Hi all. I'm a new chick mummy and the first six eggs only gave me one beautiful baby. I learned heaps though and tried again. I had one chick hatch OK and then two failed to zip (long story for another thread). The fourth one pipped and the chick that was left in the incubator with it seemed to be really impatient to get it out of the shell. It finally hatched about 30 hours after the first one but it still had remnants of yolk sac attached. I looked for advice and put a barrier between them to stop the older one from badgering it and possibly pecking at the yolk sac while it finished absorbing. Now, the problem is that I tried to take the barrier away so they could get to know each other once the sac was all gone but the older one started pecking at the bubba! I wondered if that is just part of them getting to know each other so I just watched for a while. However, the pecking got more persistent and I was worried about leaving them alone together. So, I have taken the one chick in to the brooder as it was nearly time anyway and left little new chap in the incubator for a bit longer. Anyone tell me if this is normal and whether I should just persist when I put the second chick in the brooder. Any tips?? I've heard about cannibalism and I just can't face that after such a difficult hatching Any suggestions about how to introduce them again would be appreciated.
Maybe wait until the second chick is as strong as the first chick. I had a solo chick for a week then introduced to a few of the same age and she spent a bit of time curiosity pecking the others. I gently nudged her away a few times to distract her, within a few hours she was fine.
