MAY 2016 "Land of the Free Because of the brave!" Hatch-a-Long Hosted by, Mike & Sally

[chickendreams24]

Just went and checked on the little wry neck chick(DH2B checked on her maybe ten minutes ago) and found her wrpped in her paper towel with food out of her mouth somehow she aspirated. But chickens can't vomit and no one touched her. The paper towel wasn't so tight as to keep her from moving and there was nothing she could have pushed against her crop to make her expel food. I have no answers but a broken heart. She was improving nicely and passed with her head in the proper position just like she spent most of the day. Poor little one. I wish I had been there for you when you went. Still I'm grateful for the peace you've now found and I'm grateful that most of your last day wasn't spent writhing, that we could look at each other and that you talked to me today for the first time with happy contented chirps. I'll try to hold onto that and maybe you knew how much I love you and how hard I tried. God bless little one and rest well.

 

[Blooie]

I'm so sorry.

 

[chickendreams24]

Hey all sorry I've been gone so long been a crazy busy week and a half and it still is crazy. That being said there's been some good and some bad. You all know a week ago Monday or Tuesday our flock master was killed by a ground predator. Wednesday DH2B took pity on me and took me to the feed store to get chicks- I got 2 salmon faverolles pullets, an EE pullet, a cinnamon queen pullet-his pick-, a light Brahma pullet and a cuckoo Marans pullet. That night it became apparent that one of the salmon faverolles wasn't quite right and I began to suspect she was developing wry neck. Friday at noon despite having begun treatment she died. We found her under the heat lamp in spasms and she passed before we could out her out of her misery. Like I said she was never quite right an only about half the size of the other one we got at the same time.

My favorite EE, Pebbles and she's one of my special birds came up on the porch and leaned against me and talked in soothing peaceful tones while I cried, waiting for DH2B to grab something to wrap the baby in. Pebbles stayed with me until I stopped crying meaning against me and talking the whole time. To understand my distress you'd have to know that I waited over a year for a chance at my salmon faverolles only to find in March that the hatchery shorted them chicks and one breed was faverolles. That got them in May and then I lost one of my two.

That evening we called the feed store hoping to replace the little faverolle that died. Well of course we came home with another 5 chicks instead of one or two. We decided we can always sell the ones we decide not to keep. We got two faverolles this time, a golden comet to compare to the cinnamon Queen-dh2bs choice, a Delaware and what was supposed to be another light Brahma, but lacks feet feathering and I think is another Delaware.

We got home and put the babies in the brooder and went to get the flock in. After getting them in we went to do our head count...

A SLW hen and one of the broody buff Orpington's chicks were missing. Not a trace. It was before dark but starting to darken more as we got them in and counted. We got flashlights and started searching hoping to find them or even one of them. Even a sign. We found nothing, no sign of them at all. But in the middle of the yard was a huge area covered in feathers... Isa Brown feathers but all of our Isa browns were accounted for... Then it hit me but one was in the nest box which she never sleeps in! I ran in and looked over my favorite Isa brown, Lily, as best as I could and sure enough though her shoulder feathers covered it her back was mostly bare not so much as a pin feather left. I had dismissed her bad "hair" day earlier as just being from the rain. It was dark in the coop and the rain kept making the breaker trip if I tried to run more than the brooder heat light on the other side.

The next day I looked Lily over again and discovered some minor bruising and some torn scales on the back of her right leg just below the knee also most of her whole right side and thigh were bare just like her back! What had taken two of my birds and plucked a third?! I have no idea how Lily escaped the same fate as the other two. I have no idea why an animal would pluck one and not all of them in the yard. I searched and searched. Not being the same MO as Twitch and not seeing any eye shine(again it wasn't dark yet) and seeing no sign of the animal that may have take Twitch I searched the field for tracks as it was muddy. I decided it must have been an airborne predator. Just my luck! Two predators in one week is anyone truly so unlucky?

Saturday we had a wedding so their free range time was cut short and Sunday I spent all day outside with the flock. All day long watching the birds. I hung grocery bags around the yard with pieces of foil attached as deterrents, and then I got to try them out...

A huge bird of prey flew from the south up over the driveway headed north maybe 20 feet in the air the thing was huge! I would guess a 7-10 foot wingspan! I think that thing would have flown off with me! With nothing else to do and my flock panicking all over the yard, my sheltie and I chased the thing to the edge of the field screaming and barking(her barking). While our Great Dane barked from where she was tied as she has not been obeying lately. A good thing she was tied or she might not have stopped chasing the bird until they got to Canada.

It was larger than a red tailed hawk so I'm guessing it was either an immature bald eagle or my real guess, although I didn't get a good enough look to be sure, a golden eagle. I swear that thing could have picked me up! After that I couldn't make myself go in and leave the flock out alone. It didn't come back but I stayed out there until DH2B got home and we put the girls away.

All the while we had eggs in the bator still in lockdown, eggs that were set on April 19th, 21st, and 23rd. DH2B discovered that somehow and for some unknown reason the fan in our incubator had almost completely quit working and we no believe that is why our last two-three or just one single staggered hatch have all failed. We have had some eggs that I opened believing them to be dead not seeing movement of veins when candling and after opening the air cell I find a living chick not heat ready to hatch with clearly visible veins. Could the excess fluid be hiding the veins and movement tricking me? After being wrong multiple times(including the hatch before these(the first stagger) I finally gave up but Monday we were ready to call it quits thinking they would all be dead when I grabbed an egg and it was pipped!

Long story short that chick needed to be assisted but another one was internally pipped and although I did open the air cell a small hole BC there was no cheaping(I found a gasping chickie) it hatched on its own at four the next afternoon.

Then Monday or Tuesday night another egg pipped, a silkie egg, and after making the air hole hatched almost all by itself until it got glued to the membrane I helped it but left it in the other half of the egg after unsticking it not wanting it to hatch before it was ready. A couple hours later I had a screaming chick with part of its shell stuck to its butt as it tried to run around. It doesn't appear to be a pure silkie not sure if it's half oegb or if it could be half slw.

The really important thing is the first little pipped egg I left it overnight and found it stuck in the morning. So I started a slow assist by mid-day it was almost ready but I left it in half its shell knowing it's navel wasn't closed. My Mom came over and wanted to see the new baby. I told her it needed to rest but she insisted it wouldn't bother it. Well when she woke it up it started to struggle and herniated its have pretty badly. It seems to be doing okay with that but that might it developed wry neck and we've been fighting that ever since. Poor baby was really badly off yesterday today it seemed a little better. If I'm not mistaken that chick is a SLW/50% English black Orpington and is just adorable. Ugh so far these chicks from our mess of a broken fan but three is better than the non I got last time when if one is bad off. On too of that we have 1 more egg working at it that is glued in and will need to be assisted. Humidity has been about 62% so I don't understand them being glued in.

DH2B Macgyver-ed in an extra computer fan and the incubator has been doing a million times better since then. We are also acquiring and getting ready to build a Sally Sunshine coolerbator!

We are hoping to set all the eggs until they're no longer fertil from Twitch right now we have something like 12 dozen but some will probably not be set due to age and having been refridgerated.

I also heard back from the teacher we gave eggs to and they hatched 14/18 eggs I gave her! Yay!! Tomorrow the babies come home!

Sorry about the book lol

Just went and checked on the little wry neck chick(DH2B checked on her maybe ten minutes ago) and found her wrpped in her paper towel with food out of her mouth somehow she aspirated. But chickens can't vomit and no one touched her. The paper towel wasn't so tight as to keep her from moving and there was nothing she could have pushed against her crop to make her expel food. I have no answers but a broken heart. She was improving nicely and passed with her head in the proper position just like she spent most of the day. Poor little one. I wish I had been there for you when you went. Still I'm grateful for the peace you've now found and I'm grateful that most of your last day wasn't spent writhing, that we could look at each other and that you talked to me today for the first time with happy contented chirps. I'll try to hold onto that and maybe you knew how much I love you and how hard I tried. God bless little one and rest well.

Oh my!

I'm so sorry.

Thank you both very much it means a lot to have such wonderful understanding friends here.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Just went and checked on the little wry neck chick(DH2B checked on her maybe ten minutes ago) and found her wrpped in her paper towel with food out of her mouth somehow she aspirated. But chickens can't vomit and no one touched her. The paper towel wasn't so tight as to keep her from moving and there was nothing she could have pushed against her crop to make her expel food. I have no answers but a broken heart. She was improving nicely and passed with her head in the proper position just like she spent most of the day. Poor little one. I wish I had been there for you when you went. Still I'm grateful for the peace you've now found and I'm grateful that most of your last day wasn't spent writhing, that we could look at each other and that you talked to me today for the first time with happy contented chirps. I'll try to hold onto that and maybe you knew how much I love you and how hard I tried. God bless little one and rest well.

so sorry for your loss.

 

[generaldsherman]

Got a total of 3 babies out. Had a temperature spike today, hot day caused house to warm up. No signs of the other 5 eggs hatching so far, might've been baked from the heat wave . On the bright side, I have a lovely trio of ameraucanas- one each blue, black, and splash

 

[sasafras4u2]

Well i think my sizzles have turned out 2 frizzled and 2 smooth they are so stinking cute. 2 have top knots but 2 do not and one is way smaller than the others also.

Darker one is frizzled.

Lighter one is smooth feathered.
And here are the two others black one is frizzled

The tiny partarige colored one is kind of hiding!

And these are the only 3 eggs left for lock down so of 22 eggs that went in hopefully i will get 3 on sunday or monday!

 

[Cynthia12]

Got a total of 3 babies out. Had a temperature spike today, hot day caused house to warm up. No signs of the other 5 eggs hatching so far, might've been baked from the heat wave

. On the bright side, I have a lovely trio of ameraucanas- one each blue, black, and splash

Crossing fingers you get more. Nice that you got three colors! How did you luck out?

The room that I have my eggs in get a bit warmer by afternoon too. I check on the temp a few times a day, it is only changing a degree difference. Hope they are ok..just a week in now.

 

[Cynthia12]

You need one more hug!

 

[kmarvin]

 Congratulations on your first hatch!   What are these little cuties?

One is an australourp and the other two are australorp rooster over Wellsummer hen.

 

[Gwynny7]

I know I am late to the party but I wanted to share good news!!! My guineas are starting to get really upset about their eggs in their nest meaning they are going to go broody soon!! So excited! So far there are 30 eggs which were laid from May 13 through May 19! I'm hoping one of the five guinea hens will go broody and start sitting on the eggs!!