just hatched 2 out of 8 white chickens in incubator please help!!!! FAST111

dianawatson49

In the Brooder
Jun 27, 2015
14
0
22
just hatched 2 out of 8 white chickens in incubator the two were dry another had made a hole in the shell, so i carried the rest to hen house put in a nest I know 3 of the hens lay and sit in and locked everyone else out. Did I do the right thing. Im a first timer. Ill be sick if they kill them. If I did wrong, what should i do???
THNKS
DIANA
 
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Were the hens broody, or did you just place chicks under non-broody hens?

Edit: Or did you place eggs under hens? What you placed under them and whether they are broody or not is important.
 
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first of all thank you for your reply!!! the" 2 living chicks" i assume were dead this morn :( but there was another one that hatched still living. i dont know if i should take it out or not??? there were no eggs in that nest to begin with. I got all chickens out of house put all eggs in that nest with 2 living chicks and put 3 hens that lay on chicken in house kept all other out. What did I do wrong and what do I do now? Should I take that chick and all eggs out turn on my own in a box with heat lamp? if so, do u know the temp it needs to be? i usually have a ceiling fan running because its @ 95 degrees here. If i leave them in there do I turn on fan? I read some where that I shouldd get babie food and pint size water jar?? True? and if i leave in cage with brooding hens should i move all eggs to a bigger nest, maybe crate to small and now its dirty with ants.....ANY AND ALL HELP VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!! ILL BE WATCHING COMPUTER
 
Your not saying if you had a broody hen. A broody hen is one that basically has gone into a trance and sits on the nest all day. Will take one or two breaks to eat and drink and one large broody poop then back to the nest. If you don't have a hen that's broody you need to brood the chicks yourself. And of course get those eggs back in the incubator asap.

You don't need a heat lamp to brood chicks. They do need to be 90F for the first week, I can achieve that with a 60w incandescent bulb. Whatever type box to brood in make sure to keep the heat on one side so they can move away from it if too hot.
 
Only place the babies under broody hens! Even then, some mama chickens do not want to be mamas and will kill the chicks. Brand new baby chicks will prefer to have temperatures just under 100* F. Whether that is supplied by a mama hen or in a separate brooder cage with a heat lamp is up to you. You do need a small container to feed baby chicks starter feed, NOT layer feed. Also you will need a small water container for them.

If the mama hen does not take to the chicks, the chicks are perfectly capable of being self raised without a mother hen, in a completely separate cage from your original flock.
 
Hi Diana.

Little chicks after they fluff out need to be in a warm, safe box with their own food and water. Yes, buy some chick starter as soon as you can, or if you can crush a little of your chicken's food into smaller pieces that might work until you get the starter.

The ones out in the coop may have survived if your temps are really warm - go get them as soon as you can.

Most adult hens will not adopt babies unless you "trick them" to think they hatched underneath them. Like others said, it works best to sneak the babies in at night after the hen has been on the nest a solid couple of weeks.

Good luck, we all make mistakes
 
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OK RE BROODY CHICKEN SHE LAYS ON THEM ABOUT HALF AND HALF I DONT GO LOOK ALL THE TIME BUT ITS A BLACK ORINGTON AND SHE PRETTY MUCH STAYS IN THE CHICKEN HS AND HAS LUCKY 13 EGGS IN HER NEST, BUT DOES NOT LAY ON THEM ALL THE TIME.....SHOULD I TAKE HER EGGS AND PUT IN INCUBATOR. BTW THE 3RD CHICK DIED. I HAD BROUGHT HER IN HAD A BENDABLE LAMP AND HAD A 75 WATT BULB ON HER IN A CARDBOARD BOX SHE WAS CHIRPING AND 10 MIN LATER BEFORE I BROUGHT HER IN SHE WAS DYING...I PUT EGGS BACK IN INCUBATOR. THEY WERE OUTSIDE IN THE 70'S LAST NITE DONT KNOW IF SHE LAYED ON THEM OR NOT. dO THEY STILL HAVE A CHANCE TODAY IS CLOSE TO 22 DAYS. THANKS SO MUCH FOR UR HELP! WHAT SIZE BULB OR TEMP DO THEY NEED TO BE IN IF IM LUCKY ENOUGH TO HATCH MORE....HEARTSICK!
 
A broody hen will sit on her eggs and stay on them. They only get up once or twice a day to eat, drink, and poo. If your hen is not on the nest at least 90% of the time, then she is not broody. You need to keep those chicks inside in a brooder with a heat source to keep them at 95* to 100*.
 
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Ok, Diana, So the 1st time didn't work out. it happens. Don't beat yourself up about it, smile.
Try it this way. Forget about the broody hen thang. Esp. for a 1st timer. Get some quality eggs back in the incubator. When they hatch, the chicks do not need to eat right away. They have a yolk sack on their belly. It is important they absorb that yolk sack completely. It is baby food for them the first 2-3 days. This is why baby chicks can be shipped thru the mail. They carry their meals with them for up to 3 days.
Give them water the first day with vitamins in it. I use Poultry Nutri-Drench ( 2ml per gallon) as it doesn't need to be digested like electrolytes and gets them off to a strong start. http://www.nutridrench.com My solution looks like very weak tea. I put it in their water for the 1st 2 weeks. It's great for the developing immune system. I get mine at Tractor Supply, the smallest bottle. At hatch, give each chick one drop only by mouth . Wait till they have dried off to do this. For needy chicks repeat every 8-10 hours until the extra drop is not needed.
Now about the brooder set up. Many folk use a large plastic tote. It should give each chick about 3/4 to 1 sq. foot of space. Tractor Supply carries a white bale of chips. The white bale is hardwood chips. That's what you want. Not the yellow bale of softwood chips. Your chips should smell like fresh dry sawdust, not turpentine. That's how you know you got the right chips.
In the beginning, floor your tote with heavy paper toweling or you can also put over it that waffle weave drawer liner. The idea here is to give the chicks something they can get a grip on for flooring. No newspaper or slick floors for baby chicks. That can cause problems with their leg development.
Use the paper toweling for about a week ( replace as it gets dirt, like changing a diaper, smile) ) . Then switch to the plain chips for flooring.
Ok about feed. water with Poultry Nutri-Drench in it. Get a medicated chick feed by a major manufacturer. Purina is good, or Agway, Southern States or Naturewise. The medication in the feed will help the chicks develop an immunity to a bacteria which cause the runs in chicks. You do not need organic. These are chickens not a special needs baby. It's more important to get the Drench in them to help develop a better immune system.
The 1st 2 weeks feed and environment are crucial to a correctly developing chick.
Heat: a 60 watt incandescent bulb will do fine this time of year. Use incandescent, not a heat bulb like the 250 watt red bulbs. The 2 kinds of bulbs work different ways. The heat bulb is designed to heat objects where it shines. The incandescent throws out heat which creatures use to keep worm. Put the bulb at one end of the tote. The feed, water at the other. This way the chicks can get away from the heat if they want too. Put a hardware cloth top on your brooder so the chicks don't hop out. Hang the light so it shines in the brooder but does not touch the hardware cloth. Get a cheap hygrometer. That's a thermometer which also measures humidity. Wal-Mart has one. Place it on the bottom of the brooder. This way you can see how hot it is where the chicks live and check as see the air isn't getting too dry for them. Too dry air can cause them to be dehydrated. Your brooder should start at 95 degrees. and ratchet down the heat from there until 4 weeks when they should not need heat any more. Heat reduction and humidity level schedules are posted around BYC or hopefully another poster will post one here.
Chick waterers and feeders can be gotten at Tractor Supply with the Drench.
Ok, you should be good to go now, No treats until they are at least a week old. Sprinkle a tiny bit of chick grit on top of their second meal. Do this for a few days and them once they have figured out it's just a supplement (not their meal) , put a small cup of chick feed in the corner of the breeder.
Why do we feed grit when it is not necessary when feeding chick grit? Interesting question. Here's an article I wrote about it which explains why it is important to feed chicks the right size grit at each stage of development. I get my grit at Agway.
The Science Of Feeding Grit To Poultry
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/891051/the-science-of-feeding-grit-to-poultry
Best Success,
Karen

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