chickeebaby
Hatching
- May 30, 2022
- 2
- 1
- 4
Hi all, I'm new here but have been reading the information given on different threads for a few months now.
Early spring, my lovely Salmon Faverolle, Miss Nan, started acting broody. I don't have a rooster, but also thought it would be cool to hatch some eggs, so I ordered silkie chicken eggs. Of the five that I received, two of them hatched. They were "born" on the 26th of this month. A partridge silkie and a little white silkie...the partridge is doing fantastic! Eating and drinking great, scratching around, doing everything Mama Nan shows her to do. I noticed on Sunday that the little white silkie (who I have dubbed ChickyBaby), wasn't following so well, and Nan was starting to leave her behind, more or less. She seemed to be struggling with walking and wasn't scratching around like her sibling.
I wondered if it could be neurological, and on doing research, it seems she is. I started giving her a Vitamin E pill, 400 IU (I give it to her with a syringe, because she's not eating consistently enough) and it definitely made a huge difference. Sunday night I thought for sure I would lose her...I had let her go in the maternity pen with mama and sibling just to see what would happen, and checked on her 45 min later...she was flopped on her side away from the nest. I took her inside and gave her Vit E right away (first time I realized for sure she was neuro), and within the hour or so, she was already standing better and looking more stable. I gave her sugar water (1/2 tsp to 1 pint ratio) through the night with a spoon, every 1 1/2 hours or so...I have her in my room overnight so I can hear if she starts peeping, in a cardboard box with a 25 watt bulb for heat. I crushed up the chick feed so it's in tiny crumbles and she picks at it.
Yesterday (Monday) when I got up to go to work, I made sure to give her a last good dose of water before I left, 5:30am. I was able to come home and give her more Vit E around 10am, and she perked up again. Through the day I spooned her water, and also raw egg yolk (I had read that was good for chicks who weren't doing well), as well as offering her chick feed. I also read that boiled eggs are good, and found a recipe that said stale bread and boiled egg for first couple of days, so I ground that up together, and she picked at that as well.
I have mostly been giving her regular water yesterday and today, adding in some sugar water sparingly, as I've read that can cause pasty butt, which she did have some on Sunday evening/Monday morning. Through the rest of the day yesterday, and now today, she seems to be pooping fine.
I keep her with me when possible (she's snuggled inside my shirt collar as I type this) because she seems to like the interaction and loves snuggling...I'm spending some time catching up on reading since it's an excuse to let her snuggle.
I'm looking for some feedback on what I'm doing and if I could be doing something better, perhaps adding a vitamin supplement. I happened to read in one of the threads, someone mentioned lack of Niacin potentially causing similar neuro symptoms, so I'm wondering if I should give her that? The appropriate amount?
Any tips on helping with water consumption as well? I'm able to be home a lot throughout the day fortunately, so I have been spooning it to her every couple of hours or when she gets fussy. But I'm wondering if there's something else (other than a small, shallow lid, which is the current situation) that would hold the water up above that she could get from...similar to the bottles you use for a gerbil or guinea pig, that would work for a tiny chick.
Thank you!!
Early spring, my lovely Salmon Faverolle, Miss Nan, started acting broody. I don't have a rooster, but also thought it would be cool to hatch some eggs, so I ordered silkie chicken eggs. Of the five that I received, two of them hatched. They were "born" on the 26th of this month. A partridge silkie and a little white silkie...the partridge is doing fantastic! Eating and drinking great, scratching around, doing everything Mama Nan shows her to do. I noticed on Sunday that the little white silkie (who I have dubbed ChickyBaby), wasn't following so well, and Nan was starting to leave her behind, more or less. She seemed to be struggling with walking and wasn't scratching around like her sibling.
I wondered if it could be neurological, and on doing research, it seems she is. I started giving her a Vitamin E pill, 400 IU (I give it to her with a syringe, because she's not eating consistently enough) and it definitely made a huge difference. Sunday night I thought for sure I would lose her...I had let her go in the maternity pen with mama and sibling just to see what would happen, and checked on her 45 min later...she was flopped on her side away from the nest. I took her inside and gave her Vit E right away (first time I realized for sure she was neuro), and within the hour or so, she was already standing better and looking more stable. I gave her sugar water (1/2 tsp to 1 pint ratio) through the night with a spoon, every 1 1/2 hours or so...I have her in my room overnight so I can hear if she starts peeping, in a cardboard box with a 25 watt bulb for heat. I crushed up the chick feed so it's in tiny crumbles and she picks at it.
Yesterday (Monday) when I got up to go to work, I made sure to give her a last good dose of water before I left, 5:30am. I was able to come home and give her more Vit E around 10am, and she perked up again. Through the day I spooned her water, and also raw egg yolk (I had read that was good for chicks who weren't doing well), as well as offering her chick feed. I also read that boiled eggs are good, and found a recipe that said stale bread and boiled egg for first couple of days, so I ground that up together, and she picked at that as well.
I have mostly been giving her regular water yesterday and today, adding in some sugar water sparingly, as I've read that can cause pasty butt, which she did have some on Sunday evening/Monday morning. Through the rest of the day yesterday, and now today, she seems to be pooping fine.
I keep her with me when possible (she's snuggled inside my shirt collar as I type this) because she seems to like the interaction and loves snuggling...I'm spending some time catching up on reading since it's an excuse to let her snuggle.
I'm looking for some feedback on what I'm doing and if I could be doing something better, perhaps adding a vitamin supplement. I happened to read in one of the threads, someone mentioned lack of Niacin potentially causing similar neuro symptoms, so I'm wondering if I should give her that? The appropriate amount?
Any tips on helping with water consumption as well? I'm able to be home a lot throughout the day fortunately, so I have been spooning it to her every couple of hours or when she gets fussy. But I'm wondering if there's something else (other than a small, shallow lid, which is the current situation) that would hold the water up above that she could get from...similar to the bottles you use for a gerbil or guinea pig, that would work for a tiny chick.
Thank you!!
