And then a bundle of fertile eggs showed up at the back door

[backdooreggs]

Ok, so it wasn't quite a basket draped with a white blanket and a note saying " incubate us," but it was certainly a surprise when fertile eggs were brought to our back door about four weeks ago . We moved to the country a year and a half ago hoping to raise a little family on a little homestead. The plan was bees first , check, then a couple of chickens and some guineas this spring. Well I told this plan to our bird enthusiast neighbor kid ( he 's got a huge flock of every kind of fowl ) and sure enough a couple weeks after out conversation he shows up with 23 eggs . We had no plan , no incubator, no experience and just well no clue . After panicking for about 24 hours I tracked down an incubator from a friends sister and give right in. Trying to get the temperature correct was nothing short of nerve obliterating. We read the forums , followed advice from friend's sister and after temp fluctuations and god only knows what we put them through we came out of it with 9 chicks currently . We had a handful that never developed, 4 rotten eggs, two passed after pipping, two passed after assisted hatch, and two died today in the brooder. One had a bad splayed leg, the other kept rolling onto her back. I think they both overheated when the sun hit the box and they couldn't escape the heat. It has been such a devastatingly sad experience. I can't get the images out of my head - but I have 9 babies and I don't want to lose another so I'm trying to focus on the days ahead. Right now my fears are temperature fluctuations in the box, a large baby with bullying tendencies and one that's panting though the others aren't . We are pretty desperate for insight and advice as we struggle with loss, feelings of ineptitude and immense responsibility .

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on the successful hatch, sorry about the chicks you've lost. You might want to post in the Raising Chicks forum about the problems you are having https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/11/raising-baby-chicks The brooder doesn't need to be a consistent temp, it should have hotter and cooler spots, the heat right now needs to be 95* under the heat lamp, but it can and should be cooler else where, so the chicks can move in and out of the heat as they need. If you have a real bully chick you may want to divide the brooder in half and separate the chicks by size or temperament.

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC and the world of chickens!

I'm sorry for your losses. We went through losing 4 of the 7 chicks we got first time around. It is hard and does make you feel like your totally incompetent. But you aren't incompetent if you can do an unplanned/unprepared hatch and end up with 9 chicks!

There's a learning curve for everything and that includes raising chickens. If you enjoy your birds, you'll go on to learn more. And some day you may be the one to give that neighbor kid some advice!

Learn your way around BYC...there's a ton of information available here and some very friendly, helpful members willing to answer questions.

Good luck to you and keep us posted on how your chicks are doing!

 

[backdooreggs]

Wow. It's amazingly reassuring to have such prompt feedback . I don't feel quite so alone now. Thank you both very much. I have already learned so much from this site. I have relied on it heavily to get us this far and will continue to without question.

 

[drumstick diva]

Lucky you, the only thing to turn up at my back door was a fox. I did NOT invite him in.

Do you have any idea what breeds the chicks are? That was very nice of the neighbor boy to bring you eggs but, a little warning would have been nice. Welcome to Backyard chickens.

 

[enola]

You have MUCH nicer neighbors than I do.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Congrats on the hatch!

 

[eagrbeavr]

Wow sorry to hear of your unplanned panic and loss. Tbh, winding up with 9 may've been a blessing in disguise. 23 unplanned birds? Thats a lot of birds to shoot out of the gate with, imo, and a lot of work. I can imagine it was traumatic to go thru what you did and feel inept. Thats a bit like rescuers guilt. Sometimes even with the best of preparedness, theres times a rescue comes out of left field and you can only do the best you can. Hope you feel better about it soon

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hello

and Welcome to BYC!

Glad to have you join! Feel free to make yourself at home!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

I'm glad you joined our community.

Congratulations on the hatch! Good luck with the chicks.