanted to check the run over in case we got a lot more rain. So imagine my horror, on hearing a squabble in the coop, to find Chavi ferociously pecking @ the chick with the occasional help from its other mother! The poor little thing was cowering in absolute terror so I scooped her up [ think I have another 2 pullets] & popped her under Mustard Seed, who seemed a little surprised but accepting.​

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Both chicks seem to be doing well. The older is starting to move around inside the nesting box. These two seem to be doing fine in the mothering department​

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I'm glad you have a place to put her and they have accepted her. Chickens can be very mean.

 

[Ribh]

Anixe displaying her glorious feathering. She is getting close to laying.

Henry's cuddle puddle.​

 

[drstratton]

Pip says Happy Caturday!

 

[RoyalChick]

Pip says Happy Caturday!
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Awww!

 

[Ribh]

CATURDAY.
So? And what are you going to do about it?​

 

[Ribh]

I seem to have acquired an extra chicken this morning.
Female juvenile King Parrot.
They're about the same size as Chavi or Tootsie, so quite a large parrot. They are very pretty & I like having them about but the wild birds are one reason I have stick flea.​

 

[LozzyR]

Eddie says Happy Caturday!

Today is windy and rainy and I don’t feel terribly motivated to do anything other than sew.

I hope your chicks survive and thrive.

 

[Ribh]

I decided this chick needed help this morning.​

You can see the edges of the sac where she pipped have completely dried out and some has stuck to her neck so she couldn't get any leverage to finish hatching. I know some chicks can take more than 48 hours to complete hatching but it had been 48 hours & the shell was zipping but the chick didn't have the strength to help themselves.
The inner membrane was really tough & dry - difficult to remove. I managed to peel it down until she got one leg free & gently wet what was stuck to her head & swabbed it until she could move her neck then put her back under a hen to finish the process herself ~ which she has done. There's something about the birthing process in humans that aides development [Caesar babies don't get this] & I figured it would be the same for chicks.

I've never done this before & was scared I'd called it too early & the sac wouldn't be fully absorbed but the longer I left it the more would dry out & stick to her so I got some warm water, some cotton balls & my trusty tweezers & began carefully pulling the shell away. This was helped by the fact the shell was separating from the lining so there was a lovely little gap to slip my tweezers into. She is very, very weak. I can only hope she will gain strength now she is out of the shell.

Experienced hatchers: Did I call it too early? Should I have left it a bit longer? And is this the way to do it? She looks to be a pretty little thing & is that frizzling I see?

 

[Shadrach]

I decided this chick needed help this morning.​

You can see the edges of the sac where she pipped have completely dried out and some has stuck to her neck so she couldn't get any leverage to finish hatching. I know some chicks can take more than 48 hours to complete hatching but it had been 48 hours & the shell was zipping but the chick didn't have the strength to help themselves.
The inner membrane was really tough & dry - difficult to remove. I managed to peel it down until she got one leg free & gently wet what was stuck to her head & swabbed it until she could move her neck then put her back under a hen to finish the process herself ~ which she has done. There's something about the birthing process in humans that aides development [Caesar babies don't get this] & I figured it would be the same for chicks.
View attachment 4284435

I've never done this before & was scared I'd called it too early & the sac wouldn't be fully absorbed but the longer I left it the more would dry out & stick to her so I got some warm water, some cotton balls & my trusty tweezers & began carefully pulling the shell away. This was helped by the fact the shell was separating from the lining so there was a lovely little gap to slip my tweezers into. She is very, very weak. I can only hope she will gain strength now she is out of the shell.

Experienced hatchers: Did I call it too early? Should I have left it a bit longer? And is this the way to do it? She looks to be a pretty little thing & is that frizzling I see?
View attachment 4284436​

I think one has to do what one thinks is best at the time. I know, not helpful but it's the keeper that has to deal with consequences, not those who give the advice.
I have helped chicks hatch in the past, some made it, some didn't.
What I found in general is that the chicks I helped didn't fare as well as those that hatched without me assisting.
Some grew to full size but had minor physical problems and others just didn't pick up what the mum tried to teach them. Most of the ones that had problems got predated.
I keep saying I won't help chicks that don't make it from natural hatching, but I did with one of Frets chicks and while it lived, it didn't learn at the same rate as the others and it seemed fairly clear that it was "different."

 

[Ribh]

I think one has to do what one thinks is best at the time. I know, not helpful but it's the keeper that has to deal with consequences, not those who give the advice.
I have helped chicks hatch in the past, some made it, some didn't.
What I found in general is that the chicks I helped didn't fare as well as those that hatched without me assisting.
Some grew to full size but had minor physical problems and others just didn't pick up what the mum tried to teach them. Most of the ones that had problems got predated.
I keep saying I won't help chicks that don't make it from natural hatching, but I did with one of Frets chicks and while it lived, it didn't learn at the same rate as the others and it seemed fairly clear that it was "different."

That is helpful from a moral standpoint. Only time will tell if she's a little *slow* & I'm not sure I could stand by & not help given that being a little different in a run is not as hazardous as it would be free ranging. I do however have a murderous currawong & the mums are first timers.