Post by yunoxapo on Oct 8, 2017 22:41:06 GMT -5
Hello, all.
My name is Amber, and I'm new here. I need some help and advice, because as much as I've researched, and as much as I've kept birds in my life, I'm not sure if I should be concerned, or not. I'll start from the beginning.
My birthday is in 10 days, and I knew I wanted a Quaker. I've kept a Quaker in the past that I had rescued, but he sadly passed away a few years later from health issues. My husband agreed to get me one and found a local breeder.
My husband went to the breeders house and saw the chick, then put down a deposit. My husband has never kept birds and doesn't know much about them, really. The plan was for him to pick up the bird and bring the chick home a week later, which he did.
When I saw the chick I knew immediately that it was very young. Much younger than my husband was told. That worried me instantly, as the youngest chick I've ever cared for was about 3 weeks old. This one is nowhere close to that. It has down feathers and it's eyes are not open.
Here's where my concerns are:
When brought home, the chick did chirp. When I went to give it a feeding using a pipette, it had very little feeding response. It didn't really bob or beg for food, even though it's crop was empty. I chalked this up to my handfeeding being different from the breeders and the bird being confused. Even now, 4 days later, very little feeding response.
The chick no longer makes noise. It perks up when I touch it, it moves around and doesn't seem too weak. The lack of chirping or quaking concerns me.
The chick seems to have a lot of balance issues. When he is out of the brooder for a feeding, he falls onto his back a lot. He can barely walk at all, and when he does, he generally just scoots with one leg and goes in a circle. I'm concerned there may be an issue there, as well.
His skin is pink and he's emptying his crop well. As I said, he seems to perk up when I touch him. He's just very quiet, doesn't have much of a feeding response, and seems to have balance issues, especially with the falling on his back all the time.
Are these things I need to be concerned about? Could this be due to being with a new person and not being acclimated? Or maybe due to his eyes still not being open?
I'm not sure how to post pictures on here, but that could be because I'm on my phone. I'll try and post some from my PC. He has to be at least a week old, because my husband had been there and saw him a week before he brought him home. His eyes still being closed and having no feathers tells me that he couldn't be much older than that at all.
Any thoughts? I'm doing everything I can to make sure this little guy is taken care of properly and does well. I'm already very attached and don't want anything to happen to him.
I've tried contacting the breeder and couldn't get a response.
My name is Amber, and I'm new here. I need some help and advice, because as much as I've researched, and as much as I've kept birds in my life, I'm not sure if I should be concerned, or not. I'll start from the beginning.
My birthday is in 10 days, and I knew I wanted a Quaker. I've kept a Quaker in the past that I had rescued, but he sadly passed away a few years later from health issues. My husband agreed to get me one and found a local breeder.
My husband went to the breeders house and saw the chick, then put down a deposit. My husband has never kept birds and doesn't know much about them, really. The plan was for him to pick up the bird and bring the chick home a week later, which he did.
When I saw the chick I knew immediately that it was very young. Much younger than my husband was told. That worried me instantly, as the youngest chick I've ever cared for was about 3 weeks old. This one is nowhere close to that. It has down feathers and it's eyes are not open.
Here's where my concerns are:
When brought home, the chick did chirp. When I went to give it a feeding using a pipette, it had very little feeding response. It didn't really bob or beg for food, even though it's crop was empty. I chalked this up to my handfeeding being different from the breeders and the bird being confused. Even now, 4 days later, very little feeding response.
The chick no longer makes noise. It perks up when I touch it, it moves around and doesn't seem too weak. The lack of chirping or quaking concerns me.
The chick seems to have a lot of balance issues. When he is out of the brooder for a feeding, he falls onto his back a lot. He can barely walk at all, and when he does, he generally just scoots with one leg and goes in a circle. I'm concerned there may be an issue there, as well.
His skin is pink and he's emptying his crop well. As I said, he seems to perk up when I touch him. He's just very quiet, doesn't have much of a feeding response, and seems to have balance issues, especially with the falling on his back all the time.
Are these things I need to be concerned about? Could this be due to being with a new person and not being acclimated? Or maybe due to his eyes still not being open?
I'm not sure how to post pictures on here, but that could be because I'm on my phone. I'll try and post some from my PC. He has to be at least a week old, because my husband had been there and saw him a week before he brought him home. His eyes still being closed and having no feathers tells me that he couldn't be much older than that at all.
Any thoughts? I'm doing everything I can to make sure this little guy is taken care of properly and does well. I'm already very attached and don't want anything to happen to him.
I've tried contacting the breeder and couldn't get a response.
It sounds like you are already quite informed, so hopefully your chick will have a great chance of surviving.