Hi all, sorry for another topic.

I had 2 healthy ( apart from splayed legs on one) chicks and another hatched. That one had died for unknown reasons (was fed). Today i found another chick has hatched. It hasn't been fed yet, but the hen normally feeds them within 4 hours. The problem is, the hen isn't staying in the nest anywhere near as much. She pops in every now and then to feed, but then comes straight out. I am worried about the little one after loosing one yesterday. Should i remove chick from nest and try to raise myself? ( i have set up homemade brooder and hand rearing formula) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jaff

Edited November 11, 201311 yr by Jaffa

Hi Jaff,

I think I would leave chick for a while, see if it is fed, check to see if it's active etc they nearly always are up on their legs burrowing in under other chicks first day. The hen will feed active chicks, calling for food, if it's listless and not getting around MAYBE I'd suggest a small feed of hand rearing formula within a few hours , to kick start it, then see if Mum feeds it before removing it altogether.

Thanks for the reply.

Mum has decided to go back in, she hasn't come out for awhile which is a good sign. Will keep a close eye on them. When i looked in earlier today, the baby wasn't moving much :/

Thanks again for the advice,

Jaff

Just checked now and baby is unfortunately dead

Sorry Jaff that you have lost 2nd chick, is this a first time pair? If they hatched first 2 with no drama's it may not be the parents, maybe there is an unknown bug at work. Do you have any more eggs to hatch? It could be several things.

This is there second clutch but no chicks survived the first

There is another egg in there but not sure if it is fertile or not.

Should i be worried about the older two?

Regards,

Jaff

If the two older ones are being fed properly, active etc they should be okay. how old are they now? make sure parents have a good diet seed/veg etc for feeding chicks.

 

What happened with first clutch? Infertile eggs, dead chicks or d.i.s.? If chicks hatch it's not a fertility problem, could be a weakness in either parent causing chicks deaths.Genetic maybe, have either of them bred chicks with other partners do you know?

 

There are also things like yellow belly that chicks die with but I'm not exactly sure what it is as I haven't been unlucky enough to have this yet, (touch wood). Other than dead chicks seem to have a very yellow abdomen, whether it's a bug before hatching or in nest after I don't know. More reading needed to find out. It's very hard to pinpoint.

Hi Robyn, thanks for the reply.

I got them from pet stores so have no idea if they bread before i bread them.

The first clutch, 2 hatched but both died at about 2 days old and none of the other eggs hatched.

The older 2 from this clutch are being fed and looked after wonderfully, they are 17 and 15 days old now.

I think the first clutch babies may have died from yellow belly as their belly's looked yellow, but am not 100% sure.

Parents are on a good seed diet and have regular vegies daily.

Regards,

Jaff

Hi Jaff,

Well things sound a bit positive, if your first 2 are that old they should be o.k. I'd say your last egg is a dud or even d.i.s if it hasn't hatched by now.

Why chicks die is anyone's guess, there are so many things it COULD be it's hard to say what it is. As you get a bit more experience with breeding you can pick up signs of things that aren't quite right so you have time to try and save them.

 

How have you managed with the splay legs? You only get a week or so to try to fix that problem before their legs are too far gone to repair?

Hi Robyn,

2 older ones are going well. I don't think they have splayed legs after all.

I got them out and had them on a towel and they seemed to walk fine ( apart from the stray nail getting stuck )

They were able to grip onto my finger as they would a perch, and were able to move around and sit with their legs under them.

It was either a false alarm, or putting the wood shavings in again helped?

Thanks for all of the help in all of this, will leave the last egg in until its past its max hatch date just to be sure.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Jaff

Great news, don't forget to add a picture or two as the chicks feather up. If chicks legs are sitting in correct position they will be okay.