I lost one of my light partrige chicks yesterday. It choked to death. By the time I found something to get the food out it died. It only took about 2 minutes. So now I will be getting one of those sucker bulbs people use on babies noses.
I could see what was choking it but didn't think fast enough to save it. I was opeing every drawer in the kitchen looking for somehting small enough to get in it's mouth. I found a little brush that cleans out my turl=key baster. It has a tiny ring on the end of the handle to be able to hang it up I suppose. It fit perfectly. Although I still tried to save it by pulling the food out of it's throat, it's heart stopped beating just as I was about to get it all cleared out. I figued I could blow air in to get it breathing again as long as it had a heart beat. But I was just seconds too late.
This one was getting gold feathers on top of it's head. It would have been so pretty.
Now when I feed them I look for anybody choking. I've had chicks drop dead before and didn't know why. These all hatched before Christmas last month and are in the raggedy stage. That leaves me with 22 chicks but there are more in the bator. We're gonna hatch them out all winter for the spring pick. I have several light and dark partridge color, some blue's and blacks. No whites but I have enough for my white pen anyway. They just aren't laying. The oldest hen which is still under a year old has gone broody but she sits on no eggs.
I don't know why she stays on that empty nest. I don't want any of them to hatch out any eggs right now because it's too cold outside. DH and I keep taking them off the nests. I have a 2 sizzles that are in the silkie pen that are doing the same thing. Except they have been laying, but we still take the eggs. We'll let them help incubate in the spring but not now. Hopefully they will be so willing in the spring.
I'll have a mixed color sizzle pen in the spring. I have 2 beautiful blue sizzle chicks I named Curley and Moe that I hatached out from some eggs I got from pamperedpoultry. I'm hoping there is a pair. I'll put my white ones in with them and what ever else I get that I decide to keep. I have 2 that hatched on Christmas that I named Noel and Jingles. Noel looks to be partridge and Jungles is black. I got a black silkie that hatched on Christmas Eve I named Santa since he arrives Christmas Eve at night. So did this one. lol
My white sizzles have recessive black so it really doesn't matter if I get a white roo for them unless I plan to breed the recessive out. I have no plans for that right now.
I'm concentrating on building the color pens for the silkies. I'll start with a trio of each and work my way up from there. I would love to have some porcelins (sp?), lavender too. I'll see what I get.
Just for future reference, what would I have to breed to get the porcelin (sp?) ?
