Small air sacs? Large number of infertile...getting some nerves

[enigmachick]

I noticed one of the Tibetan (I think? It's super dark) chicks in the brooder really getting after the others, pulling feathers and pecking at feet (so much so that it drug another chick by its leg!) so I removed it and 3 others who were pretty fluffy. However this behavior has moved to the brooder now, I routinely see chicks squeak and jump away in pain because someone has pecked at their feet! They have food available, they've found the food, there's no mealworms or anything, I'm curious if this is normal behavior or if my one Tibetan started it all?

 

[Nabiki]

I noticed one of the Tibetan (I think? It's super dark) chicks in the brooder really getting after the others, pulling feathers and pecking at feet (so much so that it drug another chick by its leg!) so I removed it and 3 others who were pretty fluffy. However this behavior has moved to the brooder now, I routinely see chicks squeak and jump away in pain because someone has pecked at their feet! They have food available, they've found the food, there's no mealworms or anything, I'm curious if this is normal behavior or if my one Tibetan started it all?

I've seen it, but not in every hatch. I usually take the mean one and separate it for half an hour or so then put it back in. They grow out of it pretty quickly.

 

[FloorCandy]

I noticed one of the Tibetan (I think? It's super dark) chicks in the brooder really getting after the others, pulling feathers and pecking at feet (so much so that it drug another chick by its leg!) so I removed it and 3 others who were pretty fluffy. However this behavior has moved to the brooder now, I routinely see chicks squeak and jump away in pain because someone has pecked at their feet! They have food available, they've found the food, there's no mealworms or anything, I'm curious if this is normal behavior or if my one Tibetan started it all?

They think the toes are worms. It passes quickly, they usually don’t do any real damage.

 

[enigmachick]

What a great, super interesting experience hatch day was! I noticed almost every "batch" brought into the brooder started toe pecking etc. again, the older ones would mostly stop it though not entirely.

I also noticed a very obvious trend in the hatch, the earlier chicks were much more hearty, easier hatching, very vigorous...as we went chicks took longer to hatch, longer to get their energy up and some more difficult hatches (I did help that one out that was stuck for more than twelve hours I think, it has curled feet) as well as less capable/formed chicks. My very last egg hatched overnight and when I woke up the chick was fluffy but the egg was stuck on its head! When it came off I realized this chick has a very wry neck bent strongly to the side, its feet are also super curled and it falls over a lot/has trouble moving around. I noticed in the brooder the other chicks definitely picking on this one so I put it back in the incubator, I really don't know what to do for it. If it can't get itself to water food and heat I don't know how it can live .

There are 16 babies hatched, two haven't shown any signs but I'm leaving them in the incubator in case. So far everyone seems happy and healthy except the last one, I had no idea they were so much fun! They hop right into my hand and snuggle down with me, I have some very definite favorites already trying not to get too attached in case any start dying

 

[enigmachick]

I've seen it, but not in every hatch. I usually take the mean one and separate it for half an hour or so then put it back in. They grow out of it pretty quickly.

I was so upset with that Tibetan, it dragged another chick probably 4-5 inches with me "pecking" at it the whole time! I gave it to my son to hold and see if it would cool off, turns out it loved being held by my son and those two happily snuggled for who knows how long. Now it's a very friendly chick, though time will tell if it bullies any more

 

[Kiki]

I was so upset with that Tibetan, it dragged another chick probably 4-5 inches with me "pecking" at it the whole time! I gave it to my son to hold and see if it would cool off, turns out it loved being held by my son and those two happily snuggled for who knows how long. Now it's a very friendly chick, though time will tell if it bullies any more

This isn't necessary bulliness and freshly hatched chicks. I wouldn't separate them.. I would just look the other way. It will stop on its own.

 

[enigmachick]

I'm wondering if something went wrong with my turning or incubation, I had two chicks with severe wry neck and both also had super curled up feet. One had to be assisted out. Is that normal to see so much wry neck (both the same, neck bent sharply to the left and legs curled in strongly) in such a small hatch? Should I do anything to help? One was so severely malformed my hubby took care of it, the other is actually able to stand so I have it separated in the incubator with water and food, it's about 24hrs old.

 

[Nabiki]

I had a lot of curled toes for my first couple of hatches. My humidity was too high, and my temperatures weren't quite right. I've had far fewer defects and better hatch rates after I added a couple of calibrated thermometers to really know what my temps were and kept the humidity at about 30% during incubation.

 

[enigmachick]

I had a lot of curled toes for my first couple of hatches. My humidity was too high, and my temperatures weren't quite right. I've had far fewer defects and better hatch rates after I added a couple of calibrated thermometers to really know what my temps were and kept the humidity at about 30% during incubation.

Is there reasonable hope for the chick with its neck bent to the side? It's strange both chicks had the exact same shape, but this one at least can walk some. We gave it some nutridrench tonight just to see if that would help any.

 

[Nabiki]

Wry neck chicks in my experience can live normal lives. I've never kept one past eating size because I don't want them in my breeding pool, but they do okay.

Edit: Here's a pic of one of my wry neck birds.