wrongly set incubator

Thanks Chris. The mother didn't like this one when it emerged from her feathers, and was pecking it, so its back in the brooder. I'll try putting it under the other broody with chicks tonight. If this mother doesn't like it when it emerges tomorrow, I guess this might mean there is something wrong. Would you then separate it with a few chicks to raise artificially without the mother, or face killing it, because a mother hen doesn't get it wrong? (I might have to prepare myself).
 
This last chick hasn't really got going and is sleeping most of the time more than 24 hours from its birth. Its had a go at eating, but I don't think its swallowed the crumbs and hasn't started drinking. Its not strong enough to put with the 6 day old chicks.
 
You will have to encourage it to drink Chickenfan. They won't do it on their own automatically. It may be weak now simply because it isn't drinking.
 
Thanks Chris. It is eating and drinking a little now. It has a runny tummy - which may be an issue if I integrate it with the others this eve. I have another chick with a mal-formed beak.
 
It does sound to me as if Nature is telling you something you don't want to hear, Chickenfan, it's not really worth nursing on a weakling, late-hatched chick. If you keep it in isolation because its so weak and sickly it will never be able to rejoin the others, even if it did recover its strength. I think you've been very lucky with this hatch overall and maybe it would be kindest to cut your losses on this one.
 
Hello Marigold, Yes, thankyou, I have been amazingly and unjustifyably lucky with this hatch. Last chick is eating quite well now, so I plan to try and integrate it tonight and let Nature take its course. Would you be concerned about the runny tummy if this hasn't cleared up?
 
I wonder if they will peck at its runny tummy, Chickenfan, Yes, i do think this is an issue, so you'll just have to try integrating it and see what happens, being prepared to intervene and put it down if it seems to be being picked on, which would really not be fair to it, I feel.
 
It is out under mum no 2 now with a full crop and no runny tummy, looking like a normal chick. I've really fallen for this last one, so will be out early to check on things. The one that doesn't seem to be OK is the one with the bill that doesn't fit. I may have to cull this one if it is not doing well tomorrow. I think you once suggested a humane method, but I can't quite remember. I went on a course and they said to press the neck against a door frame. I am a little unsure how to kill a chick.
 
Chick with twisted beak - I'll see how it goes tomorrow, but have seen an article about vinegar and baking soda which sounds like a fairly humane way to go if it is not thriving.
 
Chicks born 4 and 5 days late doing just fine. The only one not growing well has the beak that doesn't meet properly.
 
That's good news Chickenfan. Unfortunately the one with the malformed beak may have to be culled as it will always be hampered. There is someone over here with a pet chicken because of its beak. It cannot eat at all and has to be hand fed several times a day. It's probably two years old now and very healthy, but that is a big commitment.
 
Thanks Chris. Is there a method you use? I'm sure its on the forum, but I can't find it in the index. I have another one very small, but I am not quite sure why.
 
Underdevelopment of internal organs can occur Chickenfan, which stops them growing properly and can lead to their death. But before you assume that is a problem remember that bantam breeds result from inhibited growth. Also some birds start slow and then accelerate. We had a tiny bantam cockerel who was half the size of his brother for months, but caught up and passed him by a year.

As to despatching chicks, I haven't done it for many years and then only twice. Both times were really upsetting, to the extent that I can't remember how? I think we drowned them in body temperature water? Perhaps someone else has a more humane method? Commercially they gas them with Carbon Dioxide, which just suffocates them, exactly the same as drowning.
 
Thanks Chris. I'm giving them chopped egg yolk in the hope that might help. Do you keep all the birds you raise?
 
Yes we do Chickenfan, with few exceptions.We have sold some Wyandottes and an Orpington cockerel. But now we only breed to sustain our own flocks. Thirty chickens is about all you can really look after properly without them taking your life over completely I think. Even thirty at the moment is too many to be honest. With broodies, lice, red mite and old birds generally to contend with. As they get older they seem more prone to problems. From cutting toenails to sour crop. We are still coming to terms with the new environment- with very high winds and thunderstorms coming in the next hour or so I just had go to shut windward vents and screw down some coop roofs. Still, the sun is shining at the moment and perhaps the rain will miss us completely as it often does. Plants grow at an incredible speed here. They have just cut the first haylage and we have to do the lawns every week!
 
When I had to cull some unwanted male quails, I used a pair of secateurs behind the head, not to cut the head off but to give a precise grip where needed. Then I held the bird over a bucket lined with a polythene bag, to catch any blood, left hand over the wings and its head pointing downwards. Quick pull and twist to dislocate the neck, as you would with a chicken only on a smaller scale. This worked, though I found it distressing. Another recommended method for dispatching chicks is to hold it in your hand and bring down the back of its neck with a hard rap on the angled side of a table. Have never tried this, but I think probably both methods would give a swifter end than drowning.
 
Dear Marigold, Thank you very much for your helpful instruction, and for repeating it. I've been away for a few days. Chick with beak that doesn't meet is very tiny sablepoot. It picked up for a while, but today got cold and Mum is busy with other chicks so I've brought it in to warm up and its now eating well, but sneezing occasionally, so I've kept it on a hot water bottle rather than putting it back with the others. I guess I will have to dispatch it as I think chicks with crooked beaks get worse as they grow. A friend who teaches poultry courses and dispatch courses has advised me to use the 'broom' method in miniature. So I lay the chick neck down on a table with a pencil over its neck, push down with the pencil and pull the legs up until it clicks. I guess its the same principle as the method you used.
 
My one loss from the over-humid incubator was the chick with the beak that didn't meet. All the others, including the Vorwerk born 5 days late are growing well. I am sure I was exceptionally lucky and maybe they were born on a cusp of Spring when everything comes to life.
 
I'm glad the others are now OK. Did you dispatch the poorly one? I don't think a chick growing up in isolation would ever have thrived anyway, do you? Nature doesn't always get it right, and there no problem about helping a disabled bird on its way, in my opinion.
 
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