runt chick

Hi there, e.
I would keep an eye on the squabs' progress, and check their crops. If
you find that the smaller one is not getting enough food, you can
remove the bigger squab from the nest for a little while, to give the
smaller one a chance to get fed. If that doesn't work for you, you can
also give supplemental feedings by hand. I often do this with my
Indian fantails, since size is such an important factor with this
breed.
You will need to buy some hand feeding formula, I use Exact, but
Pretty Bird is good too. You will need a hand feeding syringe. If you
need help with this, email me, I can give you more details.
Sue
 >> Stay informed about: runt chick 

Dear E-Man,
Thank you for your help and information. So I think I should try Susan's
first suggestion that I remove the big chick from the nest one or two
feeding times during the day to let the little fellow catch up and they
will both then get good natural crop milk and nutrition.
I thank you and my pigeons thank you.
e.rosbooks
****************************
> Yo E,
> unfortunately, the chick is at an age where it needs the crop milk produced
> by it's parents. But that is not to say you couldn't hand raise it. But that
> young.....it's not easy. In the past I have used K-Tee brand baby bird
> formula, (Originally for Cockateels.) and used an eye dropper to feed. Babies
> grew to be nice and healthy.
> I have also had eggs hatch a day apart with the same result, but at the time,
> my birds were utilizing two nest boxes. They had fledglings in one, and these
> newly hatched in the other. So I kicked the fledglings out and placed one
> baby in one box, and one in the other. They did not have to compete for food
> with each other, so each got fed regular. The smaller one eventually got up
> to the same size as the other. The fledglings had to learn to eat on their
> own real fast!%^) Maybe this will help,
> E-Man
 >> Stay informed about: runt chick 

"Susan" <whitebirds.RemoveThis@snip.net> wrote in message
news:27f0580.0307310333.899f709@posting.google.com...
> Hi there, e.
> I would keep an eye on the squabs' progress, and check their crops. If
> you find that the smaller one is not getting enough food, you can
> remove the bigger squab from the nest for a little while, to give the
> smaller one a chance to get fed. If that doesn't work for you, you can
> also give supplemental feedings by hand. I often do this with my
> Indian fantails, since size is such an important factor with this
> breed.
> You will need to buy some hand feeding formula, I use Exact, but
> Pretty Bird is good too. You will need a hand feeding syringe. If you
> need help with this, email me, I can give you more details.
> Sue

With small doves, diamond and cape, I put a small backward chick in with
another pair for an hour or so to give it supplementary feeds. These tiny
doves are very hard to handfeed, so I always foster instead. Often the small
chick can be given to another pair permanently. The diamond and cape will
foster each other's chicks.
If a choice has to be made, I always favour the bigger chick. This is what
the parents themselves do.
Can this be done with pigeons?
Geopelia
 >> Stay informed about: runt chick 

Thank you for the many suggestions about handling the chicks that
hatched 1 1/2 days apart. With the heat we are having this year I expect
to see more first eggs hatching 18 days after being laid, rather than 18
days after the second egg was laid. Am I correct that incubation starts
when the temperature is above 96 degrees Fahrenheit?

Today the first squab is 24 days old, healthy and full size. The sib is
22 1/2 days old, healthy but only half normal size and with a shortened
tail. However, the younger squab flies better than the older sib.

What I did, 20 days ago, was to remove the bigger chick from the nest
box from 6 AM to 9 AM and then from 4 PM to 6PM on two consecutive days.
These were major feeding times. Although the younger, smaller chick
never was more than 2/3 the size of the older one, it apparently got
enough extra food when it was by itself so that it could hold its own at
all other times. There was never any problem of the parents rejecting
the chick I handled, and it seemed quite content in a terry towel lined
box I kept warm and in the dark.

I generally candle eggs three days after the hen starts full time
incubation. You should be able to see the blood spot then (look in the
Levy book for pictures). If I don't see signs of embryo development by
the tenth day of incubation I remove the egg from the nest. I once had a
dead egg literally explode in the nest in very hot weather, and the
stench of the hydrogen sulfide lingered for days.

Some times chicks die in the shell because the shell dried out and the
chick can't pip it. If candling has shown me that there was normal
embryonic development I will do a "C-section" on the shell. I keep an
old normally pipped shell as my reference to where to make the incision
around the shell. I only score the shell down to the membrane, never
through it. I then let the chick work its way out. This has been
successful three times.

Obviously these birds are just pets. There is no reason to go to these
efforts for a show bird that you know you will have to cull.
erosbooks
 >> Stay informed about: runt chick 

erosbooks.TakeThisOut@att.net wrote in message news:<3F441146.BA2FC8DE.TakeThisOut@att.net>...
> Thank you for the many suggestions about handling the chicks that
> hatched 1 1/2 days apart. With the heat we are having this year I expect
> to see more first eggs hatching 18 days after being laid, rather than 18
> days after the second egg was laid. Am I correct that incubation starts
> when the temperature is above 96 degrees Fahrenheit?
>
> Today the first squab is 24 days old, healthy and full size. The sib is
> 22 1/2 days old, healthy but only half normal size and with a shortened
> tail. However, the younger squab flies better than the older sib.
>
> What I did, 20 days ago, was to remove the bigger chick from the nest
> box from 6 AM to 9 AM and then from 4 PM to 6PM on two consecutive days.
> These were major feeding times. Although the younger, smaller chick
> never was more than 2/3 the size of the older one, it apparently got
> enough extra food when it was by itself so that it could hold its own at
> all other times. There was never any problem of the parents rejecting
> the chick I handled, and it seemed quite content in a terry towel lined
> box I kept warm and in the dark.
>
> I generally candle eggs three days after the hen starts full time
> incubation. You should be able to see the blood spot then (look in the
> Levy book for pictures). If I don't see signs of embryo development by
> the tenth day of incubation I remove the egg from the nest. I once had a
> dead egg literally explode in the nest in very hot weather, and the
> stench of the hydrogen sulfide lingered for days.
>
> Some times chicks die in the shell because the shell dried out and the
> chick can't pip it. If candling has shown me that there was normal
> embryonic development I will do a "C-section" on the shell. I keep an
> old normally pipped shell as my reference to where to make the incision
> around the shell. I only score the shell down to the membrane, never
> through it. I then let the chick work its way out. This has been
> successful three times.
>
> Obviously these birds are just pets. There is no reason to go to these
> efforts for a show bird that you know you will have to cull.
> erosbooks

Yo Eros,
two things. Make sure you keep grit in front of your breeders at all times.
The minerals and vitamins are necessary for the smooth operation of egg laying,
and aids in the quality of the shell and development of the egg.
Second, make sure you give your breeders regular baths. This will help the
egg shell to keep it's moisture, and eleminate the problem of you having to
do a "C-section" on the eggs.
E-Man
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