Silkie thread!

[Fancychooklady]

One crisis after another!. I guess I had beginner's luck last year with my shipped eggs. All chicks healthy last time. This year is not going as well. I mentioned yesterday, the funky side air cell silkie egg  started pipping first. It took him all day but he got out. Kind of like a breech baby though. One foot out first,then the other.  I could see his beak but he couldn't seem to get past that point so after a good while  I chipped off a little shell around his beak and he got his head and neck out energetically  but his butt and back were still inside. I left him a few hours and he managed to get out on his own. BUT one leg isn't right. Maybe the position he was in the egg or during the hatching  or somethings else. Seems to be a  hip issue- the whole leg kind of turned to the side. Other leg is normal. I looked up and tried the spraddle leg hobble thing with  a bandaid this morning. I had left him in the bator all night last night with no interventions with the other two hatched chicks who seem fine. I guess I was hoping it would straighten out by itself if it was just a bad position during hatching . He seems loud and energetic this morning  and can kind of sit up on hocks but falls over if he tries to walk.   He's a little better with the hobbles on  but I'm afraid this is not going to end well. What to do? I'm leaning toward leaving  the hobbles on for at least a couple of days, handfed and hope for the best? I'm a softie but I can put him down if need be, I just want to try everything reasonable first.  Any suggestions? 

Spradle legs are much easier to fix than hip or hock issues. Hip displasia is usually a humidity issue caused during incubation. This link covers all possibilities however if the chick is noisy and distressed , it may be kinder to euthanize .

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[nuklee0]

I got my silkies today!!!!
There names are twix and jade (twix is my favorite candy)
They are being raised with some other chicks, I got nervous when the other chicks started pecking the silkies face, but soon they realized that the black thing on there face was a beak, LOL (everyone is OK!) They are so tiny!!! I usually don't have the heat lamp on for the older chicks, but the silkies were shivering, so I decided I'd give them some heat, since there only a day old, the other chicks are about 5 days old. There so cute!! I have never owned a hen with FIVE legs! LOL! I'll try to get a pic in a sec, I don't really want to hold them just yet, they look so weak and I want them to get used to there new surroundings, I'll take a pic from on top of they're cage.

Please be careful. Just this week I made a rookie mistake and put my 1-2 day old silkies with my 4-6 day old LF chicks and two little silkies got trampled and died.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I saw a post recently where another member was dealing with the same issue. They actually manipulated the hip back into the socket (with gentle pressure, said they heard it "click" back in) and then they wrapped the hip with vet wrap to keep everything in place. I can't remember which thread I saw that in, maybe the Incubating and Hatching w/Friends thread? It's worth a try Here's what I'm dealing with today: I happened to look out the window and saw my rooster, Joe, down in the corner of the run kicking at something. At first I thought he was picking on a baby or had singled out a hen (which is very unlike him). I opened the door to yell at him and he took off for the coop. He was kicking at a huge hawk :/ So, I took off running in my slippers to see who it had. It flew off before I made it there and this poor girl was laying in a heap looking like she was dead When I reached for her, she popped up and ran in circles for a bit and then collapsed. After seeing the state of her eye, I'm guessing she took off in circles because that was the only direction she could see in. She's bleeding from the mouth a bit (which I'm hoping isn't an internal injury for the impact) and the hawk had plucked out all of her breast feathers in preparation for its meal. She's in the brooder right now resting and she's eating and drinking, which is a good sign she might be okay fl ). She's obviously stressed (understandably) and I'm thinking she might end up loosing that eye. I did put a little eye ointment on it in hopes of preventing infection. Poor Winnie.

Curse those Hawks. Don't give up on her if you've got some wound care spray ( I use Terramycin spray ) irrigate her wounds with saline and give them a good spray. My ' chicken little ' lost her eye in a hawk attack , that was 6 years ago and she is still going strong, currently raising some orphan chicks. Here's her story. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-little-the-bravest-little-chicken-alive

 

[jhopp6]

She's eating and drinking, AND...the brooder she's in has a small attached run. She made her way outside and is currently scratching around and taking a dirt bath. Makes me feel pretty optimistic Tough little cookie, that one!

SO glad she's still with us

 

[Silkie2]

Please be careful. Just this week I made a rookie mistake and put my 1-2 day old silkies with my 4-6 day old LF chicks and two little silkies got trampled and died.

They are supervised, and I took them out to take a nap on my lap,
Thank you though!!
Sorry about the loss of yours

 

[kssilkiemama]

I have a question....I have a black rooster that I love, love, love but I noticed some of his tail feathers have a green sheen to them. Is that a DQ? Also, I have a black rooster with white ear lobes, is that a DQ as well?

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I think maybe the white earlobes may be a dq but I am not sure about the green sheen

 

[Fancychooklady]

I have a question....I have a black rooster that I love, love, love but I noticed some of his tail feathers have a green sheen to them.  Is that a DQ?  Also, I have a black rooster with white ear lobes, is that a DQ as well? 

The green sheen is common in black birds. The white earlobes are usually an indication that a roo is getting on in years, they fade to white.

 

[kssilkiemama]

Thank you so much for your feedback! In appreciate it!

 

[ChickenGrass]

It is much to soon
Silkies are one of those breeds
That you have to wait until 5-6 month
Old to tell
Sometimes it can take aslong as 8 months