John Roth
Chirping
- Jul 20, 2015
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I know the basics of it but in the past I seem to have high death rates after hatch. How could I prevent hatched chicks from dying that first week since the hatch?
Incubation process?
- Thread starter John Roth
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Sorry to hear you have had high death rates 
Double check your incubation process. Here's a fab article ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
How are you brooding the chicks? Food, water, heat, bedding? Are you dipping their beaks in the water so they know where it is? Is your chick crumb fine enough for them to eat? Do you have their water so they can't drown it?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens
Parent bird health/genetics can also play a part in chick quality.
Double check your incubation process. Here's a fab article ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101How are you brooding the chicks? Food, water, heat, bedding? Are you dipping their beaks in the water so they know where it is? Is your chick crumb fine enough for them to eat? Do you have their water so they can't drown it?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens
Parent bird health/genetics can also play a part in chick quality.
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Also try to ensure hens producing the hatching-eggs are in better nutrition than needed to simply produce table-eggs. I have to coddle my American Dominiques with dietary supplementation if hatching-eggs are collected after a sustained period of egg production. Sustained I mean by anything more than a month. I have particular supplements that work with my base formulation but so simplify look into conditioning diets for breeding.
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- #4
John Roth
Chirping
- Jul 20, 2015
- 171
- 7
- 51
Thanks for the links a tips! I'll look into it more and see where I'm doing it wrong. For feed for the hens I give them corn/layer mash, mealworms, and this nutrient/mineral bag that's packed with good stuff. They also are free range so they are finding things that they are possibly missing out
I don’t know what you are doing that first week after hatch. Maybe you could try to explain a little bit about what you are doing. I assume it is consistent over more than one hatch?
One thing I’ve noticed is that if you hatch from those little pullet eggs the chicks are often not as robust as chicks hatched form eggs where the hen or pullet has been laying longer. I still hatch from pullet eggs, I have some in the incubator right now, but I don’t expect the hatch rate with them to be as good as from larger eggs and my mortality rate from them is higher. But I don’t know if you are hatching pullet eggs. I really don’t know anything about your methods or what you are doing. It’s hard to comment.
One thing I’ve noticed is that if you hatch from those little pullet eggs the chicks are often not as robust as chicks hatched form eggs where the hen or pullet has been laying longer. I still hatch from pullet eggs, I have some in the incubator right now, but I don’t expect the hatch rate with them to be as good as from larger eggs and my mortality rate from them is higher. But I don’t know if you are hatching pullet eggs. I really don’t know anything about your methods or what you are doing. It’s hard to comment.
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- #6
John Roth
Chirping
- Jul 20, 2015
- 171
- 7
- 51
I leave them be to hatch as I'm aware they can go a day or two from the food or water. We had a older incubator in the past so maybe that was the problem. I've recently bought new one so maybe that will help. But anyways, was they were all hatched a poofy I show them to their water and feed by deeping their heads and putting crumb or two of feed in their beak till they figure it out. Like I said, it could of been the old incubator or maybe because they red sex link eggs?
It is not because they are red sex link eggs. Red sex links are crosses and should have hybrid vigor. They should be as good as any other eggs if not better than some.
The only way I could blame the incubator is if the humidity during incubation was fairly high. When the eggs don’t lose enough moisture the chicks can be hatched large and soft. They are not real healthy. Did they hatch pretty close to 21 days? Maybe the temperature was off?
What temperature is the brooder? If it is too hot that can be dangerous to the chicks. The best is when you keep one area warm enough but they also have cooler places to go to cool off. Too much heat is just as dangerous as not enough heat.
From what you said I can’t see that you are doing anything wrong. That’s a standard method of raising chicks.
The only way I could blame the incubator is if the humidity during incubation was fairly high. When the eggs don’t lose enough moisture the chicks can be hatched large and soft. They are not real healthy. Did they hatch pretty close to 21 days? Maybe the temperature was off?
What temperature is the brooder? If it is too hot that can be dangerous to the chicks. The best is when you keep one area warm enough but they also have cooler places to go to cool off. Too much heat is just as dangerous as not enough heat.
From what you said I can’t see that you are doing anything wrong. That’s a standard method of raising chicks.
- Thread starter
- #8
John Roth
Chirping
- Jul 20, 2015
- 171
- 7
- 51
I'll have to keep a sharp eye the temps and humidity, and perhaps a luck of the draw. I won't start this till April however as my hens need to stay away from the rooster for month so then I can do more selective breeding.
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