The youngest of miss purple (my mauve's) babies, is not growing at all .... its bigger than a newborn, but not by a lot (picture below)

 

i have checked every day, and it has always had a full crop, or if the crop has been empty, on later checking its been full ... until today, when i brought it inside becoz its siblings are so much bigger and i didn't think miss purple is finding it as often as she should

 

so i have had it on a warm pad, and have fed it some farex and boiled, cooled & warmed up water, and its crop is filling (as seen in the photo)

 

i guess, my question is, this baby is 12 days old today, and does NOT look it (obviously) ... am i fighting a losing battle anyway? what more can i do?

 

My personal opinion is that it’s probably a lost cause; even without knowing it’s age something looks drastically wrong with it. The fact that it’s nest mates have progressed so much more than it, would suggest that & even with help, even if it survived, after such a setback, I don’t think it would ever be normal. If you feel better trying to help it, by all means do, but I don’t think it would get over such a set back at this stage. Sorry. Also as you suggest, it doesn’t seem to be for lack of food, so must be something deeper wrong.

thanks norm (yes i have been sitting here refreshing waiting for a reply!)

 

i am sure it is a lost cause ... but it still cheeps for food and wriggles, and i dont know how i can just leave it ...

 

is it less cruel to try to help it, to leave nature run its course, or to help nature along in what seems to be an inevitable?

Hard choice to make and only yours to make. This chick obviously has no future. We have all been through times where we would do ANYTHING to save a chick. After time and experience we learn some cannot be saved or have a fruitful life..... and are better off "not of this world".

Being as any advice for you to dispatch this chick to the "Rainbow bridge" so to speak would meet with a possible uproar in opinion, my words will remain unspoken. Best of luck in any decision you make. :angel1:

It looks to me as if the beak is growing, but the rest of the body isn't? If thats the case I'd say its probably got some sort of genetic disease or mutation, probably not just underdeveloped... You could always take it to an avain vet and see what they say, but chances are there will be little they can do and will probably recommend putting the little one to sleep. Its your choice though, it might pull through you never know...

-Shann

I think you should give it a chance. Just keep feeding it and if it is going to die, at least it will die warm and with food in its belly.

 

I could have a form of dwarfism. In that case it would lead a perfectly normal life, but just be smaller. You don't know, that is why I suggest you just keep feeding it and keeping it warm for as long as it needs to.

I know you will do what you feel is best.

Hi there. At 12 days old it should be covered in fluff and have pin feathers on the wings and tail. I have had a couple in the same situation where they failed to grow and reach normal milestones. I had 2 in a nest earlier this week where the hen had stopped feeding the chicks, even though they were begging for food. The hen was, however, feeding her other chick to bursting point.

 

I had given the empty chicks a couple of hand feeds and when the hen still didn't take over feeding I tried fostering them to another nest. Everything was great the first couple of days, then foster hen was feeding them to overflowing, but yesterday they had near empty crops. Again the other 2 chicks in the nest were being fed to bursting point. I hand fed them again but found both dead this morning.

 

I think the hens must know that they are not viable chicks and stop feeding them on purpose as both the actual mother and foster mother gave up on them.

 

By all means see if the chick can be saved, but be prepared for it not to make it. This is a picture of a normal 12 day old chick.

 

 

 

Feathers.

Edited June 30, 200717 yr by feathers

i hope it survives. good luck.

Personally I don’t believe in keeping something alive that has something so obviously wrong with it, if hand feeding would keep it alive, which I doubt, there’s the chance that later on, someone may use it for breeding, which would cause even more problems. I feel the best thing, if you don’t feel like “putting it out of its misery” is just to return it to, the normal situation with its parents & just let nature take it’s coarse. Like Kaz said, if someone would suggest sending it to "Rainbow bridge" haven’t heard that expression before…. there would be an uproar…to me what is the kindest position, to let something suffer, prolonged agony or bring on the inevitable. Don’t feel guilty whatever your decision is.

If you decide to keep hand rearing it, and IF it survives, it might make a good pet. But it should not be used for breeding if it needs that much intervention to survive.

 

On the other hand if you have a foster available with chicks of a similar size put it back with them. Otherwise Norm's suggestion of returning it to it's own nest and letting nature take it's course seems reasonable.

 

It doesn't look well, time may solve the problem for you.

 

Good luck,

KathyW.

It reminds me of the two chicks I lost. they were much younger... They died at 4 days old. Mine looked fed very well, but never grew! When they died they still looked as if they were just born.

 

In my opinion, it is sick. :\ If it isn't growing it's doomed already.

thank you all. the baby passed on sunday arvo, at least with a belly full of food.

 

this is a picture of its siblings taken the same day, they are only 2 & 3 days older, there was defiitely somethin wrong with the little guy

 

Nothing else you could have done AINS, that’s natures way, not all survive, it’s wisdom beyond ours…good luck with the rest.