chicks after week 1

[yelkenli]

Surprise surprise! three chicks coming out after only one week. (They must have been sat on by a chicken for a couple of weeks.)
We are in a quandary now of trying to get our humidity up. The one that is fully out seems ok, though has to put up with a slow moving tray.

I am worried about humidity which is around 40% at best. Any recommendations.

Do I need to get a watering dish in there. it is tall, not sure if the bird would get to it with the grating (used to turn the eggs).

btw: a friend picked the eggs from her coop, put them in an egg crate, drove to work. sat them on the desk till lunch, when I picked them up. hearty creatures.

(sorry about the duplicate pics. there was no indication of an upload, so i kept trying)

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Do I need to get a watering dish in there. it is tall, not sure if the bird would get to it with the grating (used to turn the eggs).

Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!

I would remove the chicks that hatched already to a brooder, ASAP.

And maybe suggest your friend collect her eggs daily. OR if she has broody's... mark the eggs under her broody to make sure she is only collecting fresh eggs. Other hens will keep depositing eggs to a broody's nest and she will kick some out when it gets to full. Checking nightly and collecting only those that aren't marked. Pencil rubs off, I use Sharpie.

 

[yelkenli]

I would remove the chicks that hatched already to a brooder, ASAP.

Done. Two have hatched.
One started pipping yesterday but is still in the shell. It has a nice sized hole open, but is just in there chirping. I assume we don't take any helping action.

I will pass along the recommendation on collecting eggs. I got eggs from another friend years ago and his farm had hen nests in a nice coop, but also in various/random locations. The friend that gave me these eggs might have a similar set up.

 

[Peppercorngal]

In my incubator to increase humidity I used cut off medicine bottles filled with water and a cut sponge piece in it so if a chick knocked it over the liquid was pretty much contained in the sponge. I had to use two of them to bring up the humidity. I also removed hatched chicks after 24 hours to the brooder. Have Fun!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

One started pipping yesterday but is still in the shell. It has a nice sized hole open, but is just in there chirping. I assume we don't take any helping action.

I was wondering what you were doing to make them not turn... I like your invention!

I'm also curious to see how your hatching goes at 40% humidity, as one poster claimed we are creating problems by raising it so high for hatch.

Usually 24 hours can pass between pip before zip starts and then should go fast. I try not to assist, but some folks do... I would use a flash light to strobe a little and peep to it the same way other chicks would of they were hatching together to encourage it.

Your first two are little cuties.

 

[yelkenli]

@Peppercorngal - We put some cut up rags in the water reservoir to boost the humidity, and got it up to 50%.

I'm also curious to see how your hatching goes at 40% humidity

I read on this site that for hatching, humidity needs to be at >60% but for incubating between 25% and 50%. We have to accommodate both. We will see how it goes.

I was wondering what you were doing to make them not turn... I like your invention!

The design of the incubator is a common one on the internet. I plan to add some attachment features to one of the corners to secure a plate with some holes/cradles for such eggs. The cardboard plate is not fully stable since it straddles the cross bars, but stable enough.

 

[yelkenli]

The one egg that seems to be taking its time.
Hopefully it will come out and we can drop the humidity down a bit.

 

[yelkenli]

The third chick finally came out. Its legs are splayed out and backwards. We read that this could be due to low humidity.
I talked to my egg source. She says she picked the eggs Monday evening. I picked them up from work Tuesday at lunch. so that is the amount of time they were not in the right incubation zone.
Hearty creatures to survive that. We have two weeks left in this 21 day cycle and I will report the results.

 

[yelkenli]

Two of the early birds are doing well. They are eating and drinking.
The third not so well. See pictures.
The legs are pointing straight back. We found some posts that show how to 'hobble' the bird, but we are not sure this will help.
Otherwise, the chick is very loud, and will drink water when we dip its beak in the water dispenser.
Any recommendations on rehab?