IndianRingNeck.com

Hi we need some advise we have 5 healthy chicks only 4 are well fed and the last to hatch is so tiny it's struggling to get fed through the stronger chicks he's less than half the size of the others... not sure what to do but i had to take him out to feed him.. his crop was totally empty... fed egg and biscuit slurry.... can you tell me if the parent will still look after it when i return it to nest..... it has had a good feed now can see food in it's crop.....
any advise would help....
i would place a pic of them but dont know how to insert a pic here... the pic clearly shows the weaker chick.[/img]

Hi jamckee,

Here is a link to how to post pictures in the forum.
Just click on the red 'link' word and it will take you there.

Hi jamckee;

If you do nothing the smallest chick will grow slower ans slower respective of the others and he will be smaller and not very healthy at weaning time.
Possibilities:
1. Take it out and begin handfeeding.
2. Put it in another nestbox with chicks of similar size (don't worry about foster parents: IRN feed any chick in their nestbox).
3. Take out his brothers for 20-30 minutes 3 or 4 times a day to allow parents to feed him.

Good luck

well i dont have the programs you stated to put a pic in here.. is there any other programs i could change pic to text?
guess we have to go with option 3 take out others i dont really want to feed full time as we dont have an incubator....... will see if he's still with us in the morning .
will keep you posted

If you go to www.photobucket.com and sign up you can upload your photos there.

Hope this pic works.......

Just wanted to let you know.
option 1 ..... we didnt have any way to keep chick warm so opted not to go with no 1

option 2 we dont have any other chicks to place him with...

Option 3 take other chicks out for 30 mins.... we tried that and mum stressed out she didn't feed the alone chick..

SO we didnt know what else to do other than this chick needed a feed badly.... so i fed him and he went back with mum and siblings... seems he's not strong enough to fight through the strong much larger chicks and misses out on the first feed of the day only... for three days i just feed him in the morning and he's doing well... i check him just before dark and his crop is full..... all seem to be ok so far he's getting stronger each day but still only a quarter of the size of his brothers and sisters....

Are you able to set up a brooder? its pretty easy to make one yourself and being in Qld it wouldn't be too cold for the chick without much heating.

I could try to make up a brooder only i feel the chick has a better chance with the natural heat from the nest box... also the chick is still being well fed from mum she's just not getting fed the first feed in the morning other than the morning feed the chicks crop is fuller than i fill it.. I think the mother can provide a healthier diet than we provide as the mother is very well fed on her diet of seed fruit and veg.
I will only take the chick if the mother stops feeding him altogether.
I'm no expert but i'm trying to avoid any problems with hand feeding as there are so many risks involved.
As the chick is getting stronger i feel i'm doing the right thing so far.

I am totally a newbie and have never hand raised a bird but in this situation could you just maybe hand feed this little guy for the first feeding and maybe a little before bed or can you not have parents feed and handfeeding?????

CalamariBaby welcome to this site i havn't been on the site for that long either but i have found the people on here are so wonderful and helpful. tis a comfort to know you can ask for help when unsure......


Thankyou for your help and thoughts on this as i was so worried... My bub is doing so well now and so much stronger.... i know maybe i shouldn't be feeding the bub and mum feeding as well but it's only the first feed of the day she wont feed the others are fed but the little guy misses out every morning....
i feel it's ok to do it this way as mum has been wonderful and dont seem to mind she did go crook at me at first but now she just feeds herself she's not concerned at all...... hopefully she will start feeding him in the morning soon as he's getting so much stronger and bigger in growth every day.....