Setting eggs today...20th May...anyone else?

[Alaskan]

And here I realized that I didn't congratulate anyone else on their super cute new chicks!

A giant YEAH to all the new fuzzy cute chicks!

And mrs.G88, wow on the photo shoot!

 

[mrsguardian88]

And here I realized that I didn't congratulate anyone else on their super cute new chicks!

A giant YEAH to all the new fuzzy cute chicks!

And mrs.G88, wow on the photo shoot!

Thanks! I have a good friend who happened to need good subjects for a photo shoot! Lol It worked out perfect!

 

[loopy12]

Awww, blossom and disco look like they'll be good friends. Glad they will both have a companion.
Now the one with the legs. Hmm. Has he absolutely no muscle tone? Does he try to stand up on them?
I've done chick-in-a-cup therapy before with mixed results. Type chick in a cup in the search bar to see how to do it.
If he has no muscle tone at all it doesn't look good for him.

Helping them hatch is a mixed bag. Maybe 40% of the chicks I've had to help over the years have had a great outcome and gone on to thrive and be healthy happy chickens. Sometimes they are just unlucky when they try to get in position, more often, I have failed them, normally with humidity. The rest there is a developmental issue. The others either don't make it, or have other problems ultimately and I wish I hadn't. But the 40% is enough to make sure I will keep trying to help if I can. My gosling Ozzie is a prime example. He had a terrible hatch - he was upside down and inside out and pipped but didn't progress, then the humidity got messed up. I helped him most of the way but then he had a dodgy neck - couldn't hold up his head, and then got spraddle leg too. Then he refused to eat or drink and I had to force feed him water and pedalyte, then later boiled egg yolk, until he finally got the idea. It was a hassle, but the more I tried to help, the more attached I got so it spurred me on. But now he's 5 weeks old, and a massive ball of fluff (bigger than my full grown hens), and sure, he's a bit, um, well, he's not poultry-university material let's say, but he's physically completely healthy, and I am glad I did everything I did to get him where he is today. So sometimes its worth it.
On the whole it they are very late at hatching I leave them as there is a much higher likelihood of failure...
If the pip on their own but get shrink wrapped, or they part unzip then stop, and if they are day 21 then I'll help...


Love the chick photo shoot mrs guardian!

My nine are still not eating or drinking, despite my regularly tapping/pecking at the feeder/waterer. I've only seen one drink. Instead they all try to cram under my palm which is so cute. I will keep trying to show them every few hours. I know once one gets it they all will follow.

 

[Amykins]

Have you tried picking them up and dipping their beaks in?

Also, speaking of cute my fiancee tells me he wants to take a day off of work in case the egg starts to hatch early. XD

 

[ashem0]

You've made some good suggestions Loopy cheers. I searched it, but couldn't actually find it - will try again later. But did come across a thread you posted in.. sorry you had to do that, I hope I don't have to do that to this little one.

On a positive note though it is really trying to stand up! I watched it scoot across the box briefly. It over balances and also has curly toes. So she now has a custom-made pair of shoes and a hock-brace! How long do they stay on for? I am currently warming up another brooder heater I have for her... Disco is just a tad over-zealous having company for the first time, so I need to remove either her or the 'invalid'! I have also started drop feeding her water from a syringe.

Any suggestions anybody, on what I could try to feed her in liquid form, that I might have lying round the house? We don't have avian super pack here in Australia that I can tell, and obviously time is of the essence here... I don't live near shops. Would a children's liquid multivitamin be of any help for example?

Sorry, I have been obsessed with my little one's how is everyone elses going? And have yours found their water/food yet Loopy12? Disco has certainly found hers, she likes to have a dust bath in it! Crazy chick! I think she might be a he... she's nuts!

 

[ashem0]

Have you tried picking them up and dipping their beaks in?

Also, speaking of cute my fiancee tells me he wants to take a day off of work in case the egg starts to hatch early. XD

After all your stress during incubation I think you both deserve a day off work to watch it hatch!

 

[Alaskan]

Ashem, I am sorry...I can't think of anything helpful.

I would maybe try mushed up chick food, or even a little sugar water, if you think the chick needs a boost, but I would think she is still young enough that she doesn't actually need to eat yet, right?

So,..... Tomorrow is the earliest my chicks could hatch...if they are going to hatch................ I haven't even looked at the incubator. Don't want to know.

Spent the day scraping up my knuckles working on the chicken coop and the garden. I still can't figure out exactly how to set up the runs...it is driving me crazy. All of my mail order chicks are in a chicken tractor that is the correct size for FOUR LF chickens, and they are getting bigger every day! I need to get a clue and finish up my runs............

Just so you know, since I don't think I mentioned this before on this thread....

I have had chickens for years, but this last winter a dog broke into my coop through a chicken pop door, and killed ever single chicken. So, I decided to upgrade everything, not just better predator proof stuff, but I insulated my coop (it wasn't insulated before) and I am trying to fix some drainage issues. I also added a poop tray in the coop.

But I simply can't figure out exactly how to set up the runs better. The fencing needs to be improved (obviously) and I need better netting or wire or roof or something on top of the fencing. But I haven't been able to figure out how to do netting on top of the fencing that will not collapse under the snow load that I get. Every design I come up with, I then realize how it won't work.

Anyway........... I guess it is late and I was just thinking out loud.

 

[ashem0]

Alaskan - thought this may (???) spark some ideas, though it sounds like you already have the coop location. This is my run and coop that my MOTH lovingly created for me. He is a stickler for accuracy, a perfectionist etc but I digress! We chose this spot because on one side is the shed so, nothing can get in there (except mice) and on the other is the boundary fence and then butting up against it is the coop, so anything trying to dig in has got a looong way to go before getting in. Over the top of the run, it is fully enclosed, but I'm showing you mainly because we get snow too... not as heavy as you but our buildings must have a snow loading as well. Therefore I chose the sloped roof on the coop for that reason. But the wire over the top is a medium weighted chook wire - braced by posts in several places so as not to sag. On the side where you can see my hubby he is laying a very thick mesh into the ground on the short ends of the coop. They go into the ground about 30cm - so nothing can get under there...and he cemented them in!!! They are panels oyu buy individually and are quite $$$ which is why the whole run is not done in it, but we cut them up so we only had to buy 2 panels.

Insulating is a great idea... I must have the camera handy when I tell my hubby that. LOL! I'd love to see some pics of your coop and esp the poop tray! That must have been devastating losing them all to a (stray) dog. I wasn't sure how my dogs would react to our chooks, which is why we built it solid right from the get-go. It only takes one time doesn't it. Now they just want to get in there for the scraps!

Your

 

[loopy12]

You've made some good suggestions Loopy cheers. I searched it, but couldn't actually find it - will try again later. But did come across a thread you posted in.. sorry you had to do that, I hope I don't have to do that to this little one.

On a positive note though it is really trying to stand up! I watched it scoot across the box briefly. It over balances and also has curly toes. So she now has a custom-made pair of shoes and a hock-brace! How long do they stay on for? I am currently warming up another brooder heater I have for her... Disco is just a tad over-zealous having company for the first time, so I need to remove either her or the 'invalid'! I have also started drop feeding her water from a syringe.

Any suggestions anybody, on what I could try to feed her in liquid form, that I might have lying round the house? We don't have avian super pack here in Australia that I can tell, and obviously time is of the essence here... I don't live near shops. Would a children's liquid multivitamin be of any help for example?

Sorry, I have been obsessed with my little one's how is everyone elses going? And have yours found their water/food yet Loopy12? Disco has certainly found hers, she likes to have a dust bath in it! Crazy chick! I think she might be a he... she's nuts!

I'll try to find the original post on chick in a cup. The shoes stay on as long as needed - 2-3 days should sort them out. Do you have pedialyte or a similar rehydration solution for young children - that's what I used. Otherwise a bit of sugar water in the meantime.

A few of mine have found the water now and played with the food. They have all had their beaks dipped in food and water 3-4 times each since they hatched.
The buffies are hard to tell apart so I'm struggling to tell who has drunk and who hasn't. Even the BRs are confusing. I think they are 3 girls and 1 boy from what I've read about dark legs and head spots.

Alaskan: I either do triangular runs or use stiffer wire to make hoop shapes for runs. I also put a wire 'skirt' around the bottom to stop digging predators. I have multiple hen houses with small runs for winter and for containment, but the adults free range during the day. In winter the smaller run size means I can cover them with cheap, clear plastic shower curtains so they have a dry, snow free zone. The snow slides right off the side of the triangle, its structurally very strong and needs less wire than a cube. And I can still get inside if I need too.

 

[loopy12]

Chick in a cup therapy:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/712496/day-old-chick-severe-splayed-legs-bone-showing-on-hocks