Day Old chick walking on Elbows? HELP?

Beep wrote:Wow.  You guys are amazing.  I'm such a wuss when it comes to babies... though I can slaughter chickens and turkeys for dinner, no prob.  But babies?  Yep.  I'm a wuss.

Wuss? Hardly. If you could do it without qualms, there would be something wrong.

 

Fowler wrote:

Beep wrote:Wow.  You guys are amazing.  I'm such a wuss when it comes to babies... though I can slaughter chickens and turkeys for dinner, no prob.  But babies?  Yep.  I'm a wuss.

Wuss?  Hardly.  If you could do it without qualms, there would be something wrong.

  

 

It's all part of the responsibility of owning animals. You HAVE to be able to do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing. Which means not just being mentally prepared, but also having the equipment to do it at a moment's notice.

Chickens are easy in terms of necessary equipment - larger livestock means (legal) gun ownership, or knowing someone nearby with firearms who will do it for you. You can't always rely on the vet to make it out quickly enough.

Chick held in left hand in a baggie, head outside of the baggie, tug with a decent tug, you want to ensure head removal, head pops off and as soon as that occurs, the head goes into the baggie in which the chick is. I hold the baby in the baggie for a moment or two, give a blessing for thoughts of a nicer place to be, close the zip of the baggie. The chick only lives for not even a second after the head removal and very little blood. Tough love. If I am to do these things, I must do them quickly and removal of the head this way is fast, death imminent, blood very, very minimal. I could never imagine taking a chick and banging its head on a counter, wall or anything like that, it probably would not work for me. Instant death with the cervical ripped in half. Sigh. We may all have to do this one day. This is my method. Fast, barely any blood, a tear falls, the deed is done. CynthiaM.

Ok so update, it's not the roosters. I just had a perfectly awesome healthy/strong hatch with the same marans roosters and marans hens. The last time it was my older EE girls; I"m thinking the EE girls are getting a little old for this breeding stuff. They still lay like crazy though

Check the trace mineral content of the hen's diet. Since they are older, it may need a boost as they absorbe a bit less as they age. Lack of different minerals can cause the tendon in the hock to slip off the notch it is supposed to be in and the bird can't ever stand. Older hens are more prone to this if the diet is otherwise quite good. Manganese perhaps, look up slipped tendon and see what you get.

jocelyn