on Monday morning I noticed that one of my Buff Orpington chicks wasn't eating and just sat around all puffed up. I was sure I was going to lose her. At first I didn't think there was anything I could do, but then I remembered all the things I had learned about raising newborn puppies. So I got out my Nutridrops and tried to get some of that into her. Having never tried this before, I found it very difficult to open the beak and get something into her mouth. Finally I got one large drop into her mouth and she swallowed it. It seemed to perk her up a little, so I tried to figure out what I could mix together as a "formula", I decided on water, molasses, Nutridrops and a little bit of crushed garlic. I figured out how to hold the little dropper on her beak so it would get a bit of the formula inside and she would start swallowing. This worked well enough so I would get about 6 to 8 drops into her every few hours. 
By evening she was no better but still hanging in there, so I changed the formula to raw egg yolk, molasses and water (this was not based on any instructions, just what I came up with). After two feedings of this mixture she was still the same, I thought she was getting weaker. Then I saw her go potty, a rather large BM came out, but she didn't seem to be able to squeeze it all out, and it hung from her behind. I got out some tissue to clean her up and when I tried to clean her I noticed that something stringy was still inside. I gently pulled it out, she squeaked a little bit. She then sat there for a short while and I thought that was it, when all of a sudden she came to life, ran over to the waterer and took a long drink, then marched over to the feeder and started pecking away. The above pictures show her today, busily moving about and eating away. I had noticed that she had lagged behind with her growth over the last couple weeks, so it is quite possible that whatever was stuck up there has been causing a problem for more than just one day. I hope she makes it. I think I will change her name to Mira, as she is truly a miracle.
By evening she was no better but still hanging in there, so I changed the formula to raw egg yolk, molasses and water (this was not based on any instructions, just what I came up with). After two feedings of this mixture she was still the same, I thought she was getting weaker. Then I saw her go potty, a rather large BM came out, but she didn't seem to be able to squeeze it all out, and it hung from her behind. I got out some tissue to clean her up and when I tried to clean her I noticed that something stringy was still inside. I gently pulled it out, she squeaked a little bit. She then sat there for a short while and I thought that was it, when all of a sudden she came to life, ran over to the waterer and took a long drink, then marched over to the feeder and started pecking away. The above pictures show her today, busily moving about and eating away. I had noticed that she had lagged behind with her growth over the last couple weeks, so it is quite possible that whatever was stuck up there has been causing a problem for more than just one day. I hope she makes it. I think I will change her name to Mira, as she is truly a miracle. 
2 comments:
Great story. I'm glad "Mira" pulled through! I'd love to see some photos and descriptions of your entire set-up for the chicks (materials used, etc.) I've got 8 chicks arriving in 2 weeks and I'm still trying to configure the best arrangement that will allow for easy access for me, yet keep them contained, and that will allow my two dogs to meet them without getting "too" friendly, if you know what I mean!
Tracy, thanks for leaving a comment. I have a 2 x 4 cardboard box, I have the lids taped up so the sides of the box are about 3 feet high, I have cut a flap on one side that I can open and close, I usually leave it open for them to come out of the box, which they basically outgrew in one week. I now have a x-pen that starts and opens near the cardboard box and extends out to one window, this fences off most of the room for the chickies. Maybe you can put up a baby gate for your dogs in the door so they can see the chicks but can't get too close.
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