setting eggs tonight!! anyone else?

It's only going to be my parents at home and they aren't very experienced (nor am I but still) with chick care. Especially deformed chick care. I'm just going to take him with me. Then if he dies (which is totally possible) I won't be tempted to blame anyone else. That wouldn't be fair to them and I know I would if he died under anyone else's care but mine.

He still refuses to move his own legs, except to scootch around. It looks painful. I wish I had baby ibuprofen or something to give him to bring down swelling (that he has again in his right leg) and help relieve pain. If he's not better in another couple of day I'll have to cull him. :'( I've never seen such dark bruising before.

I found this information about different legg issues and wondered if the middle one might be what your chick has??????? Take a look, it might be of use to you to help that little guy's legs.
fl.gif

ORTHOPEDICS FOR POULTRY MADE EASY FOR BEGINNERS
By D.C. Townsend

These treatments have been tested and proven effective. I developed them for peafowl but they
may be used for any poultry. The key to success is to begin treatment promptly. In some cases delay
will kill or cripple the chick.

CHICK SHOE
Not Actual Size
HALF SHOE
Not Actual Size
In the 1995 hatch, I had a number of peachicks with a kink in the outer toe of one or both feet.
They were well past a week old when I decided that I must do something about it. I made HALF SHOES of black pipe cleaner. I tore off a quarter inch-wide stripe of duck tape several inches long and secured
the HALF SHOE to the middle and the outer toe. Several days of treatment were needed. Some of the
HALF SHOES came off and had to be taped on again, but all treated peachicks had straight toes at the
end of the treatment. There is a young peacock that I missed treating. Now it is too late and he will
always have a kink in his outer toe


HOBBLE BRACE
ACHILLES TENDON OUT OF THE GROOVE
When the Achilles tendon slips out of the groove on the hock joint, a peachick will not be able to
straighten its leg. The problem needs prompt attention because the struggling peachick will put
its weight on the hock joint which will damage the skin and cause swelling in the joint. The tendon
can be pushed back in place with just one finger or a very gentle squeeze between the thumb and index
finger. Sometimes just one treatment will give a complete cure that seems like a miracle. Other
times several treatments are needed. Stubborn cases require advanced treatment that is too difficult to
explain here. I treated both legs of a peachick for two weeks; She grew up to be a healthy peahen.

STRADDLE LEGS
This problem can occur even if you take the precaution of having quarter inch hardware cloth
under your peachicks. Sometimes it is caused by the struggles of a chick with its toes rolled into
fists. In that case, both problems must be treated at the same time. I cut a piece of tape four or
five inches long and from the HOBBLE BRACE with the legs far enough apart so that the peachick can walk. The tape must go the whole way around and cover its sticky side so that it does not stick to the
peachick's fuzz when it sits down. Usually 24 hours of treatment is sufficient, but sometimes more is
required. CHICK SHOES and the HOBBLE BRACE can be used at the same time.
 
I found this information about different legg issues and wondered if the middle one might be what your chick has??????? Take a look, it might be of use to you to help that little guy's legs.
fl.gif

ORTHOPEDICS FOR POULTRY MADE EASY FOR BEGINNERS
By D.C. Townsend

These treatments have been tested and proven effective. I developed them for peafowl but they
may be used for any poultry. The key to success is to begin treatment promptly. In some cases delay
will kill or cripple the chick.

CHICK SHOE
Not Actual Size
HALF SHOE
Not Actual Size
In the 1995 hatch, I had a number of peachicks with a kink in the outer toe of one or both feet.
They were well past a week old when I decided that I must do something about it. I made HALF SHOES of black pipe cleaner. I tore off a quarter inch-wide stripe of duck tape several inches long and secured
the HALF SHOE to the middle and the outer toe. Several days of treatment were needed. Some of the
HALF SHOES came off and had to be taped on again, but all treated peachicks had straight toes at the
end of the treatment. There is a young peacock that I missed treating. Now it is too late and he will
always have a kink in his outer toe


HOBBLE BRACE
ACHILLES TENDON OUT OF THE GROOVE
When the Achilles tendon slips out of the groove on the hock joint, a peachick will not be able to
straighten its leg. The problem needs prompt attention because the struggling peachick will put
its weight on the hock joint which will damage the skin and cause swelling in the joint. The tendon
can be pushed back in place with just one finger or a very gentle squeeze between the thumb and index
finger. Sometimes just one treatment will give a complete cure that seems like a miracle. Other
times several treatments are needed. Stubborn cases require advanced treatment that is too difficult to
explain here. I treated both legs of a peachick for two weeks; She grew up to be a healthy peahen.

STRADDLE LEGS
This problem can occur even if you take the precaution of having quarter inch hardware cloth
under your peachicks. Sometimes it is caused by the struggles of a chick with its toes rolled into
fists. In that case, both problems must be treated at the same time. I cut a piece of tape four or
five inches long and from the HOBBLE BRACE with the legs far enough apart so that the peachick can walk. The tape must go the whole way around and cover its sticky side so that it does not stick to the
peachick's fuzz when it sits down. Usually 24 hours of treatment is sufficient, but sometimes more is
required. CHICK SHOES and the HOBBLE BRACE can be used at the same time.
This is where I got the shoe idea, actually. Thank you so much. He had slipped tendons and crooked toes so he needs shoes. I'm going to try to make him new shoes right now to see if I can make them stay in place better.
 
I just found out I don't leave until next week! *huge sigh of relief* I'll be better able to spend time with the chick now. :)
 
I think I'm going to have to have my dad take care of the chick tonight.
hit.gif
He just doesn't even seem to want to get better. He just lays there. His legs are even more swollen and he won't really even scootch around anymore. I think at this point he's suffering more than it's worth. I feel horrible.

We have one chick with a watery, blind eye. I thought at first it was an eye infection but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm treating it like it is an eye infection anyway. He walks funny, with his head cocked to one side but he can find food and water and seems happy enough, so I think he'll be ok.

Out of the 51 eggs in the incubator I have 3-4 blood rings I think (they look like they either developed some then got a blood ring or are developing with a blood ring?? Can that happen?) and5-6 clears. So on the optimistic side of things we have about 43 eggs developing nicely. It's not a real big shocker that we have so many clears. The friend who's eggs I am mostly incubating had 2 roosters last hatch and one this hatch. She warned me ahead of time that more would be infertile.

What's weird is out of the 7 EE mix chicks we got, (from the other guys hatch) 5 were yellow and 2 were darker. I'm assuming the dark ones were by one roo and the yellows by another. The dark ones are the ones with deformities, the yellows seem perfectly healthy. I'm thinking maybe that roo just doesn't go well with the easter eggers. Just a theory but that's what I have noticed.
 
Laynadon, you observation about the dark and light chicks is interesting as we have only one Americauna rooster in with our layer flock, I only collected the green eggs from the hens, and I have both yellow and black chicks. For some reason we lost one of the black chicks between Monday and Tuesday. He was really small at hatch, almost 1/2 the size of the others but really perky!
hu.gif
My mom said they were doing really well under my hen and she is being a really good momma. So, not sure what happened but my brother was kinda upset about it, I'm not happy about it at 2 weeks after hatch but, he had to "identify the body" because he named them all.
hit.gif
I'm interested to see if the color as chicks will identify the sex.

Cali Chick, that was really interesting stuff about the legs. Did you find that under the educational forum or somewhere else?
 
His legs are turning green now. Like a dying green, not a healing bruise green. I'm about to give him to my dad. He hasn't wanted food really at all today. He hasn't pooped at all today. His legs are swollen more and I can't really bend them anymore because his joints are just too swollen. The last time I tried to bend them he squealed. :'( I haven't tried since.He's shaking. He's just over all in bad shape and getting worse.
 
Oh, Layna, I'm so sad for you. I'm actually crying because I hate for animals to suffer. At least the little guy isn't hurting any more. You did everything that you could have done and what you thought was best. Most people wouldn't have given it a chance or even try to save it. Maybe that's the bad thing about people like us...we can't let go. Well, I hope you are OK and are able to focus on your chicks as well as the eggs in the incubator. Take care, Cali
hugs.gif



It's done. He's gone.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom