[animal mad]

Hi, i gave some bantam black orpington eggs to someone, she hatched them and three of the chicks hatched started to twitch soon after hatching anyway 10 days later they have died, she is blaming me for infected eggs even though all the orpington eggs i have hatched are fine and growing into healthy chicks. i read somewhere on the internet that stress can cause twitching does anyone have any other experience of this.she didnt take them to the vets so no clue there. they were kept in a hamster type cage with a heat lamp over the top , but didnt have anywhere to get away from the heat any ideas   

[8doubles]

The twitching may have been part of the normal hatching process , have a look here , http://emmadalton.co.uk/images/Time_lapse.pdf

[Chookiechook]

Maybe they were too hot if they couldnt get away from the lamp and dehydration caused the twitching....

How old were they when they died??

If you know yours have hatched ok then its unlikely to be the quaility of the eggs, and if you gave them to her rather than sold them, I cant see why she is being so picky

I know its disappointing but people really should stop pointing the finger of blame at the provider.... how are we to know if the eggs are all fertile, or if they will all hatch etc etc.

Maybe they should look a bit closer to home and maybe if they are novices they should put their hand in their pocket and ask a professional for help.



sorry rant over....... been a  long morning

[GrannieAnnie]

Well I don't know about the twitching, although it certainly isn't good for those chicks not to have an escape from the heat lamp, but the 3 little Welly's I hatched from your eggs are going great guns out in the garden Vicky!

It's probably the way they've been looked after (or not in this case!)

[animal mad]

thanks, it has all turned into something very stressful when i thought i was nice giving her the eggs, she sent me a text today indicating if any of her choc orpington chicks died then she would hold me responsible, i havent replied and dont tink i will. it is good to talk to other chicken people about it.
i am really glad grannie annie your welsummers are doing fine, do you know what sex they are yet

[GrannieAnnie]

With the colouring, I'm still sure I have a boy and 2 girls!  And they are lovely!

This stupid woman is just trying to find someone else to put the blame on!  It could also have been her incy perhaps wasn't cleaned out properly, and some sort of bacteria got in there too!  She can't hold you responsible for her other chicks dying!

My Brian said it was probably heat stroke or something too from the way they were kept!

[joyfull]

When humans get heat stroke we get very faint, vomit and shakey so chances are Brian is correct - basically she is at fault not you so don't stress about her xx

[animal mad]

thanks for your help i feel much better now.