Top Ten Ways to Accidently Kill a Sick Bird

[Fancychooklady]

You definitely should, Kathy - although I don't think a top ten would be enough!  

I've just seen a great one on here about wood ducks.  Someone posted that wood duck ducklings are often very reluctant to start eating once they hatch, and that this is because they usually hatch in nests that are up off the ground (in tree holes etc.), so then they fall out of the nest on the first day, and that this stimulates them to eat.  Therefore the poster says they drop all their ducklings (I don't know from what height) after they hatch, to get them to start eating!  I'm sure many people have successfully raised wood ducks without resorting to throwing them around in the first 24 hours of their lives!  Even if there is some truth to this idea (of which I am doubtful), a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - although ducklings and chicks are resiliant creatures, I am certain that many would be injured by people dropping them and damaging their legs / wings etc.

Mother nature works in mysterious ways. Don't know either way but this is amazing .
Great thread Kathy.

 

[KayTee]

That's a brilliant video fancychooklady! Thank you for posting it - it was great to watch

I know that in nature chicks (just like children) are pretty tough cookies and bounce back from all sorts of things. I had no doubt that the falling out of the tree thing is a perfectly natural event, but I still have my reservations - firstly about it being an essential trigger to get the ducklings to eat, and secondly that in imitating nature us humans would be able to do it right.

In the video you see that the ducklings choose their own moment to jump and drop onto a soft, bouncy layer of dead leaves and stuff on the woodland floor. If you dropped them when they weren't ready, or onto a surface that didn't cushion them enough, then there would be far more chance of injury. If it was a case of nothing left to lose then maybe I would try it, but only as an extremely last resort, and definitely not as a matter of course.

 

[Purpletie3]

You definitely should, Kathy - although I don't think a top ten would be enough!

I've just seen a great one on here about wood ducks. Someone posted that wood duck ducklings are often very reluctant to start eating once they hatch, and that this is because they usually hatch in nests that are up off the ground (in tree holes etc.), so then they fall out of the nest on the first day, and that this stimulates them to eat. Therefore the poster says they drop all their ducklings (I don't know from what height) after they hatch, to get them to start eating! I'm sure many people have successfully raised wood ducks without resorting to throwing them around in the first 24 hours of their lives! Even if there is some truth to this idea (of which I am doubtful), a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - although ducklings and chicks are resiliant creatures, I am certain that many would be injured by people dropping them and damaging their legs / wings etc.

I watched a special on this...You should see how high up these trees these ducks are. I almost had to cover my eyes...but,they hit the leaves and bounced and were off! I won't be dropping any of mine~

 

[PertyGertie]

Going to chime in here. I think when you first start out with chickens you think it's an easy hobby and that they can't really be that hard to keep. People have been doing it for hundreds of years. Then you get a sick chicken. Like children they don't come with a manual. The hard thing about chickens is that there are very few if any vets that treat chickens. At least pediatricians are a dime a dozen. So you have a sick chicken and you're frantically searching for a vet and trying to find an answer on the forums. You know time is of the essence and you're speed reading through pages upon pages and trying to find an identical symptom and treatment. Or you throw a SOS thread out there and watch your inbox for someone to help you. Lots of panic involved.

You find a common person like Kathy @casportpony or Jim @dawg53 that seem to know a lot and respond to people needing help and many times the chicken pulls through.

Then you have the people that want to holistically treat chickens and others that will use modern medicine for treatment. Those two camps are opposite ends of the spectrum with advice and can confuse a person even more that is in panic mode.

So I guess if a person is on BYC they are in the group of people that care about their chickens. Like raising children there are different methods of doing so. In the old days I doubt farmers put as much time into their chickens as we do and probably a lot of chickens suffered and died. People have different thresholds of what they can muster the courage to do. I am the type of person that will try most things if I feel I have enough information to do it correctly. Not everyone is this way.

Usually a death due to ignoring advice or waiting too long is enough to bring someone to attention. It happened to me and I truly appreciate and follow advice from those that have been there helping many panicked people and are willing to repeat the same information over and over. Kathy and Jim you are so appreciated. Please know that.

Yes, this list is a good one. Unfortunately the panicked people out there probably won't read it in time. Hopefully they read it eventually and keep it in the back of their mind for the next sick chicken in their life.

 

[KayTee]

You are right, PertyGertie, we all make mistakes when caring for our flocks, even when we are trying to do the best for them, but people like @casportpony @dawg53 @eggcessive and @nambroth provide us with much needed advice, guidance and support. We will all invariably lose one or more birds at some point through lack of knowledge, inattention or just pure bad luck, but for those who really care about their flocks such incidents can only serve as learning curves to help us in the future.

 

[Purpletie3]

Amen to that! Cathy saved a whole bunch of my chicks who got sick!!! I have been using her advice ever since!

 

[PertyGertie]

Whoops! Forgot I have used advice from @eggcessive too! Thank you too.

 

[ducksarecutest]

My hen was having foot problems but we fixed with medicine but then it came back and she died. Any ideas on how it happened?