One of the chicks has pasty butt…and she isn’t doing well 😫
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Epiphany (epiphany@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Monday, 05-Jun-2023 22:50:22 JST Epiphany - Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks likes this.
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Monday, 05-Jun-2023 22:51:33 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany Girl was just telling me about how picky they are w/ temp control even in the summer heat. Had one that was really touch and go this week until she left the lamp on, it did better at 108-117º on the hot end of the pen more than it did with a high of 103º
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Epiphany (epiphany@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 01:54:19 JST Epiphany I’m praying she doesn’t die… but she is all wobbly and the other chick it bullying her. I’m not even sure how to nurse her back at this point
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 01:54:19 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany How old? Is she shaking?
Chicks DO have a mortality rate, lots of things can go wrong when developing in the egg - that’s why momma lays fifteen at a time.
My lady has spent many nights carefully feeding a wonky poult with a syringe full of raw egg yolk. When we have more than a couple hatch at the same time, she hardboils them and minces up the egg to feed them, probably the best intervention to date.
Also coraid, apple cider vinegar if you have the watering systems running for a long time. Easy for their poop/water to start breeding nasty stuff.
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:00:28 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany It does bother me that my gf never keeps adequate records to track what’s effective or not, she’s mostly just in it to coo and coddle little baby birds, usually sells off the juvies/adults to people looking for chickens anyways.
I know one guy who did his, and of all the shipped eggs/chicks he got he said something like 40% regularly died, probably from temp shock along the way. We hatch ours in-house, but I suspect the summer heat and vitamin deficiencies are our major problems right now. I try to feed the birds off our leftovers in addition to their 16% layer feed but a bunch of the hcicks just come out gimpy and ataxic lately. I try to be kinda hands-off though, it’s her thing more than mine
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Epiphany (epiphany@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:10:33 JST Epiphany These hatched in the nest but one hatched a week and half before these two, so mom left these to take care of the one that was moving. If I can keep these two healthy, I’m going to put them back with mom in a couple days
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:10:33 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany Be careful with that, if she hasn’t been with chicks all along then she might just rip them apart when she sees them after a week. Right now we had almost a dozen hatchlings, we left 2 w/ mama so she can hopefuly stay in the zone while the rest (possibly being a more valuable breed) are inside the brooder where they’re safe from cats outside
Once you get them to almost a week, things should go pretty easy. I’ve only seen juveniles die when things are overcrowded, and the breed is particularly wild - they almost cook from all the flighty activity and stampede the weak.
If you have a temp thermometer, plop it in your box and watch it throughout the day. CHicks are super picky about thermoregulation, that’s why their mom is so effective at managing them.
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:11:46 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany I’d bet it’s heat more than anything. If she’s eating and drinking she needs to be warm, like, 99 to 105º warm. If she looks sleepy or shivery she’s freezing to death. Holding them seems to chill them more than warm them up, we just don’t have the body heat for chicks like their mom does
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Epiphany (epiphany@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:11:47 JST Epiphany Only a few days…I’ve never dealt with peeps this young. I’ve spent all morning holding her and getting her to drink water…I will add eggs to their diet
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Epiphany (epiphany@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:24:04 JST Epiphany I’ve got a light on them, it’s really warm in the middle like 110… they hang on the edge of the light… so I may have it to warm. I’m sure 90% of the problem is me not being more into them. I’m not an overly affectionate with animals, I kinda let them do their thing… I’m seeing now that I needed to be a little bit more involved. The super healthy one I checked and she had plugged butt starting… didn’t know I was suppose to be wiping their butts 😫
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:24:04 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany Pasty butt is usually a feed issue, tends to happen when we give them the adult food instead of the chick crumble. Get some warm water, let it soak a bit, and then crush it up.
Maybe it’s just our collection of show/wild birds, but they seem to do worse w/ more human attention. They get really stressed out w/ human contact, unless you got something like a barred rock, silky, or buff you might just be freaking them out a lot.
It’s too hot if they’re hanging out on the periphery far away from the light, if they’re close to it then they’re nice & happy. That’s one of the few things they figure out reliably.
I’m not sure if she has pasty tricks, I usually get it a little wet then crush up the plug with some pliers to make the water soak in and clean it more. You can trim some of the feathers away if you’re very careful, IDK if it does anything harmful but I’ve done it for the ones she keeps having me clean sometimes.
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Epiphany (epiphany@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:33:09 JST Epiphany Talking to you is making me feel better… thank you 💕
Think I need to make a few changes to fix/ make things better for them. I really wish I could put them back with momma… she would be better at taking care of them than me… but until they are hopping it’s no use even trying, and even then 😬
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Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks (washedoutgundampilot@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 02:34:51 JST Woggy's Zeonic Frolicks @Epiphany My fave now is having a little pen big enough to contain mom and the chicks, just to keep them segregated and contained. I have some indoors and outdoors, just tired of doing the inside ones because I’m the chump having to clean out the trays. She can’t slide them out w/o dumping poop all over the floor.
If they’re a few days old, you’re probably out of the woods by and large, unless there’s some illness in there - that’s usually why the apple cider vinegar helps, or the more expensive coraid crap