ants in the incubator!!!! HEED HELP REALLY FAST!!!!!!!

[Tonopah Pati]

A Recipe for ants I found from the "The Garden Guy" Dave Owens book is: Recipe #6 Sprinkle dry Cream of Wheat where Ants can ingest it. When cereal gets to the stomach and expands, the Ant explodes. He also says Catnip deters Fleas and Ants You can plant near pet runs, chicken runs . Hope this will help yo.u, Good luck

Darn Ants

 

[FenDruadin]

Don't Help The Eggs. Seriously. It can take a super super long time from "pip to zip." One of my ducks took over 48 hours. If you help them, you can kill them. They have to wait to absorb all the yolk and for the blood vessels in the membrane to dry up. They also have to gradually work around the inside before you will be able to see progress on the outside. Taking them out to check on them will do much more harm than good.

I know it's hard. I kept taking mine out the first time, despite all the advice to the contrary, and I'm pretty sure that's why they had such a hard time (one didn't make it at all and one required help after a very, very long wait). The membranes get dried out very quickly from the drop in humidity, and the temperature fluctuations don't help much either. ESPECIALLY once they've started pipping, they are very vulnerable to moisture changes and drying out.

Unless you can see the chick poking its nose out through a true hole (not just a cracked area on the shell--an actual hole) and it makes absolutely no progress and doesn't change position (but is moving, cheeping, and obviously still alive) for 24 hours or more, there is absolutely nothing you can do that won't cause harm. If it is just barely pipped, you aren't likely to be able to help it without killing it anyway.

It bears repeating (mostly because it is so hard to actually do): KEEP THE LID ON. Your babies are doing just fine. Really. It will feel like forever, but they really will make it out on their own if conditions are right. Since you've had it open already some (because of the ants and the understandable desire to check on them & help), it probably won't hurt to mist the inside of the incubator very quickly with WARM water from a spray bottle, to get the humidity way up. HOWEVER, wait to hear from chicken experts before doing this--I have ducks, and their moisture requirements are different, so it might not be a good idea for chickens. Still, there might be something you can do to undo some of the disruption they've already experienced.

Keep us updated!

 

[FenDruadin]

P.S. About the Cream of Wheat--that works somewhat for some colonies, which is why it's often cited as a remedy. Grits is also sometimes used, and I've had some success with it with outdoor colonies in reducing populations (but not eliminating entire colonies). The boric acid is much more reliable

.

Of course, no solution short of regular, professional (highly toxic) spraying programs will prevent the ants coming back if any underlying problems are not solved. And you may have to repeat treatments from time to time, even with the best of sanitary practices.

 

[tmpshrty96]

ok now i have 1 more question. the chicks that hatched are kicking around the other eggs what do i do?

 

[FenDruadin]

Nothing.

Notice a trend?

They know what to do. They are probably "helping" the other chicks, even though it looks brutal. I have read this part of the hatch described as "field hockey with eggs." Alarming as it looks, it won't hurt them.

In future hatches, however, I plan to put down a damp towel as "substrate" so when the kicking commences, at least they won't roll as far.

 

[2txmedics]

Cinnammon Powder!!!! read it in home remedies, tried it and it works...they will not cross the line of it...sprinkle aline around the bator or whatever your trying to keep them away from...they will not cross the line....I have cinn. powder on each window seal....they kept coming in cause of the heat.....not anymore.

 

[tmpshrty96]

ok. all of my hen that died eggs have hatched and 1 of the quail babys have hatched so that makes 4 chicks!!!!!! ill take pics when they dry out and i get them in the brooder box. i cant get any good pics of the chicks in the incubator because the window is dirty. how long will it take for them to dry out? and also is cedar ok for bedding? i hope so we already have it in the brooder box and couldnt find any other shavings!!!

 

[Akane]

In future hatches, however, I plan to put down a damp towel as "substrate" so when the kicking commences, at least they won't roll as far.

Your eggs will absorb too much water and drown the chicks. Done it on accident. You want to make sure anything you put in the bator either doesn't touch the eggs or else isn't wet or too drying. Otherwise you'll negatively impact the amount of moisture in the egg.​

 

[2txmedics]

Im having a problem with mine...my buffs were popping like popcorn yesterday and day before....today I had to rescue to babies they were dry and stuck to the shell 35hrs was enough of it to see, so I got a q tip, and warm water and went to work...being a medic, yes I was gentle....

but my other eggs...no sound, no zip...nothing!...what is my humidity suppose to be at now????Im on day 22nd tonight

 

[BFeathered]

No cedar shavings! Go with paper towels or soft/smooth washable fabric pieces. The cedar can be toxic when it's shaved (I don't think it's as big a problem when it's a large intact piece of wood, and once the birds are older). Good luck!