Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Protein levels in the feed too low
Overcrowding
Boredom
CAUSES OF CANNIBALISM
Temperature too high, creating nervous, stressed birds
Access to raw, bloody meat
Overcrowding
Boredom
Brooding Chicks
The first few days of brooding, game bird chicks require frequent checking. Check the
chicks every hour until they get settled (usually 2 to 4 hours after they arrive, if shipped,
or placed in the brooder from the incubator). Once they appear to be warm and comfort-
able, check them two to three times a day. Make sure they are kept at the proper temper-
ature — not too cold or too hot — either of which can cause serious problems. If they
get too cold, they'll bunch up and the weak ones get trampled and die. If they get too
hot they get excited and irritable, which results in cannibalism (see box above).
Make sure that feed and water dishes are kept full and clean. Game birds have a high
energy requirement, so don't shortchange on their necessary protein ration. Make sure
the feed is fresh and not a less-nutritious holdover bag from the previous season. In some
cases, a vitamin and electrolyte mixture would be a good thing to add to the water.
I have never found a red lamp necessary to prevent cannibalism, but others have
found it a requirement. Destructive baby bird behaviors are sometimes a result of im-
proper diet and poorly regulated temperature. Simply keeping your babies in a well-con-
trolled environment and on a properly balanced feed reduces feather picking, cannibal-
ism, and poor growth and development, all of which can lead to high mortality. (For
Adoptive Moms for Fussy Chicks
Using chickens as adoptive moms for game birds works best if you let the hen set on
the eggs and hatch them out herself rather than try to present the hatched chicks to her.
I have seen day-olds successfully introduced to a broody hen, but this method is defin-
itely not easy to do; it requires a great deal of monitoring on your part to make sure the
chicks respond to her. Chicks that aren't taking to their new caretaker run away and hide
