1 day old chick not looking good :(

[mmjc]

My white leghorn bantam just hatched yesterday morning and was doing great! I left him/her in the incubator for a full 24 hrs and he was pretty much completely dry so I moved him and the other hatchling into the brooder under the lamp. I read that you should dip their beaks into water and get them to take that first drink - which I did, but he won't drink anymore?! He's not as vigorous as the other and just lays down a lot. Doesn't have a drive to eat or drink or run around. What can I do?! I'm so afraid he won't make it.

 

[mollybuck]

Keep dipping his beak in.. do you have a thermometer in the brooder? Maybe is not warm enough...or too warm? I'm not sure, but I hope he makes it!

 

[mmjc]

I've tried several times. When the water touches his beak he just shakes his head...won't drink. I've dipped my finger in the water and rubbed it on the end of his beak and he gets a little, but not much. He just lays ALOT. I do have a thermometer in there and it's 99.5 degrees. The other one (hatched yesterday as well) is lively an drinks and eats, but he won't. He had his first bowel movement while still in the incubator but I don't know that he's gone since. He'll get a little spurt of energy and then lays back down.

 

[mmjc]

Now I've got another egg that is due tomorrow that was rocking today and I heard chirping, but now nothing?! Do I leave it in the incubator or try to assist? It hasn't moved or made any noise for hours. Don't know why it just stopped.

 

[mshuntjump]

The baby that hatched is fine. Normal behavior. Yes, you are supposed to dip their beak, but they are not going to have any energy or willpower to drink themselves in the first two days or so. That baby just worked so hard to get out of the egg, it is going to rest for about a day or two. About the rocking egg.. Was it rocking and chirping before or after you took hatched chick out?

 

[mmjc]

I've been keeping a close eye on the hatched chick and he's still about the same but I did get him to drink a little. Hoping that's all it was. The chick in the egg died. It was rocking and chirping after I removed the hatched egg and then it just stopped. I finally decided to candle it and saw it had pipped internally but not through the shell and there was no more noise or movement. It had already died. I opened it up and it had made a small opening through the membrane into the air sac but that's all. Now I've got another egg doing the same thing but its not due until tomorrow. I don't want the same thing to happen! My humidity for some reason keeps dropping so I'm wondering if that is the cause. It went from being consistently 67% to now 57%. Is that too low?

 

[sallywithchickens]

Do you have these in separate bators? If not, opening it to remove the hatchlings can certainly drop the humidity in a hurry and cause "shrink wrap" or even just dry out the inner sac and makes it difficult to get through. They wear themselves out just trying to get out. The advice I've received is to not open the incubator until all eggs have hatched or you have given up on the process.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Do you have these in separate bators? If not, opening it to remove the hatchlings can certainly drop the humidity in a hurry and cause "shrink wrap" or even just dry out the inner sac and makes it difficult to get through. They wear themselves out just trying to get out. The advice I've received is to not open the incubator until all eggs have hatched or you have given up on the process.