Silkie thread!

[NewToFarming]

I just wanted to give all you fellow silkie lovers a heads up that I finally got my camera fixed and I am hoping to get some good pics of my new guys this weekend if the weather is nice. So I will be posting tons of pics to see what you guys think! I have about 30 youngsters between 2 months to 5 months!

LOL I just wanted to prepare you for the tons of pictures to come!

As always, I appreciate everyones kindness & help on here!!! I always enjoy looking at everyones silkies on here!

 

[kfchickenlady]

Quote:
cute little flock you have, thanks for posting

 

[Jx2inNC]

Quote:
cute little flock you have, thanks for posting

Thanks! Nothing special but it's a pretty cohesive, pleasant little group.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Staggered hatching is when you have eggs at different developmental stages in the incubator at the same time: they will not all hatch within a couple of days of each other, but rather over a longer period or periods of time. In my case, I may add eggs daily, or weekly; always sporadically based upon what the girls in breeding pens have laid.

A not staggered hatching would be setting all the eggs at once.

No, no website. Maybe someday.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

I'm new to silkies although I've wanted them for a while. Last week we got a shipment from Cackle Hatchery. (I know ... mistake). Received 11 bantam blue silkies and 17 bantam eggers. 5 of the eggers have died. I separated them after the 4th death but the 5th was too far gone.

Now I have a silkie who I have never seen eat or drink, and is now half the size of its buddies. All are 1 week old. There are 6 in this box ... the one that's fading is in the top right corner of the box. Can you tell how she's about half the size of those that came with her?

I'm really worried about her. I clean her pasty-butt at least twice a day, but still, haven't seen her drink or eat. Refuses to take my syringe with vitamins in water. She's in the sun in the above shot but she's also got a heat lamp pretty close to her. She toddles from time to time, but usually just lays there. Sometimes just stands there. Has been that way for about 2 days.

Here's a pic of her up close in my hand.

Any thoughts as to what I can do?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Have you dipped its beak into the water?

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Quote:
Have you dipped its beak into the water?

============

Yes. Won't swallow.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Have you forced the mouth open and dropped a drop or two of water on it?

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Unfortunately you sometimes have those kind of chicks. I've had two in the last couple of years and it's heartbreaking. I dipped their beaks over and over and never saw them eat or drink.

I call them "dummy chicks" because I used to manage a large thoroughbred horse farm and occasionally had a foal born that was a "dummy". We would tube them until they got it together and started nursing. Unfortunately that's virtually impossible with chicks.

They essentially die of dehydration/starvation. It's pitiful and I euthanized the last one when I realized that it was NOT going to start eating or drinking. So sorry...

 

[NewToFarming]

I have had a few that had a slow start and what I did was dip their beaks in sugar water and also offer very moistened chick feed with vitamins added to it. In the beginning I mixed it so that it was fairly runny. My thought were, if it was pretty watered down, they were getting both nustrition and fluids into them. I would just keep trying throughout the day. Even if they took just one bite, it was something. But I just kept at and offered both sugar water and the moistened feed. They all made it and my last little chick took about 4 days to come around but she pulled through.