Bunch of eggs, overwhelmed and no clue

[SittinDuck]

Not sure if your incubator has much humidity ... is the little one all dry ? As for food again I have never had geese but for my baby chickens I chop up cooked eggs a scrambled egg is good I just beat it and cook it not adding milk and butter. I also add in smalll parrot seed .... chiken chicks like to peck so I sprinkle some about on the groung. Maybe some egg-wash soaked bread... good using the chick as a temp guide. The recommend guide is good to know but watching the chick is best. Yes they need friends ... friends help them keep warm too. A stuffed toy would be better than nothing. The floor cant be smooth ... pine shaving seem popular, an old towle can work too.

The incubator has lots of humidity, that's one reason I hate to take the chick out into the dry, cool air. Right now it likes hiding behind the thermometer I have propped up inside the incubator. It seems really healthy and full of energy.

I guess it's as dry as it's going to get inside 70% humidity. The egg shells fell off its coat.

I put pine needles on the bottom. The cats and duck like laying on them. They're warm.

I found some chick starter feed that someone gave me a while back. It smells a bit stale, but after giving it a good stirring, it may be ok. Of course, I could try some cat food. The adults love cat and dog food.

I'll post some pics later today.

 

[Pixijayne]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/3120#post_16684786

I think this is the link ...

 

[Pixijayne]

Dont give it stale old food .... might have mold spore in it or something .. and cat food might be ok a a few days but you dont eant it getting pastybutt ... the runs. Try bread soked in egg and water ... just for now a light sprinkle of sugar too .. break the bread up into small pinch/bite size bits

 

[SittinDuck]

I know about the no sleep .... when I was hatching out my eggs under a bedside lamp .... I was a wreck .... it was soooo good finally getting them in to an incubator ... for the last 12 hrs ... yeah once I got the bator they hatched. Then I had to make the brooder. I was lucky I had an old hermit crab set up I could pull stuff off ... I used a plastic tote/box, stuck the heat mat/pad from the hermit crabs on it, used a thermostat cutoff power supply thing from the crsbs too ... I'll gind a link to the pics I posted.

I'll be glad when this is over. I told a friend last night that it will either die and I'll feel bad or it will live and I'll have to continue stressing that it might die. I don't mind throwing out rotten eggs, but I don't want to have to scoop up any bodies.

I'm also afraid that my light bulb will blow at night while I'm sleeping and it will get too cold. A few weeks ago I accidently kicked the light unplugged and didn't know it for 4 hrs. It was in the 70s inside the incubator. I don't know how the little guy made it.

Most of the eggs (about 20) were the ones I found laying on the ground one day outside the doghouse after the geese and ducks took turns sitting on them. Not sure if they kicked them out or if a coon got in there. The new chick came from that batch. Amazing that egg survived so much "abnormal conditions".

 

[SittinDuck]

Dont give it stale old food .... might have mold spore in it or something .. and cat food might be ok a a few days but you dont eant it getting pastybutt ... the runs. Try bread soked in egg and water ... just for now a light sprinkle of sugar too .. break the bread up into small pinch/bite size bits

Raw egg? What do chicks eat in the wild? The adults eat grass. Could I feed it grass? They don't nurse like kittens so I'm assuming the babies eat grass too.

 

[SittinDuck]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/3120#post_16684786

I think this is the link ...

Mine won't be as pretty as yours. I'm all dude

 

[Pixijayne]

If raw egg dosnt seem right to you try a plain ... no butter or milk scrambled egg coole of course .. also offer some bread bits soked in a little sugar water

 

[Pixijayne]

I had to make it preety cause it sat on my dining table for about 2 weeks. They just moved outside this week .. day and night ... but they still use the brooder box with the heat pad on to sleep in ...

 

[SittinDuck]

I had to make it preety cause it sat on my dining table for about 2 weeks. They just moved outside this week .. day and night ... but they still use the brooder box with the heat pad on to sleep in ...

Here is my contraption:



No thermostat. Just a dial to change the voltage on the light bulb. Paint cans are weights.

The inside:



Not much to it. A bowl of water and the right lighting provides the perfect humidity. A thermostat would be nice because it's a pain in the butt keeping an eye on the temps.

1 chicklet



Can you see the other egg starting to hatch?



Here is what I'm planning for a brooder:




That infrared light proved to be way way too much. Would probably cook a bird for dinner. I settled on a 100w bulb.

Now the question is: does it need to be closed in on all sides for the humidity? I figure it's already more than what they would get in the wild. I could spray the area with water and replicate momma coming in from the pond.

 

[Danielle2189]

One site said to keep the temp 90-95 and decrease it 5 degrees every week until it's 70.  I noticed at 95 the chick seemed to shiver, so I'm keeping it around 100.  It likes sleeping and scooting around and at one point even tried to climb back in its shell.

So far it seems the incubator is the best place to be for the warmth.  I doubt a light shining down will keep it as warm, but I'll work on something.

Does it need company?  Should I put an stuffed animal or something in with it?

What about food?  What should it eat?  I have a big bag of poultry pellets I've been feeding the adults.

Is wood chips ok for bedding?  Would pine needles be better?

Thanks for the help.  I didn't get much sleep last night since it started this at 2am.  I was starting to think the whole thing was a waste of time since I had already thrown out 6 or 7 eggs that started rotting.  I never expected this and when I first heard the chirping, I was thinking a cat had kittens or a rodent or something was making the noise.  That's how likely I thought my success would be lol

Yay!!! Congrats! The baby does not have to have company but may like a stuffed animal. You can take a plastic tote and put some wood chips in the bottom for now. You will need a heat lamp and a heat lamp bulb. I get 125 watt. Both lamp and both are fairly cheap. Should only be about $15 for both at your nearest farm and fleet or farm store. For food, you could probably feed it chick starter. Also, fairly cheap at the farm store. It's going to like water....a lot.....haha and be really messy! You will have to change its bedding often. But so cute!! Awesome job on the incubation! How exciting!!!