Spitzhaubens

[Faraday40]

So, with Moonshine and the Spitz chicks, egg #4 was started 1 1/2 days behind. Yesterday, I discovered mites in the little nest box they had been confined to. Mama was standing, trying to avoid the bugs. So I quickly moved them to their pen in the coop, egg and all. Mama abandoned the egg and stayed w the chicks. I brought the egg in the house and improvised a makeshift hatcher with a heating pad. The egg hatched this morning! So now I have this little orphan,
View attachment 1812799 and want to introduce it to mama after it gets active, hopefully today. The 3 other chicks are now 2 days old. @Faraday40 (and anyone else) any thoughts on how this might work out? Thanks!
btw I got permethrin poultry powder and treated mama hen and the coop, nest boxes after completely sweeping it out. Fingers crossed on that.

You've got very good instincts so far!
Well done (Moving the birds, treating the mama, hatching the last egg, waiting for chick to be walking, etc)

To add the chick, I'd wait for a time when mama is calmly sitting & staying on chicks. (probably when they settle down just before dark) Sometimes a mama will peck at a new/different chick as an intruder, so if the mama doesn't see the chick she won't peck at it. Just slip the chick under her & she won't be able to "see" it. Chick will feel cozy & should stay put. When they wake up in the morning, the chick has already spent the night & will most likely be considered part of the family.

It's best to check on the broody a few times in the beginning & again early in the morning.

 

[Faraday40]

@SueT
Are you going to keep any Spitzes? You had very beautiful ones.

 

[Alaskan]

You've got very good instincts so far!
Well done (Moving the birds, treating the mama, hatching the last egg, waiting for chick to be walking, etc)

To add the chick, I'd wait for a time when mama is calmly sitting & staying on chicks. (probably when they settle down just before dark) Sometimes a mama will peck at a new/different chick as an intruder, so if the mama doesn't see the chick she won't peck at it. Just slip the chick under her & she won't be able to "see" it. Chick will feel cozy & should stay put. When they wake up in the morning, the chick has already spent the night & will most likely be considered part of the family.

It's best to check on the broody a few times in the beginning & again early in the morning.

X2

It usually works just fine... but watch the mom closely.

And yes, wait until that one can move well, run, etc.

 

[SueT]

Well....maybe this was a mistake, but I didn't do it at night (because 1. the entire flock knows when I crawl in there at night and gets alarmed, 2. the broody pen is long and narrow in the back corner of the coop and it creates a disturbance to access it 3. one time I gave a day old chick to a broody RIR at night and she immediately woke up and tried to kill it.)
So in broad daylight, I attempted this. Moonshine is a very opinionated and outspoken Sebright, and she wasn't having it. Pheromones be damned. I had already violated her trust by dusting her with Permethrin that morning, and she hadn't forgiven me, still hasn't. She's also super broody paranoid and thinks everything is a threat to her darlings. So when she saw this baby, she was outraged, she pecked it, stomped on it, and then the other babies pecked it--I quickly grabbed it out of there. It's half the size of the others who are only 2 days ahead. The chick was really devastated, and cried for an hour after. I gave it a mirror, lots of attention....
So now I have an indoor pet, tame enough to take photos of....I love taking chick pics....

But tomorrow is a poultry swap, and if it isn't rained out, I'll bring Pipo there and see if I can find someone who would be delighted to have him/her. (DH calls it Pipo.)

 

[Alaskan]

It can be a tricky thing..

Glad the chick wasn't hurt

 

[SueT]

Today, mama took her babies outside for the first time. That gave me an idea. I'm trying a see-no-touch set up. They're talking....but mama did try to peck the chick thru the basket.

 

[Alaskan]

Good idea!

 

[SueT]

I took the Spitzhauben orphan to the poultry swap in town, but it was rainy and no one showed up. So I went to a feed store and chose another chick to keep it company. It's a bantam, I don't know what kind. Ginger color with a black spot on head. Judging by wing feathers, slightly older. The Spitz showed her around the apartment, demonstrated the food bowl, the water nipple, and the mirror. She's very talkative and they are talking a lot. He still calls out loudly but not as much.
Mama Sebright took the babies outside again today. They are so agile, jumping, climbing, catching bugs, etc. They have quickly learned the "staircase" I made to their pop door.

 

[Faraday40]

I took the Spitzhauben orphan to the poultry swap in town, but it was rainy and no one showed up. So I went to a feed store and chose another chick to keep it company. It's a bantam, I don't know what kind. Ginger color with a black spot on head. Judging by wing feathers, slightly older. The Spitz showed her around the apartment, demonstrated the food bowl, the water nipple, and the mirror. She's very talkative and they are talking a lot. He still calls out loudly but not as much.
View attachment 1815597 Mama Sebright took the babies outside again today. They are so agile, jumping, climbing, catching bugs, etc. They have quickly learned the "staircase" I made to their pop door.
View attachment 1815608 View attachment 1815607

 

[Alaskan]

Glad the orphan has a buddy.

And cute staircase.