raising the dumbest poult?

[tielie135]

i swear to god this thing is going to be the death of me, got a pair heritage ridley bronze poults and i brought them home, the younger one ( about 12 hours old) took a second and figured out what to eat. the other one (about 1 or 2 days old) started eating wood shavings, after awhile of trying to get it to eat it just ate shavings so i put down a paper instead and put crumble on the ground and tried to get her to eat. she SPECIFICALLY looked for the random few shavings that just so happened to fall in. its not just this with her either, she goes directly under the heat lamp and lays there until she is panting and doesnt move, she can walk just fine but no, tries to make herself into a roast. i have a few hour old chick in with them that figured all this out faster, the other one has a brain too. any other dumb chick hacks i can do so it hopefully brains in? thanks and wish me luck with this one.

 

[Coops Dad]

Nope, sorry; I put my newly hatched poults in with whatever chicks we've got to avoid situations like that. It's usually the store bought poults that have been with nothing but other poults that make me wonder how the species survives. Our own hatchlings, put into a brooder with chicks, are the ones that seem to pick up life skills quickly enough to not die.

 

[tielie135]

Nope, sorry; I put my newly hatched poults in with whatever chicks we've got to avoid situations like that. It's usually the store bought poults that have been with nothing but other poults that make me wonder how the species survives. Our own hatchlings, put into a brooder with chicks, are the ones that seem to pick up life skills quickly enough to not die.

okay, i just put the chicken chick in and it tought the other one to eat but maybe it will teach this one too. HOW DO THEY SURVIVE IN THE WILD!!! i sat there forever trying every trick i know trying to teach it to be a bird and eat. i swear she will be the death of me lol

 

[Smokerbill]

One of my chicks seemed to go for the small pieces of wood shavings. I think that was the one that had pasty butt a few times. It didn't seem to thrive at first, but finally got the hang of eating the starter crumbles. Probably a good idea to offer chick grit, which might help digest the shavings.

 

[tielie135]

One of my chicks seemed to go for the small pieces of wood shavings. I think that was the one that had pasty butt a few times. It didn't seem to thrive at first, but finally got the hang of eating the starter crumbles. Probably a good idea to offer chick grit, which might help digest the shavings.

i hope she figures it out, i put some grit in there n the ground with the crumble, going to toss another chick in there when its dry.

 

[BastyPutt]

I always thought poults were least intelligent animal in the kingdom..... then I brought home some Guinea keets and poults became the second least intelligent in the kingdom

 

[tielie135]

I always thought poults were least intelligent animal in the kingdom..... then I brought home some Guinea keets and poults became the second least intelligent in the kingdom

really? guineas are that bad!? never had them so id never know but that is insane.

 

[BastyPutt]

really? guineas are that bad!? never had them so id never know but that is insane.

So in terms of them being deadly good at eating bugs and weeds, and literally leaving anything else alone - honeybees, veggie plants, etc - they are incredible. 5 Hens and a Cock have completely decimated any fly issue we had on our large property. They are irreplaceable in that regard.

However, when it comes to basic living - they dont get worse. We have a feeding station, that is a 4x4 in the ground an then 5 gallon buckets that hang from arms and it sits in the middle of a 3 acre pasture. One time, everyone was minding their own business, when one of the (chicken) roosters crowed as usual.

For whatever reason this startled one the perfectly healthy guinea hens, who had around 20 keets in tow. She ran 20 feet, headlong into the pole, killing herself. It was so shocking that it was almost impossible to feel sad. I thought she had just knocked herself out, but nope - dead instantly. After chasing after her initially, the keets stood there for a second, turned and ran to the nearest guinea and started following her like nothing happened.

They are also terrible parents on that note. That happened to be our first free hatch of keets, there were 47 that hatched (the lay communal nests and one hen will sit on the eggs). When it was all said and done, there were only 13 left from the original 47, and we have little to no predators here at all. We take "orders" now from friends and family who want the keets after a hatch, and will pull and brood however many that is, and for the remainder we just let nature take its course out here.

Anyway, overshare, but you have to love the keets!

 

[chx]

What is your brooder? Could you perhaps section off a part of it and put the "dumb" chick in that area, temporarily, with NO wood shavings? Basically just feed and water. Kinda doesn't leave the chick any options at that point.

If she refuses to eat then... so be it.

 

[tielie135]

she is good, ended up eating the next day and has been good since, still tries to eat EVERYTHING but at least now its only able to eat what i want it too.