Should I help one chick hatch?

[tiffanyh]

The one I helped was like that also....I left it be and expected it not to survive the night--but it did and if is a week old now. Actually, I cant tell it from its siblings.

You did the right thing....you gave it a chance when it may not have due to the membranes drying off. Even if it needed a couple more days, the fact that it broke through and sat so long meant the membranes were slowly drying off and it may not have been able to break out later. I hope your little guy does well. Keep us updated.

 

[spudchild]

Thanks again Jaynie (and everyone else). He's starting to perk up a little bit now (and I'm pretty sure it's a he, I've gotten good at telling my Old English apart from birth). His toes are all curled, and I've left him in the incubator in the dark so he can sleep. I don't think he's out of the woods, but when I went down after dinner he was very very alert. I got worried earlier because he was oozing yolk...that stopped, pretty quickly, and like I said, he's alert, he just can't walk yet and he's not as fuzzy as he should be. But...hopefully his feet come around in the next 48 hours, and his feathers will grow in.

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

how's the baby today? any better?
best wishes

 

[spudchild]

My baby chick is starting to do really good. She (I was wrong on day one, the baby is a she) can walk as of this morning. She's very unsteady, but at least she is on her feet. I spent a lot of time with her over the weekend, and gave her a bath last night. She was all caked up from the egg, and was getting pasty butt. Now that she is all clean she is eating and drinking. I think we'll start to see some rapid growth and her getting stronger. Compared to the other chick that hatched the same time, she is about half the size.

My friend came over on Saturday night, and had a look at her (her dad is a vet, and she helped in out in the veterinary office when she was growing up). She said that we basically just have a premi, and that given special care she will likely catch up to the rest of them in a couple of weeks.

I'm still keeping her isolated. Until she is stronger I can't put her in with the others the same age. I've tried a couple of times and they run over to start pecking at her. I've named her Fergie.

 

[jimnjay]

How cute, Fergie is a great name. I hope she continues to improve. Its extra work but best to keep her isolated until she is able to fend for herself against the others.

 

[Poison Ivy]

Do you have any pictures of her?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Hang in there. The second little chick i had helped out looked like she was dying for at least the first 24 hours. She just laid there, all scrawny and barely moving. i felt so terrible! But over the course of the next day she slowly started to sit up, then move around a little. Now two weeks later, she (or he) is one of the biggest and prettiest chicks from this hatch. While there is life there is hope. It sounds like you're doing everything right. Colleen

 

[spudchild]

It's been a rough morning for me. Fergie died this morning. I think everything was just too much of a fight for her. She was so sweet for the 3 days we had her with us. I buried her under one of my peach trees right next to our creek this morning. It's always so hard to lose one.