Chicken bald back

[Minnie&Moose]

One of our bantams has hatched out 4 chicks in the last 48 hours but unfortunately when I went to open them up this morning it was clear that she was dying (not sure why). We have another broody whose eggs were due to hatch around the same time - nothing's happened with her eggs, and I'd intended to remove them. So, I've put the chicks under her a couple of hours ago and so far she's sitting with the chicks tucked under her and all seems OK. For the moment they're all shut up in the eglu and I've seen all chicks drink and 3 of them eat.

 

My plan was to keep the eglu door closed for the next 24 hours (with minimal disturbance to the birds) - they have food and water in there, and then if all's still ok tomorrow morning open the eglu door so that Meg can get out. There's a further complication though - one of the chicks has splay leg so my plan is to splint it tonight and put the chick straight back - does this all sound OK or is there a better way of dealing with this. I don't have a brooder and I'd rather keep the chicks with a broody if possible because we have 2 young cats who hunt and I'm nervous of trying to keep young birds safe in a house with them.

 

Any advice most welcome. Thanks.

[Daphne]

OK, firstly I assume Meg is the well broody. It sounds like all is fine with her accepting the chicks, its usually a straightforward process so I wouldn't worry about it unduly. I don't know if you are at home before this evening, but if you are then I'd take the spraddle legged chick out now and fix it with a splint and pop it back, so you can keep checking on it during daylight. Otherwise do it asap when you get home. It will be fine to keep her in for 24 hours. I am also assuming you have taken the roosting bars out.

[sjp]

your plan for the chicks is spot on. the chick with the splayed leg treat and put back while it's still light and check up on it in about an hour you'll know then if the broody is going to accept it or not but have a back up plan ready in case you have to hand rear it

your other broody might has been a little bit over keen to stay put and could have been a little bit dehydrated if the coop got a bit hot

[Minnie&Moose]

Many thanks Daphne and sjp for your reassurance. I've hatched a couple of times under a broody but not had anything go wrong before so this was all a bit alarming. Good news is Meg has accepted the chicks and is feeding them. I wasn't able to do anything about the chick with the splayed leg until this evening (had to rush out to a meeting at work this morning and they wouldn't have understood the 'need to look after a chick' argument) but it's now got a splint. Splinted chick was moving around more and had some food before diving back under mum so I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be able to open up the eglu and let them out into the run which is all ready for them. Fortunately the eglu was already set up for chicks because Meg was sitting on her own eggs in there but none of them have made it.

[sjp]

as long as the chick with the splint is keeping up then they should be OK going out

sadly eggs not hatching is a fact of life when we hatch, even with eggs from your own birds you get duds and failed hatches

[Minnie&Moose]

Thanks sjp - I'll wait til it warms up tomorrow before letting them out and then keep an eye on the one with the splint. Any problems and they'll all be back in the eglu for a day or two more - fortunately mum's a pekin so there's a bit of room for them all to move around.

[Minnie&Moose]

One of the chicks is very loud, constantly cheeping and rarely under mum but stands in front of her 'shouting'. It's very active and mum feeds it. I keep putting it under the hen (she's fine about me handling chicks and her) to warm up but minutes later it's back out and shouting. It's bigger than the others and is exploring more than the others - mum hasn't left the eglu with them yet though I left the door open for her today and kept an eye on things. But the 'shouty' chick has ventured just outside the eglu and jumped back in several times, and then goes back to shout at mum. Any ideas? Should I be worried?

[Daphne]

I wouldn't worry, although a noisy chick is often cold or hungry, this one obviously knows where Mum is, and food and warmth. My guess is that you've got a good, strong, confident chick And perhaps its a different breed, or a different cross, or has different parents to the others, or even that it came out of a bigger egg. I bet it grows up to be a handful

[sjp]

you get a gobby chick from time to time I'd say it wants to go outside but it's instinct is to say close to mom. I doubt it's cold more likely bored. is she a first time broody and a low ranking hen in the flock as I find they take a little time to adjust to having chicks the first time but normally make good mothers with the chicks been about 4 days old they'll start to build in confidence and won't to start exploring so they'll more or less force mom to move outside

I take it you've put the food and water outside now as that'll make them have to move outside which is the best place for them

[Minnie&Moose]

Sadly it was very clear this morning that the gobby little chick wasn't doing so well - shaky on its legs but still shouting. Even though mum was trying to feed it, when I watched closely it was clear it wasn't actually feeding. I tried giving it water and nutridrops (well, a nutridrop) which it did take but later when I went out it was on its back and obviously not doing well, so I dispatched it. The other 3 look good and mum's been out in the run all day with them though she hasn't ventured very far from the eglu yet so I gave in and moved food and water closer to the eglu. This hatch is proving to be a bit more of an emotional roller-coaster than our first ones - just hoping the eggs under our 3rd broody, Rosie, go more smoothly.

[Daphne]

Oh, that is a shame All you can do is keep a close eye on the rest, fingers crossed.

[Minnie&Moose]

Quick up date on chicks - Splinty, as it's known, ha now had the splint removed and is zipping around with its sibs. It's still smaller and less well feathered but is right in the middle of any mealworm scrum, can negotiate all obstacles in the run (seed tray as dust bath and bug hunting place) and is able to gobble down small woodlice without any help - it's bigger sibs wait for mum to catch them and mash them around a bit first. So, all's looking good at the moment - the broody's doing a great job and is making sure our young male cat doesn't get any ideas about her chicks!

 

I candled the eggs under Rosie at the weekend and so far all looks well - mixture of gold laced pekins and bantam cuckoo Scots Dumpies - so I really hope some of them at least make it. Not had bantam chicks before (Meg's are large fowl - Sheltland hens) so a curious to see just how small bantam chicks are. eglu run is chick proofed with some spare mesh I used to keep carrot fly at bay so I doubt a chick will be able to get through one of those holes!

[Cat tails]

I think we need pictures of these cuties!

[Minnie&Moose]

2nd hatch of the season now underway - 6 chicks out, 2 eggs left - looks like at least 3 scots dumpy bantams and 2 gold laced pekin - 6th chick still damp so hard to tell what it is yet.