Hi There,

 

The hen from one of my breeding pairs is on her second living clutch of 5 chicks for the season. I hadn't planned to let her have another clutch this year as she also had a clutch of 3 chicks in late winter that died within the first week from a -4 degree night.

 

She laid the eggs for her current clutch before her other chicks had fledged. Her last 5 chicks were kept immaculately clean. She worked constantly at taking out any waste from the nest and preening her chicks.

 

This new clutch (aged 1-2 weeks) however, is filthy! They are covered in poop. She hates having bedding so I have to go and clean poop off the chicks ever day or so. It gets caked on their feet, on their beaks and around their legs and tummy. Today I had to catch her as it was caked on her beak too.

 

The chicks are thriving and are fed well. They are just dirty and she is looking tired. She is loosing her condition and her brown beak is getting white. Her partner is wonderful and works hard at feeding her and the chicks.

 

Should I intervene and possibly hand rear the babies (something I haven't done before) or should I let nature take its course and hope all goes well. Should I continue to take the poop off the babies as I don't want to cause unnecessary stress to a tired family if it's the wrong thing to do…

 

Oh, and I have also added a mineral block to their diet as I wanted to help maintain the hens condition. I hadnt added a block before now because they have vitiman inriched seed already - could the block cause runny poop and be the cause of the problem???

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Liv

Edited November 25, 200717 yr by **Liv**

I would let her & her partner raise the chicks but my experience is not to let them raise more than 3 clutches in a row. 2 is prefferable, esp for a hen.

I always try to have nesting material in the nest to help keep it dry. But in my experience if all is well the droppings should dry in small pellets & not dirty the babies much, so something might be out of balance or some other problem if things are too messy. I would agree to let the parents raise them. I would keep up keeping the babies clean, as too much caked dropping can cause many problems.

Many hens cere turn white while they are breeding in it's self that isn't a problem.

Edited November 25, 200717 yr by Norm

Thanks Guys,

 

It's comforting to know she will be okay on her own. She is a very good mum

 

I have noticed that her chicks poops are different this time. Her previous chicks had poops that turned into dry whiteish pellets and never stuck to the bubs feet etc. This time the poop is dark brown/black and takes a long time to dry. The only thing that is new in the diet is the mineral block that contains calcium and vit A etc... could this cause the yucky poops???

 

She wont keep any bedding in the nest. Since her clutch died in late winter I have tryed to encorrage bedding but everything I put in gets chucked out. Any sergestions for fussy hens??

 

I want her to rest after this clutch. What do I do about any further eggs she may lay this season?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Liv

What is called a "wet nest" in show breeding terms is something to be concerned about. It is a sign that all is not well in there. I think you should put nesting material in there anyway, Also put the birds onto a plain diet for the time being...no extras or the mineral block, just in case.

OMG!! I hope there is nothing wrong with my little ones!! is "wet nest" caused by anything contagious? should I quarantine??

 

I have been putting shredded paper in the box each day, and any that is left the following day (most gets removed by the hen) gets cleaned out and replaced. It's looking a lot better today than yesterday.

 

 

liv

Its a sign of enteritis (tummy bug ) mainly due to warmer weather breeding and can be helped by the addition of some pure raspberry cordial in the parents drinking water. The raspberry cordial must be 10 to 20 % pure ( not the cheap red cordial for kids..... ) and at a rate of 20 mls to a litre of water. See how you go.

In regards to preventing her from going on to a third clutch. I would remove the mother when the babies are just getting their body feathers in. Let her have a rest and hopefully the father should kick in and realise he has a bigger job to do . You could also remove the cock at this time instead, but because the hen sounds like she is a little tired, I would remove her instead and give her a much needed vacation. Just check on the babies to make sure that dad has realised that he is the sole provider.

With enteritis, make sure the mother is getting lots of fluids as the babies will lose more fluid through their wetter droppings. perhaps some more wet foods like carrot and dark leafy greens (not spinach or anything from brassicae family as these have oxalates in them which bind to calcium and prevent it from being absorbed. Hypocalcaemia is not something that you really want to be dealing with right now as well as enteritis (in adult birds spinach every now and then is fine, just large quantities constantly, is not))

Edited November 27, 200717 yr by Sailorwolf

Thanks for your info I will separate my pair. The chicks are between 1-2 weeks. Do you think another week with the hen will be okay?

 

The cock already does about 70% of the work. He collects all the food, then feeds it to the hen, who feeds it to the chicks. Two times recycled food :fear moments like these I am happy I'm not a bird (Laughing out loud) :(Laughing out loud):

 

It's really interesting about spinach. My birds love it and its good to know that giving it to them as a treat only, is the right thing to do.

 

My birds love broccoli and corn on the cob. Are these two foods okay? I didn't realise I could give them carrots, I'll pop a juicy carrot in there in a moment.

 

 

Its a sign of enteritis (tummy bug ) .... can be helped by the addition of some pure raspberry cordial in the parents drinking water....

 

My birds are in a colony, is it okay for the others to have the cordial water too??

Edited November 27, 200717 yr by **Liv**

Here is a picture of the babies. They are looking very hot - it's 34 here today.

 

I think they are all better :fear .

Edited August 15, 200816 yr by **Liv**

Aww what sweeties. Yup brocoli is great stuff. I don't feed corn on the cob, but others here do. Raspberry cordial is a health benefit for all

Your nest looks very good there.

Edited November 28, 200717 yr by Sailorwolf

your babies look great :budgiedance: