Hecks--The Tiny Chick. March 26Th 2015
I know I have already posted about this on the forum but I want to keep a record and thought the best way to do this using a 'blog' entry.
I've had this pair of Hecks since last year but they were not last years birds.
The hen was always laying eggs but she never incubated them.
Then surprise, the last lot she laid (6eggs) they decided to incubate them. The only difference this time was Instead of the usual nesting material I use I gave them coconut fibre. I was surprised just how quickly they used this to build the nest.
6 eggs in Heck's nest
Eggs candled via computer 3 look to be fertile - this eventually proved to be correct
Unfortunately today when I was checking the cages seed/water etc.- I found one little chick was on the floor of their cage -it was dead so at least I knew some of the eggs were fertile.
I can check the nest from outside the cage but had decided after I knew they were incubating the eggs I wouldn't disturb them unless they were both out of the nest feeding. So as both birds were out from the nest this afternoon I decided I would check the nest.
Only 3eggs were in the nest - no eggs had been thrown out and definitely no other eggs hidden in the nest. What happened to the other 3 eggs? well one had hatched but no idea about the other two eggs. !
The pair seemed as though they had given up incubating the remaining eggs so I cleaned out their cage and removed the nest box and was about to bin the 3 remaining eggs when I thought --just in case they were fertile --and maybe there could a chance they would hatch out I decided to put them into the incubator and would candle them later to find if they were/had been fertile.
30 minutes later my eyes about 'popped' out of my head one of the eggs had hatched out in the incubator. I was so glad I hadn't removed the nest from the nest box so I put the newly hatched chick back in the nest and put the nest box back onto their cage and decided I'd wait for 15 minutes to find out if the parents would go back into the nest box and crossed my fingers that the parents would feed it. Both adult birds were going into the nest so I'm hoping they are feeding the chick.
Sadly in the morning I discovered they had tossed the 2nd chick out from the nest and it was dead
The other 2 eggs are still in the incubator but I think only one is fertile but if it hasn't hatched out by the morning I guess it will be dead in the shell .
I have now candled the photograph of the egg I think is fertile but I can't see the red dot (heart) that usually shows up when the chick is alive in the shell , but it could be the angle I have taken the photograph.
this is the image of the chick inside the egg.
(you can see from the entry photograph that this chick did hatch out successfully)
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March 27th 2015
Day 2
So far so good the chick is fine! (Me on the other hand I'm a nervous wreck! Maybe I should be changing places with the chick 
)
I put the chick into the hospital cage last night and set the temperature just slightly lower than the incubator and it seems to be working out OK. I have been feeding it every 2 hours. I'm using a cocktail stick that I adapted this is fine for the early stages and the chick is showing a positive reaction to this and it ensures that the chick isn't getting too much formula each time.
Hospital cage:
Tonight I have increased the strength of the formula (as directed) and it seems to have made a difference how the chick is feeding.
Using Kaytee formula :
Day 1-2 = 1 part Kaytee to 6 parts water
Day 2-5 = 1 part Kaytee to 2/3 water
day 5 onward = 1part Kaytee to 1 1/2 / 2 parts water.
Depending on how it goes I may extend the time between feeds. But it will only get fed if its crop is empty.
(Soon be Sunday and hopefully the Bengies will take over ) 
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Saturday, March 28th 2015
'Hamish the Heck' (it's been named! ) so far is doing well. Although it's 'early days' I'm not even worried now if the Bengalese don't take over the feeding -- (but I could do with more than 2 hours sleep at a time lol)
As it's working out OK feeding him every 2 hours, I'm going to leave it at that meantime.
I'm still using the modified cocktail stick to feed him- I know the crop tube would be quicker but as this method is working out OK I'm going to keep on with it meantime.
This photograph was taken this morning at 7am (and all his bodily functions are in perfect working order 
)
A very short video of Hamish being fed:
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Sunday March 29th 2015
Was really worried this morning - I didn't hear the alarm and I was about 2hours late for Hamish's 1st feed. I took me ages to get him to start feeding and for a moment I was dreading what may happen.
I had to keep returning him to the hospital cage from time to time to make sure his temp. was OK
It took a lot of patience but it paid off. I only fed him a little and let him rest for about 10 minutes in the hospital cage then tried feeding him again after 2/3 times doing this he was back to normal.
So its obvious he still can't go all night yet --which by now he should be able to go from 11pm until 5a.m.
Today I've started him on the 1 part formula to 1 1/2 -- 2 parts water
Hopefully this may help to make him go longer between feeds.
I did buy the two Bengalese at the bird sale today and I was told it would be very unlikely they would feed the chick until they decided to go into the nest box.
What are the Bengies doing?? Yes sitting on a perch! I've put up a nest boxes at both ends of the cage and also put one inside the cage on the floor. Not sure if that is the correct thing to do but I'll see what happens tomorrow.
Short video clip:
This is Hamish tonight waiting to be fed - just wait until you see the end of this short video! Is it really a chick or is it a creature from another planet? 
Feed me NOW!
My last thoughts tonight- Please let the Bengies choose a nest tomorrow!
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Monday March 30th 2015
Hamish definitely went a bit longer between feeds last night.
It's now 10am and after Hamish has been fed I'm going to set the temperature in the hospital cage to a few degrees lower. Doing this on the basis that if I had been using the brooder I would have changed the light bulb from 60W to 40W
3pm: Having a bit bother with Hamish's feeding today -definitely not as responsive to getting fed.
I've decided to go back to the previous formula mix: 1 part formula 2-3 water to find out if that makes a difference.
One thing I find odd is sometimes when chicks are being hand reared they don't get the downy feathers like the other chicks get when being reared with their parents? When I look at Hamish he looks as though he is made from black leather 
9 pm: Still having a bit of bother with the feeding routine. When its time for him to be fed he is begging but he doesn't make a cheeping sound and after just 2 tiny bits of formula he doesn't seem to want any more. I'll leave him now until about midnight and try feeding him then although I will be checking him at regular intervals until then. Just hoping this glitch sorts itself out.
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Tuesday 31sr March 2015
This morning I'm really worried about Hamish he's definitely not feeding as he was before.
Today I was considering going on to using a crop tube but the one I had that would fit his beak has broken and seems impossible to fix but I'll have another try fixing it later on (to do it properly I would need to order more materials etc ) next size of crop tube I have is just a fraction too big.
Re the new Bengies they are still not going into any of the nest boxes but the ones I have in my aviary I guess would be ideal -they look as though they want to nest but there would still be the worry that they wouldn't feed Hamish and maybe toss him out from the nest- and at this point he definitely needs to be kept warm. and there would still be the problem of catching the other Bengies.
So it seems I'm going to be 'Mum' for a while longer.
I thought the first 4/5 days would have been the worst time for things to go wrong - but I'm not giving up hope just yet - I still think miracles do happen.
3pm
I think I have found the solution to the feeding problem.
I had a look through all the medical equipment I had used for my different pets in the past and I found this syringe:
But it is far too big to use as a 'crop feeder' for Hamish but part of it is ideal to use in the same way as I have been using the cocktail sticks and a safer method too. This is the part I'm using:
This syringe is meant for giving liquid only so Hamish's formula wouldn't have be able to be withdrawn into the tube. Using only the above part - which is just a perfect fit to go into his beak - I just dip the end into the formula and then insert it into his beak and so far it has worked.
I think this may be another cause for this 'Blip' in the feeding--- I noticed he hadn't been 'pooping' much.
Maybe the initial cause was by following the formula instructions to the letter! So now I'll be keeping Hamish on the 2-5 days old instruction - 1 part formula to 2-3 parts water even it this means I have to feed him at shorter intervals. and then I'll use my own judgement after that.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will work out because if it doesn't I just don't know what to do next!
5.15 pm
Sad News Hamish didn't make it.
Just wished I knew for certain what went wrong when he was feeding OK to begin with.
I know he would have died sooner if I had put him back into the nest but I wanted to give him a chance.
So, so sad that he didn't survive.
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