Posted March 1, 200817 yr I was checking in on the little ones this afternoon when I noticed that one litte one had what seemed to be a crop full of air. here is a picture. Is there anything i can do? Is it likely to be a problem? Will it fix itself or does thsi little one have a life sentence? All help is appreciated!!!
March 1, 200817 yr Hi Dave, This is generally due to an inexperienced parent delivering the food in a wrong way. If you take the chick and hold it in an upright position and gently ...between thuimb and forefinger....slightly squeeze the crop ...the air will expell up through the beak area. Be careful not to force crop contents up with it as it can aspirate if you are too rough. Take it slow and careful. Some chicks have ongoing issues with it...if thats the case they may have a crop problem and its not the parent. If it settles over a day or two, its usually parent related/ Often times a parent may be feeding a mixture to the chick that is thicker than it should be causing air in the crop. Cheers Kaz Edited March 1, 200817 yr by KAZ
March 1, 200817 yr Author Seems to be successful. Milly is on her 3rd clutch, so i am not sure why this is occurring. I have given them new seed, and tomorrow i will give them some soft food. Maybe some egg and biscuit will help. How runny should the egg and biscuit mix be? i am assuming it should not be dry Edited March 1, 200817 yr by dmcminn
March 1, 200817 yr Hi Dave, What about the cock bird? Is he inexperienced? In any case, I wouldn't worry unless it keeps happening, they other chicks looked okay. Feathers.
March 1, 200817 yr How did it go with removing the air pocket??????? Seems to be successful. Feathers.
March 1, 200817 yr The chick is too young for the cock to feed it. It can also be caused by the chick being too impatient in getting fed. The egg and biscuit mix should be crumbly. You can soak some seed over night and drain it in the morning. Then add this to the egg and biscuit. It will stick to the seed and be carried to with it when the hen feeds herself.
March 1, 200817 yr Author The chick is too young for the cock to feed it. It can also be caused by the chick being too impatient in getting fed. The egg and biscuit mix should be crumbly. You can soak some seed over night and drain it in the morning. Then add this to the egg and biscuit. It will stick to the seed and be carried to with it when the hen feeds herself. Thanks Daz. I never knew how to do this.
March 1, 200817 yr I always make sure parents have soft food when they are feeding babies as it helps them to quickly feed babies. Some parents feed the tiny ones the wrong recipe and they get a little dehydrated too ( especially on OUR hot days right now ) ....but soft food helps the parents really
March 1, 200817 yr This is a bit off topic but I have a nest of 5 chicks that was not doing so well. The youngest was so under nourished that at 12 days he was still to small to ring. He eventually died. I sprayed the nest with F10sc in case there was a bateria problem. Didn't seem to help but with in a few days the chicks all seemed to pick up. The youngest is about 21 days old. I believe that it could be the hen not giving enough nourishment to the chicks and at this time the cock starts to take over the feeding and is giving what the chicks have missed out on.
March 1, 200817 yr Author What is F10sc? I soaked some seed like you suggested Daz, and put the egg and biscuit in there. Thsi morning, i picked all the babies up and examined them, I removed some air from 2 of the 3, and then when i checked them an hour later, they all had full crops. I was a little concerned that Dad is splitting seed, but not really digesting too much. there is a lot of husk, but I am not sure what he is actually eating. So anyway, with this soft food, hopefully all will be good. personally, I love Humphrey, but I am not sure he is the greatest feeder of his hen. Milly is such a committed mother, I am not sure she would move out and get food, as it would mean leaving the chicks. When I want to see the chicks, i have to push her to get her to leave, even then she is reluctant.
March 1, 200817 yr Dave, could you begin to put millet sprays in the nestbox to help Milly out ? I often do in large nests and also in nests where chicks are older and they need to pick. But also when there are hens that are alone or struggling due to the "deadbeat dads" .
March 2, 200817 yr Author okay, daily progress report. The little ones all have food in their cops, but they also have air. At least twice a day I am squeezing air out of their crops. I figure this will fix itself with time. I mean, at the moment, feeding is more of an instinctual thing, so when they can actually see what they are doing, they will be alright. It is not affecting their growth. Milly has some millet in there, humphrey has soft food mixed with seed. Should i leave a normal seed bell in there? They also have fresh corn on the cob. We will see how things go.
March 2, 200817 yr okay, daily progress report. The little ones all have food in their cops, but they also have air. At least twice a day I am squeezing air out of their crops. I figure this will fix itself with time. I mean, at the moment, feeding is more of an instinctual thing, so when they can actually see what they are doing, they will be alright. It is not affecting their growth. Milly has some millet in there, humphrey has soft food mixed with seed. Should i leave a normal seed bell in there? They also have fresh corn on the cob. We will see how things go. I wouldnt use the seed bell Dave
March 2, 200817 yr Author okay, thank you, no seed bell every morning, new egg and biscuit then, with some seed mixed in
March 2, 200817 yr Don't forget with the wet food mix you're giving them also give them greens as often as possible and normal seed and water supply
March 2, 200817 yr okay, thank you, no seed bell every morning, new egg and biscuit then, with some seed mixed in You do give them seed in a dish dont you Dave ? Cos when you said about the seed bell, I got the impression that how your birds eat their seed. Seed bells depending on the type are glued together with either glues or honey and sugar. Neither are truly good for a budgie, so as little as possible with seed bells
March 3, 200817 yr Author Yes, the get both the little one did not make it died some time today when i came home, it was dead, and had shriveled up a bit, so may have died overnight Milly was sitting on it, but there was no coming back. body had changed colour and all. Looking at its crop, it did look like it had some form of impairment in its crop, maybe a soft wall, or a hole that let air in. Is that possible?
March 3, 200817 yr Author I have abandoned what I thought was right and have returned to tested and confirmed methods. Veges are back on the menu, and the birds, and I am loving it.
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