1 day old chick.... issues? Normal?

[Ashrhod710]

Ok so let’s start by saying this, never incubated eggs before, not sure where/what went wrong.... I tried to keep humidity and temp stable and raised humidity at lockdown. Had 12 eggs in, only 6 alive at lockdown. Only one hatched on day 23. Little one pipped and then could not zip. I wasn’t going to help it but at 36 hours I couldn’t stand it. I helped it along ok with no problems. My plan was to just zip the shell and leave membrane intact and see if it could get itself out. However before I was able to zip the shell all of the way the little bugger shoved himself out so fast he landed in my hand. Yolk was absorbed just fine and good, however he had dry stuff stuck to him. Like sticky slime? I didn’t want him to chill so I put him back in incubator. I didn’t want the dry stuck firm feathers to hinder him and it was keeping him from extending a wing so today I used a Q-tip and some warm water to wet him down and work it all off. Worked very well. Then a quick dry and back in incubator. He’s fully dry. Not much left of stuff on his feathers.... but he’s still not fluffy? Is he too tiny? Is there anything visibly wrong? Or is this normal?

 

[Aapomp831]

Looks normal to me! Cute little thing... but he will need a friend.

 

[Katie386]

Under a heat lamp he will dry and clean himself but I agree he will be very lonely

 

[Ashrhod710]

This is a size comparison of him and a friend. I was told the friend was 3-4 days old. I only put him in here to show size. I was planning on putting him in incubator again right after since he’s so small compared to them. Should he be left in here? He looks wet but he’s not. He’s about 24 hours old now.

 

[Katie386]

Incubators are pretty humid and in my experience don’t dry chicks correctly. I’m sure they will be okay together

 

[Ashrhod710]

Under a heat lamp he will dry and clean himself but I agree he will be very lonely

Yes we went and got him some friends today. Took us 5 hours because of how far they were but they were the youngest we could fine. ( 2-3 days as of last night....) I hope he doesn’t get pushed around too much. He’s just learning to walk it seems. ( he had sandals on last night because of curled toes. But they seem just fine now. )

 

[Katie386]

I hatched chicks and had some early hatchers and some late hatchers so they are all different ages. They might trample him but that would only teach him how to walk faster just make sure he doesn’t get stuck somewhere. They don’t start getting dominant until a couple weeks of age. i also have some bantams mixed in With mine and they are tiny compared And the do just fine.

 

[Katie386]

First five days are the most important in my opinion. Always check for pasty butt and make sure they are eating And drinking on their own.

 

[Ashrhod710]

First five days are the most important in my opinion. Always check for pasty butt and make sure they are eating And drinking on their own.

He’s less than 24 hours right now. I’ve dipped his beak and he showed no interest. However since he’s been in with his friends he’s started pecking at the ground and such like they do. ( I sprinkled some crumbles on the ground so he could get some. He seemed confused by the food dish lol)

 

[Katie386]

They watch and learn. You can try poking the food with your finger while making a “chook chook Chook” sound like a mother hen will do. I’ve even had a separate dish with wet chick food in it and they tend to like that a lot. But they are messy -_-