I lost 2 Polish Crested chicks within 24 hours after their arrival.
They ate well and were vigorous, then went downhill after that. I euthanized
a polish yesterday, as he was not thriving at all after 2 weeks, and could not get off his hocks. He was so small and thin. He would eat and drink, but slept all the time, getting run over and crushed by the others. Now, one of my Cochin chicks is sitting back on it's hocks, and it is 2 weeks old.
It appears depressed, eats and drinks, and I have put it in with my week old chicks, so it can still compete. They get a standard chick starter ration,
have ample room and fresh water and plenty of warmth. Does anyone know what's going on?
may princess tammy never be sad.
This message was edited Feb 26, 2008 8:55 AM
Another Chick on it's Hocks, What's Wrong???
I asked this last year when there were some concerns about polish chicks not thriving and dying soon after arrival.......what hatchery?
My guess is what ever hatchery was the culprit last year is the same one this year....could be wrong though
And my guess is part of the problem is indiscriminate inbreeding,chicks from close inbreeding are never healthy
Its sad....no matter how you try you can't save them
I bought from McMurray hatchery. I read at Daylillydaddy's
thread that he has lost several polish from I think the same
hatchery. I purchased 9 birds of 3 breeds, and overall, the
polish are the wimpiest. After 2 weeks though, and thriving
well, I am concerned about this cochin suddenly (well, over
a couple days) has started the same thing. It seemed genetic
to me, as if they have weak legs, they can not support their
growing weight, but am not sure.
Who was the culprit hatchery last year?
may princess tammy find resolution.
did you have the vaccinated for mereks(dang,I can't spell...been up too long)
Yes, I had them vaccinated against marek's and coccidiosis.
I made sure not to feed them medicated feed, too, as this
will negate any vaccine. Daylillydaddy is having polish problems
from the same hatchery.
may princess tammy have a happy tuesday.
I go back to my original thought
inbreeding
Years ago I had really good luck with McMurrarys polish
thats how I got started with polish
about 6 years ago I ordered 25 white large fowl polish from them
never lost one
sold all but 2
and I know McMurrays got in new breeding stock from some top breeders a few years ago
I would call them....both of you
i have one we brought home last night, a week old bantam cochin. it kept screaming last night. this morning had the biggest pasty butt i have ever seen, clear up over the vent.
after cleaning it up and getting it dry, we held it for a while becasue it kept falling over. now it can almost stand. it holds it wings out and tries to sit back and squack. it is smaller than the others. i had to raise the wtaer because he kept getting his wing in it.
he was walking around yesterday when we picked him up , at least i didn't notice that he WASN't. we picked them out of the asstd bantams bin at the feed store.
they came from Welp. i can still hear him shreiking, he is in a separate box inside the brooder. all the bantams were in there last night, and some of the BAs went in to keep them company. so now i put him in their with one other week old bantam and two BAs.
i will keep a close eye on him, not go anywehere but to the post office today...
thanks, truest, for starting this thread!
tf
Thanks. I haven't seen the eyes looking like the picture in
your link, but I will watch for it.
may princess tammy have healthy chicks, darn it!
TF, I read in Storey's that if the pasty butt is in chicks less than
a week, it is usually feed. If chicks are older, it could be
disease, like coccidiosis. To help clear it up, feed them equal
parts corn meal and feed, for a few days.
And sometimes they say you can put scratch grains in with their
feed, if they are big enough, to help avoid the problem. I tried the
corn meal mix and it worked.
may princess tammy have scratch.
thanks. checked out the mereks link, that isn't it. when i checked on him he was still squacking but not as loud. standing with the bix on one side & a big chick on the other to hold him up. i noticed it is quiet in thre, so going to check again. he is drinking. i will offer the cornmeal.
there is no paralysis. he shook a lot after i cleaned him up, till i had him warm again. when he falls over he lies on his back & kicks trying to get up. he has a lot of spunk, maybe he will make it...
tf
mine is better. i put in a small dish with blue and yello wcornmeal and starter mixed, you meant dry, right? the other two chicks went right for it. he walked a little, got a drink [about 4 inches from water to food], then sat back and squacked, regained his balance and got to the feeder. seems whenever he looses his balance he puts out his wings. i had already looked his feet and legs over. nothing i can see. all the cochins seem a littl ewide.
i think he will be living in the small box for a while, he falls over too easily.
The problem babies are that way for a while, leaning on the
others, and easily knocked about and down. Paralysis could
start with weakness in the legs. I am leaning toward Crested's
explanation of possible inbreeding. I am not seeing outright
paralysis or the grey iris. If it is Marek's I will know soon, as
my home hatched chicks are healthy and genetically diverse,
and I have the weak cochin in with them. The virus is virulent, so I
would expect the home hatched to come down with it soon.
Don't want that, but it would be very telling.
may princess tammy have a free veterinarian.
he seems happier with a couple of friends around him. maybe he is hurting, or maybe just high strung. time will tell. i hope all our chicks make it. but life just isn't often that way.
I'm sorry you are both having struggles with your babies, truest and TamaraFaye. I have so few, that I am very grateful they are still healthy at one week. The Welsummers are huge and I noticed last night that they both seemed to be inclined to rest on their hocks and even walk a little that way. But they are both eating, drinking and running around alot--so I am hoping this is just a phase due to their bodies growing faster than their legs are ready to carry. They do both walk normally most of the time, but when I saw the thread topic, I started to worry, because they only started their "hock walk" last night. Still seem very healthy today.
I would definitely let McMurray know about you problems with the Polish--they need to know if they are producing unhealthy chicks.
Oh, yes, I will be calling tomorrow. So will Daylilydaddy, I read.
If it's a breeding issue, they can't afford to let this go on
without addressing it. I worried the cochin was troubled by a
growth spurt, and big for it's legs. Now, it doesn't seem that way.
I hope your's are just resting, and that they stay up and healthy!
Of my 27 chicks order, I still have 22. That could change, I
know, and I don't want to perpetuate this issue in future chicks.
I think I like the idea more of having personal contacts with
breeders of diverse bloodlines, and getting eggs from many
different breeders, keeping them banded for ID, and do a better job
for the bird's well being, and my own personal satisfaction.
may princess tammy have many breeders. haha
"I think I like the idea more of having personal contacts with
breeders of diverse bloodlines"
GRANNY, i know what you mean. I feel that way about so many things, and now about chickens too. Elliot Coleman said you should know the first name of the grower of your food, producer of your milk and eggs, etc.
We are gonna have fun getting our eggs and chickens from so many sources!
tf
btw, little guy is OK as long as hi sbuddies are close by...
TF, were you sleeping when you posted the last? Twasn't me that quoted that. I think it was truest.
I have only dealt with two hatcheries on my own, and those were McMurray and Ideal. No problems with what I got from McMurray, and haven't gotten my order from Ideal yet. The order I got from the mill had problems, but that was three years ago and all of those are gone but my RIR rooster.
Good Morning!
What kind of problems did they have Granny? When are
your chicks from Ideal due to arrive?
may princess tammy have healthy chicks.
Well, most of them had crooked feet, one being so crooked, I was amazed she could walk on them. Mostly that.
I am getting guineas from Ideal. Will be sent on May 14th or 15th. It should be warm enough here then to raise them okay. There might be some extra roos with them, but that's okay. I intend to hatch a few chicks for the freezer and DH is talking about expanding the operation because we have picked up a number of new customers for eggs. So, I hope I can add a few hens to my current flock.
I didn't have any problems with the Australorps I got from McMurray. So, it could be a genetic thing, and I agree with TF that it might be that. So, call them and let us know what they say, please.
Good luck with the others you have.
Thanks, Granny. Crooked toes sounds definately like genes.
I very much want guineas, so good for so many things.
And, funny. My uncle raised guineas, and was very protective
about them.
DH has some people at work that want fresh eggs, woo hoo!
I am not even producing yet, and hope I can ablige!
may princess tammy have fresh eggs.
yes, i was asleep at the keyboard LOL