(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?

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mamanewbie

mamanewbie

Hatching
6 Years
Apr 19, 2013
1
0
7
Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to introduce myself & my flock. I myself is a "Newbie" raising chickens. I have only just a few different breeds enjoying the pleasures (most of the time) freeranging. All of my big girls are a 1 yr old, Ms. Toeless (delaware), Ms. Red (rhode island "Red"), Queenie (black copper marans) she is my bossie chick & Mama Jessi (buff orpington). Mama Jessi, after sitting patiently hatched (the old fashion way), eight babies that are a collection of all the big girls. Mr. Big&Bad (my rooster) was only with us just long enough to fertilize the ladies (a week & half), and died protecting them from two mean ol' hawks. (may he rest in peace) And this, my new friends brings me to my 911 question? Three wks back, after candling the eggs, I was pretty sure that I counted 10. The 21st day was 4/18 and 7 hatched. Today, 4/19, three more hatched but she has smothered one and pushed the other 2 to the side. I panicked and brought them inside. I have put them on a heating pad under a lamp. I have moved them around several times and they are slowly pulling it together. What should I do now to help keep them alive? Is there anyone who might be willing to read this long intro post and come to my little peeps rescue?
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I hand raise new babies almost every year. They should be in a cage with a wire floor, not on cardboard or paper. This helps their feet develop properly. A heating pad isn't necessary but a heat lamp is. They'll gather under it when they're too cold signalling you to drop it down a couple inches. As they get older, they need it less and will use it less, signalling you to raise it a few inches. The ambient temperature has to be pretty warm before you can completely take it away. Of course, they need fresh, clean water and chick starter feed. I buy my chicks from a hatchery and pay to have them vaccinated, but you can skip that step and buy a bag of medicated feed. Only the first bag needs to be medicated, after that switching to non-medicated is fine. If they're vaccinated, don't use medicated feed - one or the other, not both.

When my chicks arrive in the mail, the first thing I do is poke each one's beak into the water to show them where it is. After that, they really do figure it out for themselves. I sprinkle cracked corn on top of the chick starter feed and clean the cage every day or two. My cage has a pull-out collector tray that slides out from under the wire flooring. I line that tray with newspaper for quick clean up. I also put a little bit of straw in the cage for them, but I don't think that's necessary. They mostly just play with it. You just need to provide a safe environment for them and they do the rest.

I'm going to speculate that the hen viewed the late hatchlings as weak and was hard on them in order to toughen them up. It's so sad to watch a hen hatch babies and have them not do well. Good luck!
 

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