Learn from my mistake

MOgal · #1 06/08/13, 04:57 PM

I've always said that since experience is the best teacher, the cheapest lessons are learned from someone else's mistakes.

Bought the last 10 Buff Orpington pullets at the Mexico MO Orscheln's store last Thursday, brought them home, set them up in a nice brooder--food of the type they were used to at the store, water, heat lamp, nice shredded pine bedding, protection from predators, in this case the barn cats. Even though they were older chicks, probably 9-10 days old, I still dipped their beaks and had food on paper towel as I would with newly hatched babies.

So...all was well until this morning. I've been refilling their little feeder but it finally occurred to me that even though I was dumping and cleaning their water founts twice a day, the level wasn't dropping from one time to the next. I caught them and dipped their beaks again and they really went at the water. Within 30 min. they all looked even more stressed, 3 were down. One was even throwing back her head and thrashing her legs.

I called my friend who has had chicks since before dirt was invented. We both thought dehydration followed by consumption of too much water that caused the food in their crops to swell but why had they not drunk during that time? All we could figure was that they didn't recognize my galvanized cap/quart jar dealies as a water source. DH was at that time coming home from St. Louis. I looked up what I needed on line and it was available at the outlet in Warrenton MO. Bless him, he agreed to stop and pick up one of those founts. While he was there, he bought 3 more BO pullets. I've put the new fount in the brooder--they are flocking to it (sorry about the pun, I couldn't resist). One of the 3 has recovered to the point I can't tell which chick it was, one is still lying fairly inert but will get up and walk a few steps. The one that was throwing her head back is still alive but who knows for how long. She was swallowing more water from the tip of my finger and I'm not up for killing her yet.

SO, point of long post is that if you are going to take some already started chicks, be sure they know what is a food/water source.

Ernie · #2 06/08/13, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOgal

I've always said that since experience is the best teacher, the cheapest lessons are learned from someone else's mistakes.

Thanks for posting this. It's big of you to share this. I think it should also be noted that you are not by any stretch of the imagination a rookie homesteader.

These things happen to us all and perhaps the newer homesteaders among us should not be too disheartened if it happens to them.

Freya · #3 06/08/13, 06:08 PM

Add another thing to the list of things NEVER mentioned in any chicken book I have ever seen!

Good job on the fast thinking!

Wolfy-hound · #4 06/08/13, 06:43 PM

I've always said I don't make the same mistake twice... I make new ones.

Life has a learning curve. I'd have assumed that the chicks would know water is water is water too. They're such bird brains.

Rick · #5 06/08/13, 07:02 PM

Still waiting to peck through my shell and be a chicken cooper.

Snakes, skunk and less stinky varmints, cats, dogs, sky above - check.

Unfamiliar water founts? Thanks for bearing this

MOgal · #6 06/08/13, 07:35 PM

Ya'll are all so generous and kind to help me off the hook I've put into myself for this mistake. I hate to cause an animal pain or suffering even though it will eventually come to dinner. It never occurred to me they wouldn't recognize water but then do chickens have a sense of smell? Condors, buzzards do, some owls don't, right? Yep, I've been doing this a long time. My thirteenth birthday present was a pregnant Angus heifer and she and her progeny put me and my brother through college and made the down payment on a house and 15 acres when DH and I had only been married about 6 months. We've been married almost 39 years and enjoyed this lifestyle the entire time. I make some doozy new mistakes, Wolfy-hound. Obviously.

Woodpecker · #7 06/08/13, 08:03 PM

I definitely can say I make some doozy mistakes too. I hope your chicks turn out ok!

SugarMag · #8 06/08/13, 08:08 PM

Thank you so much! So sorry this happened to you. But it seem that they are all still living? That's great. I am in the process of gathering materials for fencing and housing and going to try my. First chickens next spring. A friend gave me advice to get chicks that are raised by a hen, because they will be um...more equipped to be chickens? If that makes sense?

MOgal · #9 06/08/13, 08:32 PM

Two of the 3 most affected chicks are indistinguishable from the rest judging by activity level. The third which was worst all along was still alive when I did evening chores about 90 min ago but I'm not hopeful for her. Actually, I thought she was already dead when I removed the top of the brooder but she moved a bit. If she isn't dead, she still has a chance albeit small.

Sugar-Mag, I haven't had enough hen raised chicks to see a difference. Next time I see my friend, I'll ask her. Most of hers are hen-raised, most of mine raised in a brooder. Even those succeed very well at being free ranging chickens so who knows?

Ernie · #10 06/08/13, 09:00 PM

Until we moved to Texas we never had any hens successfully go broody and raise chicks. Then, down here, we had some older hens who ran off into the agarita bushes and raised them up a bunch of chicks. Usually 3-4 at a time.

I do believe the ones raised by a hen are smarter and do better, but I think it depends on the hen too. We've domesticated chickens too much, I think, and they've lost a lot of their instinct.

I have a tendency to try to keep babies with mamas in the hope that the good mamas will bring up good young. Sometimes it seems to work. I get tired of raising all these animal babies myself ... nursing calves and incubating chicks. It's time the mamas do some of the work!

SugarMag · #11 06/08/13, 09:42 PM

Good luck with that last little one, MO gal. It's awfull to lose little creatures, huh.

MOgal · #12 06/09/13, 03:25 PM

Well, here it is, after 3 p.m., more than 30 hrs. after our chicks got sick and that one little thing is still alive! I kept her in our incubator by herself and every hour or so through the night, I trickled a little water with a tiny bit of yogurt and sugar in it from my fingertip into her beak. This morning I put about a teaspoon of oatmeal in the blender to chop it fine then cooked it. I'm also feeding that to her off my fingertip. She can hold her head up and peep but still sits back on her hocks, can't use her legs yet. I'm totally dumbfounded that she's still alive. She has her eyes open too, rather that third eyelid covering them.

I can't tell which were the other two sick chicks as all are running around eating and drinking, doing little chick activities. Go figure.

chickflick · #13 06/09/13, 04:18 PM

Well...I wish you the best. At least baby chicks can't fly yet.

A couple of months ago at my new little place, we found a 'crashed' hummingbird lying on the ground right below the big orange sun decal on the side of my RV.. (oops)

Anyway.... I brought the little think back to life, with sugar water, bought it a cage, fed it EVERY HOUR (and more at times) for an entire week. She was flying and doing a little hovering... I gave her a treat - outside in the bird cage with a little limb I put in for her.

WELL... it was too windy, and she went right back to the critical list. She was hanging upside down on the perch/limb. Brought her back to life from THAT... then a day or so later, I gave her back the branch, and I'll be D*mned if she didn't do it again. I found her hanging upside down on that thing.. for .. sadly.. the last time.

Little birds are pretty hardy. You hang in there! (I think what made it so hard for the humming bird was all that flying and the fact that.. well.. it was a HUMMINGBIRD. lol

It's still hard to be objective.. but I had a wonderful week of being SnowWhite.

EDIT: For those of you who may be wondering.. She never really got her navigation skills back good enough where I felt comfortable turning her loose.. but that WAS the plan.

7thswan · #14 06/09/13, 04:31 PM

That is interesting about the difference in water founts. I've had to teach chicks where/what water is but after that they seem to have always figured it out. We've had many chickens hatch out eggs, they learn from their mom's. Roosters play a big role, well,good ones anyway. When I throw weeds or a handful of worms into the chicken yards, the rooster will run over and call his girls without even takeing a bite for himself. He makes a special kind of noise, and I've even seen him pick up food and drop it infrount of one of his girls.I've saved many a bunny and chickie even birds that flew into the windows by putting them in my bra between the girls, the heat and sound of heartbeat does wounders. Best of luck with your chicks.

Foxy · #15 06/09/13, 04:32 PM

It might already be too late but give your chick some electrolytes. If you don't have any boil some water with a little salt in it....cool before giving.
Water poisoning replaces the salt in cells with pure water...the salt needs to be put back.
Good luck!

rharper · #16 06/09/13, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOgal

Ya'll are all so generous and kind to help me off the hook I've put into myself for this mistake. I hate to cause an animal pain or suffering even though it will eventually come to dinner. It never occurred to me they wouldn't recognize water but then do chickens have a sense of smell? Condors, buzzards do, some owls don't, right? Yep, I've been doing this a long time. My thirteenth birthday present was a pregnant Angus heifer and she and her progeny put me and my brother through college and made the down payment on a house and 15 acres when DH and I had only been married about 6 months. We've been married almost 39 years and enjoyed this lifestyle the entire time. I make some doozy new mistakes, Wolfy-hound. Obviously.

Yup ... animals are animals, and should be allowed to be animals, even if they'll be ending up as a meal. They don't have to be pets or anything, but there's no need for them to suffer either.

As for the water issue, we've noticed that after a hard rain (enough to leave puddles) our chickens stop drinking from the clean waterers and choose to use the muddy puddles instead. Their logic ain't our logic, that's for sure.

I_don't_know · #17 06/09/13, 05:10 PM

It does not really pertain to chickens, but it sounds like you are due for an

“Open Shirt Test”

You go into the bathroom and open your shirt, and look into the mirror.
If the person in the mirror is wearing blue leotards and has a big red “S” their chest; it means you are SUPPERMAN and you can do it all do it all.
If not have some mercy on yourself.

Everyone makes mistakes.

Ernie · #18 06/09/13, 05:13 PM

To play a devil's advocate here for a moment ...

Some of the problems with animals is that the extreme domestication process has left them without any decent instincts. That might be fine for a big ag producer who runs a confinement operation of 10,000 animals, but it's not fine for the small homesteader.

Are we not perpetuating the problem by allowing these animals that can't feed themselves, can't find water, and often cannot even breed successfully or raise their own young, to continue polluting the genetic lines of livestock? Do we have an obligation to improve the genetic lines by breeding out the bad traits and bringing back good instincts into our livestock?

It's something I usually lack the courage and commitment to put into practice, but it niggles at the back of my head every time I've had to bottle feed an abandoned lamb or calf or handfeed some baby chick who can't understand what the entire rest of the brood picked up on instinctively.

unregistered353870 · #19 06/09/13, 06:04 PM

As long as you eat them before they reproduce you shouldnt worry about polluting the gene pool. It's just a matter of economics. If you let it die you have one less chicken/lamb/calf/whatever to eat. But yes it definitely makes sense not to keep breeding those poor producers for a homestead. I continually improve my beef herd. I'd be out of business if I didnt.

FarmboyBill · #20 06/09/13, 06:13 PM

Your chicks musta been blondes lol.
I bought 2 doz from a local farm store chain. They were on sale for 69@ They all turned out great. I dipped them also. AT THAT TIME, I didn't think they were as afraid of people as day old chicks, having people look down at them in the store all day s long. They've got that fear back, and are like the rest of my chickens.