She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[RubyNala97]

I had a little drama last night. I got up at 3am to check on the chicks. Didn't want the kids to jump out of bed early and find any fatalities. Remember the chick that got stuck more then half way through zip, for about 40 mins, till I helped him? Well, his legs were splayed!! He could still get around but he was waddling on his belly, his legs kept slipping out to the side. I thought I noticed it earlier but I just thought his belly was big from absorbing the yoke. My 9 year old heard me up and woke up to be my assistant. We put the bandaid brace on his legs and he's walking on them now! Do you think the splayed legs is from the hatch? I've read it can be from temp fluctuations but I held between 99.5-100.0 the whole incubation.

 

[scflock]

I have one Davis BCM. I have a blue roo that does not fit my breeding program that someone threw in for free. The problem is he is beautiful and the longer I keep him the more likely he is to stay. He has cream in his hackles though and I have heard that is a bad sign in a blue cockerel Marans. He also has heavy feathering on his shanks and some on the feet. That will help me let him go. Maybe.

I had one decent BCM rooster from my first straight run batch, but I learned on the "Eat those chickens" thread that he has a carnation comb. It's Tate that I have posted pictures of on here. He is a very cool rooster, good with the girls and nice to me, so I don't think I can let him go...

Peas are very cute as babies. But I was warned at how LOUD they are as adults, so I'll pass lol.

you know I thought a lot about what I had when I got Ameraucanas I heard a lot about Easter eggers and egg color and all that is a lot of crap and just that. go to the Ameraucana breeders ***. web site an look at the pictures that their members post . that is of course after you read the breed standard which does not include a single picture. I bet that each and every one of you will find a picture that looks just like one or more of you chickens. again posted by their members . So If I sound a little P.O.ed its because I am the reason my chickens are no good is because I didn't buy chickens from them . It took me years to over come the label that came with the horse business and how you could not trust horse trainer or trader roomers started by other horse trainers who would come to buy my horses and tell me they were not worth what I wanted for them and already had the horse sold for a higher price . the way I see it horse people don't have anything on large chicken breeders. If you had brought your chickens from them then they would be the greatest chickens in the world, and look just like what you have now . Do not base your opinion of you're chickens on what someone else tells you study the breed. pick the birds you like and breed from there. If you go to a pure breed chicken show hosted by a Breeders ***. the chances are the judges will be large breeders and members of the ***. and the winners will be likewise. remember believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. btw did I tell you I'm old so I can say what I want to.

Very wise post. Unless you are ruthlessly culling to keep or sell showbirds, the SOP will drive you nuts. I have learned to be happy with the chickens I love, but to be very upfront with anyone that may be looking for birds to show. Just like the BCM rooster I was talking about, the carnation comb isn't just a fault, it's a straight up DQ, but I love him and he's staying

I am finally home.

I visited a Rural King store for the first time today, in Decatur, IN. All I can say is WOW. It's everything TSC isn't; it's a real farm oriented superstore. I picked up a few things...

After dinner, I did the breakout on the remaining turkey egg, none of which had pipped externally. The twin egg had two fully developed chicks that never pipped. Another of the very large eggs had a jumbo chick. One normal size egg had a jumbo chick that was still alive when broken out, but died shortly afterward. There was a pool of blood in the bottom of the shell, it must have nicked a blood vessel. The others were DOA, for a 6/16.

The good thing is that there were zero shrink wraps, and two a little wet. So the humidity is close. There were no bloated chicks, but there were two that failed to absorb all the yolk. I may need to raise hatch temp a little, it dropped to 95 by the time I got home.

I did end up with six, one poult has a leg or neurological issue (topples) but the others are great. There is one male Narragansett x BBB, one female Golden Narragansett x BBB, one Golden Narragansett and a couple of Silver Narragansett.

I am back over 300 birds. What was I thinking?

That's decent results for not being there at all. I would love to see a Rural King store. I've seen their website, but TSC is the only box store we have here

w

I have a Gamo. It's my varmint gun. I had to use it to humanely dispatch my gorgeous Narragansett tom after a neighbor's dog mortally wounded him.

You don't need to be a "good shot". A pellet in the ear with muzzle contact is humanely fatal.

That Gamo is awesome. I have dispatched several predators with a muzzle contact shot, and it is amazingly accurate for a pretty good distance. The best feeling in the world is popping a squirrel right off a cornstalk

I just meant that they can go without direct heat for a little bit each day, as that mimicks the natural behavior of the hen. Lol. It's excellent that you have the generator!

Any action today, Ruby? Day 22 usually holds a few surprises for me

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I had a little drama last night. I got up at 3am to check on the chicks. Don't want the kids to jump out of bed early and find any fatalities. Remember the chick that got stuck more then half way through zip, for about 40 mins, till I helped him? Well, his legs were splayed!! He could still get around but he was waddling on his belly, his legs get slipping out to the side. I thought I noticed it earlier but I just thought his belly was big from absorbing the yoke. My 9 year old heard me up and woke up to be my assistant. We put the bandaid brace on his legs and he's walking on them now! Do you think the splayed legs is from the hatch? I've read it can be from temp fluctuations but I held between 99.5-100.0 the whole incubation.

It can also be from a difficult hatch or a slip after the hatch causing the injury, or a vitamin deficiency. Knowing he had a little problem hatching, it was probably from that. At least that would be my conclusion.

 

[scflock]

I had a little drama last night. I got up at 3am to check on the chicks. Don't want the kids to jump out of bed early and find any fatalities. Remember the chick that got stuck more then half way through zip, for about 40 mins, till I helped him? Well, his legs were splayed!! He could still get around but he was waddling on his belly, his legs get slipping out to the side. I thought I noticed it earlier but I just thought his belly was big from absorbing the yoke. My 9 year old heard me up and woke up to be my assistant. We put the bandaid brace on his legs and he's walking on them now! Do you think the splayed legs is from the hatch? I've read it can be from temp fluctuations but I held between 99.5-100.0 the whole incubation.

I've had 4 instances of splayed legs, and every one had difficulty hatching. I'm not sure if the difficulty caused the splay, or the splay caused the difficulty, but it is entirely correctable, especially catching it early like you did. They will gain strength in their legs quickly when you strap them and force them to stand on them. Just make sure that it's eating and drinking and you should be fine

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I've had 4 instances of splayed legs, and every one had difficulty hatching. I'm not sure if the difficulty caused the splay, or the splay caused the difficulty, but it is entirely correctable, especially catching it early like you did. They will gain strength in their legs quickly when you strap them and force them to stand on them. Just make sure that it's eating and drinking and you should be fine

According to the chicken chick a difficult hatch can make their legs weak, which makes sense that when they go to stand the weak legs don't spport them and become spraddled.

 

[scflock]

According to the chicken chick a difficult hatch can make their legs weak, which makes sense that when they go to stand the weak legs don't spport them and become spraddled.

Did you know she's a member here? I order my egg labels from her, and they are great. I've seen her on the Brinsea website, and in Backyard Poultry magazine (or was it GRIT?). She's making quite a name for herself, and she's very nice and responds to questions

 

[RubyNala97]

I had a little drama last night. I got up at 3am to check on the chicks. Don't want the kids to jump out of bed early and find any fatalities. Remember the chick that got stuck more then half way through zip, for about 40 mins, till I helped him? Well, his legs were splayed!! He could still get around but he was waddling on his belly, his legs get slipping out to the side. I thought I noticed it earlier but I just thought his belly was big from absorbing the yoke. My 9 year old heard me up and woke up to be my assistant. We put the bandaid brace on his legs and he's walking on them now! Do you think the splayed legs is from the hatch? I've read it can be from temp fluctuations but I held between 99.5-100.0 the whole incubation.

Sorry guys, another question. The last chick to hatch & a sticky one, looks like he has very slight spradle/splayed legs. It's not nearly as bad as the guy I wrote about in the above post. He is walking fine but compared to the normal chicks, his stance is wider. Should I worry about this? Will it get better as he grows?

 

[scflock]

Sorry guys, another question. The last chick to hatch & a sticky one, looks like he has very slight spradle/splayed legs. It's not nearly as bad as the guy I wrote about in the above post. He is walking fine but compared to the normal chicks, his stance is wider. Should I worry about this? Will it get better as he grows?

Keep an eye on him. It will either get better or worse. Sometimes they will regain the strength on their own, but if you notice him laying down with one leg out to the side, go ahead and strap him

 

[scflock]

Got my first BCM pullet egg last night

Not very dark, but had a ton of very dark speckles. I hope that means the paint booth just isn't complete.

incubating by July

 

[WVduckchick]

I am finally home.

I visited a Rural King store for the first time today, in Decatur, IN. All I can say is WOW. It's everything TSC isn't; it's a real farm oriented superstore. I picked up a few things...

After dinner, I did the breakout on the remaining turkey egg, none of which had pipped externally. The twin egg had two fully developed chicks that never pipped. Another of the very large eggs had a jumbo chick. One normal size egg had a jumbo chick that was still alive when broken out, but died shortly afterward. There was a pool of blood in the bottom of the shell, it must have nicked a blood vessel. The others were DOA, for a 6/16.

The good thing is that there were zero shrink wraps, and two a little wet. So the humidity is close. There were no bloated chicks, but there were two that failed to absorb all the yolk. I may need to raise hatch temp a little, it dropped to 95 by the time I got home.

I did end up with six, one poult has a leg or neurological issue (topples) but the others are great. There is one male Narragansett x BBB, one female Golden Narragansett x BBB, one Golden Narragansett and a couple of Silver Narragansett.

I am back over 300 birds. What was I thinking?

I have a Rural King within a few miles of my house and another about 1-1/2 hours away (its closer to my camp) and I love that store! It can be expensive on some items though (clothing, etc), but usually have the best prices on farming stuff. I can't tell if they are hurting TSC, (I have 4 within an hour of me), but I was at the TSC that is furthest from me, and I was looking for something that was on sale. The sale price was lower at the closer stores, but they didn't have my size. I told the clerk that the sale price was lower at the other store and she said it was because of the Rural King.

I'm so sorry the monster twins didn't make it. I'm curious if you could tell if they were in there both the same direction or like 69? And 6 is better than 0, so it wasn't a total loss. Sorry about the lost ones.... But you learned some things, so that's always a plus.

w

I have a Gamo. It's my varmint gun. I had to use it to humanely dispatch my gorgeous Narragansett tom after a neighbor's dog mortally wounded him.

You don't need to be a "good shot". A pellet in the ear with muzzle contact is humanely fatal.

I want a GAMO!!!

I just meant that they can go without direct heat for a little bit each day, as that mimicks the natural behavior of the hen. Lol. It's excellent that you have the generator!

Yea, I mis-read... blonde, spastic moment! LOL

I had a little drama last night. I got up at 3am to check on the chicks. Didn't want the kids to jump out of bed early and find any fatalities. Remember the chick that got stuck more then half way through zip, for about 40 mins, till I helped him? Well, his legs were splayed!! He could still get around but he was waddling on his belly, his legs kept slipping out to the side. I thought I noticed it earlier but I just thought his belly was big from absorbing the yoke. My 9 year old heard me up and woke up to be my assistant. We put the bandaid brace on his legs and he's walking on them now! Do you think the splayed legs is from the hatch? I've read it can be from temp fluctuations but I held between 99.5-100.0 the whole incubation.

Glad you got it going in the right direction now. You are a good chicken mommy.