Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

So sad...

one of the chicks died . Peeping alot then stopped today. Even worse it was a beautiful partridge . I doubt I'll get another partridge. The lady rarely gets them from hers

It is so heartbreaking to lose chicks. Sometimes it's the 'bator's fault, other times the chick isn't quite right. You just never know with hatchlings. One thing for sure, Nature helps the healthy ones get to adulthood. I've lost chicks and juveniles alike where their siblings did just fine. I don't trust incubators but that's just me - I've heard too many problems with calibrations and sometimes manufacturer defects unknown to the customers - I read about one customer who found out from testing with their own thermometer that the 'bator temp was defective and had to jump through hoops to get the manufacturer to honor their warranty.

One thing about a broody hen - you can't blame a manufacturer and if a chick doesn't make it under a broody, then the chick wasn't quite right to begin with. Still heartbreaking to lose the little sweeties. Guess that's why hens lay so many eggs to make up for the ones that don't make it.

Don't be disheartened. Losing chicks is all part of the process of hatching and makes the successes that much more joyful!

 

[EZFarms]

Well i got my chicks yesterday morning and between then and now ive lost a dominique chick and a blk silkie chick and theres twp doms on their way out and i think a white silkie. what am i doing wrong

 

[flocknfoal]

Well i got my chicks yesterday morning and between then and now ive lost a dominique chick and a blk silkie chick and theres twp doms on their way out and i think a white silkie. what am i doing wrong

How many chicks did you get? What is your set-up like? Do they seem sick, weak, etc.? I had some shipped a while back and out of 30 chicks I lost 12. That was rough. But the rest did great.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well i got my chicks yesterday morning and between then and now ive lost a dominique chick and a blk silkie chick and theres twp doms on their way out and i think a white silkie. what am i doing wrong

Gosh it could be a whole list of reasons: The 'bator is off-calibration or manufacturers defect, the eggs got handled or shook too much in shipping, the humidity was off, etc etc etc. Could be anything. I feel for your loss as I lost a sweet Dom pullet chick last year to a violent seizure all of a sudden at 19 days old. We bought her seemingly healthy at 8 days old and got really attached to her for several days and then she suffered a sudden seizure right in front of our eyes. It was devastating. The Dom chicks are the most friendly curious outgoing unafraid talkative chicks you could ever have fun with but sometimes s*** happens! Lost a nearly 3-mo-old APA Ameraucana who never grew fast enough yet her sister shipped at the same time grew up fine and healthy. Just never know.

Sounds like an expensive suggestion but maybe a different 'bator brand? Or maybe a broody Silkie hen to set eggs next time? My friend received a dozen shipped eggs and only got one to hatch in her 'bator. I gave her 6 fertile Marans eggs my hen layed to put under one of her broody Orps and 5 hatched. Seems like the less eggs are handled and also allowed to be set by a broody the better the chances for success.

Just can't begin to understand what you're going through. I understand shipped eggs are highly chancy to internal damage yet there are other stories of high success rates so it could be any combination of things that hit you. We had a dumb USPS carrier that thought it was okay to ride around in a hot mail truck all day with two live chickens in a shipping box instead of calling us for pickup like listed on the instructions. Just can't rely on all postal workers to have a good brain but they're the only ones who will ship hatching eggs and live birds currently. After raising h*** I got them to read instructions on the package and call me for pickup on the next shipment!

Your experience may help others if you ever discover a solution and post.

 

[EZFarms]

we ordered 25 and got 28 so far ive lost 3 and one other dom chicn is dying. and sylvester thry were hatchery chicks. they were fine till last night then started dieing. i have one silkie with splayed leg but hes braced and doing okay other theb falling over now and then.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

 

[Sylvester017]

we ordered 25 and got 28 so far ive lost 3 and one other dom chicn is dying. and sylvester thry were hatchery chicks. they were fine till last night then started dieing. i have one silkie with splayed leg but hes braced and doing okay other theb falling over now and then.

Sounds like your splayed leg guy will be ok w/bracing. Chicks fall over even without splayed legs LOL! Have you got the chicks in a controlled temp brooder setup now?

Have you lost ALL the Doms in your hatchery order? If it's all just one breed you're losing it could be something wrong w/ the hatchery stock. The Dom chick we lost was end-of-the-season chick at the feed store that orders their chicks from Privett Hatchery New Mexico around September last year so thought maybe that's why we lost her. I decided to only get "Spring chicks" as a result rather than end-of-the-hatching season chicks. Don't know if that's dumb thinking but I gotta blame it on something - right?

I'm so turned off to having chicks that I only order shipped juveniles from breeders - but even that's not a guarantee the chickens will survive to adults. I lost one juvenile APA Ameraucana in less than 3 weeks after receiving her but her sister in the same shipment is just fine and healthy in the flock now. Just never know what to expect even when you do everything right.

 

[Sylvester017]

OMG I LUV the Black one! Reminds me of our spunky Black girl! We love our Partridge girl too and she's a sweet alpha leader but our little Black is the heart and personality of our flock and LOUD too.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Quote: Thanks! That chick has a great personality!

 

[EZFarms]

we have i think 2-3 doms left that are active and fine . some of my silkies are just sleeping alot but i just put some electrolyte in the water so hopefully itll help. we have lost 3 doms and a black silkie so far