Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[elizmartin]

I have made slippers for Silkie chicks before but that was for a curled toe and not a club foot. The toes are shorter on the curled foot and clenched tight. If I can get it to balance better in a cup, I will try making a slipper for it. Right now it is not able to get its legs under it to stand so I am afraid a slipper won't help at this stage. It basically lies on its belly with its legs stretched back unless I prop it up in a cup. I tried taping its legs under it but it has no balance so that did not help. There is no way it will be able to eat and drink in the condition it is in now so without significant improvement I don't expect it to survive. The egg was one that another hen layed in a broody hen's nest so I pulled it out (I write start and expected end dates on eggs) but I did not know when it would hatch. I wonder if moving it from a laying down position to an upright position caused the club foot but I may never know what caused it. It is the only chick with the defect so hopefully it is an isolated incident.

Its hard to help and save one with this…..I have taped the foot open with blue painting tape, then pulled the legs under them as if sitting down, in a small container with kleenex so they cannot move around, wrapped it over with paper towel, tape so it will not come apart, then set it in the brooder box near the light & other chicks to stay warm. I pull it out every few hours and dip beak into enriched water and try to get grains of feed in, then repeat the package process….sometimes if early enough it encourages the legs to fall in place as they should rather than to the side. When i feed i hold the chick upright to stand and try to balance on both feet…..doesn't always work, but sometimes it has. Good Luck.

 

[Chickielady]

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THE DADS OUT THERE !

have a great day !

 

[Duck Drover]

Its hard to help and save one with this…..I have taped the foot open with blue painting tape, then pulled the legs under them as if sitting down, in a small container with kleenex so they cannot move around, wrapped it over with paper towel, tape so it will not come apart, then set it in the brooder box near the light & other chicks to stay warm. I pull it out every few hours and dip beak into enriched water and try to get grains of feed in, then repeat the package process….sometimes if early enough it encourages the legs to fall in place as they should rather than to the side. When i feed i hold the chick upright to stand and try to balance on both feet…..doesn't always work, but sometimes it has. Good Luck.

Because the toes are curled so tight and smaller than they should be, I did not try straightening them right away and it is probably too late now. I don't think it has any chance of surviving but I have not been able to kill it. We have to be in Seattle most of the day today so I suspect it will pass on before we get home.

I have had success repairing injuries but because this is a deformity I did not take aggressive measures other than to tape its legs in a bent position under it as much as possible with it keeping the club foot leg stretched straight even with the paper tape support. I also put it in a clear cup (the ones that come off the laundry detergent spout held upright by a plastic canning ring from a salsa bottle) but I did not put food and water in front of it because it is still in the hatching incubator while the rest of the chicks are in the brooder incubator (lower temperature with access to food and water) that I use for the first few days to make sure they are off to a good start before moving them to a brooder.

The rest of the chicks hatched at the same time are Silkies and I usually give them a week in the incubator brooder while the Orpingtons move out after their first few days because they are taller and grow so much faster. I can keep Silkies and Orpington chicks together but the Silkies are older and the Orpingtons are younger so they are about the same size. I do have two Orpington chicks hatched close to this one because they were also started in the nest and moved to the incubator when I took out all the undated eggs from the broody hens' nests but the other two chicks hatched out strong while this chick was weak from the beginning. I had ducklings hatching so they are out of the hatching incubator and more eggs due tomorrow have been added so the chick is isolated now. It had been peeping loudly but it is quiet now.

We in Seattle so I will check on it when we get home this evening. My husband will be home all day but there is nothing he can do for it. He already gets to check the chicks under hens several times while I am gone. In some ways it is easier to let the hens raise chicks and in other ways it is easier to raise them in a brooder. With ducklings getting two baths a day, they are the most work but they are also the sweetest and well worth the effort.

 

[NotSoSimple]

Got our big pen up, so now are flock is no longer free range and the cyotes and hawks no longer have an "all you can eat".
I will get some pictures when it stops pouring!

 

[AliceSaurus]

Question for buff orpington owners: This is my 11 week old "girl" going through her second juvenile molt and the tail feathers are making me think she may be a rooster. Her comb and wattles are a bit bigger and redder than the other's but not enough to be a giveaway. The hackles don't look pointy to me but I'm new at this. So do you all think "she" is just having a molt and will grow more tail feathers? Or are those very obviously sickle feathers? When she fanned out her tail earlier it looked more like a hen's does but I'm still confused. I will probably be guessing til I hear a crow or see an egg. Is it normal for roosters to make sort of regular sounds before trying to crow? Because I definitely heard and saw this one making noise the other day but it wasn't a crow at all. I haven't noticed any rooster behaviors, but that tail is crazy!

 

[starterfarm]

I'm in Granite Falls i have a pair of mallard mixes that i would like to get rid of...nothing wrong with them an the hen is laying every other day. I'm just going to be switching my flock is all. I'd like $20 for the pair. I'm in granite falls. Need a day advance notice for pickup since they are loose during day 1st picture is female.

 

[broodytood]

Question for buff orpington owners: This is my 11 week old "girl" going through her second juvenile molt and the tail feathers are making me think she may be a rooster. Her comb and wattles are a bit bigger and redder than the other's but not enough to be a giveaway. The hackles don't look pointy to me but I'm new at this. So do you all think "she" is just having a molt and will grow more tail feathers? Or are those very obviously sickle feathers? When she fanned out her tail earlier it looked more like a hen's does but I'm still confused. I will probably be guessing til I hear a crow or see an egg. Is it normal for roosters to make sort of regular sounds before trying to crow? Because I definitely heard and saw this one making noise the other day but it wasn't a crow at all. I haven't noticed any rooster behaviors, but that tail is crazy!

I have an Orp about that age with a comb 2-3 times as big. He, which was supposed to be a pullet, has longer legs of a heavier structure as well. Time will tell.

 

[Hinotori]

Question for buff orpington owners: This is my 11 week old "girl" going through her second juvenile molt and the tail feathers are making me think she may be a rooster. Her comb and wattles are a bit bigger and redder than the other's but not enough to be a giveaway. The hackles don't look pointy to me but I'm new at this. So do you all think "she" is just having a molt and will grow more tail feathers? Or are those very obviously sickle feathers? When she fanned out her tail earlier it looked more like a hen's does but I'm still confused. I will probably be guessing til I hear a crow or see an egg. Is it normal for roosters to make sort of regular sounds before trying to crow? Because I definitely heard and saw this one making noise the other day but it wasn't a crow at all. I haven't noticed any rooster behaviors, but that tail is crazy!

Nothing screams boy to me. One of my new hampshires had a couple longer tail feathers like that. She got new feathers in and looks the same as everyone else now.

 

[CarolynF]

I just found something on another thread that I thought I should share. It's a very detailed account of one person's battle with the Red Mites ChickieLady has warned us about recently. Here's a link to the post.

I'm not sure if his advice for protecting the hens before an infestation is valid, but his account of trying to get rid of them is well worth reading.

Forwarned is forearmed, right?

 

[LaurelC]

Oh man. I have a couple of small projects left on the duck pen, and I am getting ducklings on Thursday. I am totally pumped, but a little nervous. There are some 3-5 week old muscovies in Everett that I think i'm gonna get. I have a heating pad on order (this feels like a much safer option than a heat lamp) and I'll swing by Bothell Feed for some food. Do I need to use chick starter for creatures that old, or would I be OK feeding a standard adult food with some grit?

Any input on how old they should be before I offer them unsupervised access to a pond?