Baby Chick

[FunckyChick]

My hens got broody and have had chicks. Mum abandoned the remaining eggs after a couple of days. Me being me felt sorry for them and put them in my seed incubator. I didn’t expect anything to happen but have just discovered one of the 4 eggs has hatched. I took the chick back to mum but she’s not having any of it. So, I have created myself a problem. Is the seed warmer going to be warm enough for the chick to survive before I find a solution.

 

[Stino12]

It's really warm here in Australia, I only had mine on heat for a week because it was so warm inside my house they didn't need it

 

[SueT]

Do you know how warm the seed warmer is? It was apparently warm enuf to hatch an egg. You can also use an incandescent (not LED) light bulb for heat. A 60 watt bulb in a desk lamp or clamp light fitting works fine. Or do you have a heating pad? If you have a thermometer you can test different options. 90° would be good, don't go over 95°.
Hopefully another egg will hatch so your orphan doesn't get lonely. Let us know!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Southeast Spain near the Mediterranean Coast. I checked the weather for Alicante. Definitely cool enough that the chick needs heat.

Do you have controls on that seed incubator so you can adjust heat? If it was warm enough to hatch the egg it is warm enough to keep the chick alive. It will do for a short term solution. You may want to look into providing something else as the chick grows. I don't know what it looks like so I don't know if it is suitable for longer term. As the chick grows the heat probably needs to come down.

 

[FunckyChick]

Thank you for your replies. The chick has survived the day! I had to take it to work with me to keep it safe from my terrier. Rightly or wrongly, because there are 2 hens co-parenting, I waited until they were asleep and popped the chick under the nicer of the 2 hens I’m hope that they won’t notice. It’s the chicks best chance of survival. It had 0 chance as an egg so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully it will all work out.
Thank you.