Chick day is here I think — ?s

[10xmama]

When checking on my broody this afternoon, she was standing a bit and I could see the three eggs. One had a little chip in it, and I could see movement. It looked like there was still a membrane covering the opening.

A bit later my daughter went to the coop to place a small/chilled watermelon rind near the broody b/c it’s so hot (mid 90s), and she said she heard peeping coming from the egg. She didn’t peek. Just held the rind near the broody, who took some good pecks of it.

So, how long does it usually take for a chick to hatch?

Also, this is my first broody hatching eggs. 1st year with a Roo. My chicks have always come from a hatchery and I’ve always had them vaccinated. Should I feed them a bag of medicated chick feed since they won’t be vaccinated? Will that be ok for the mama to eat?

This is the mama — Sam is her name. She’s either an EE or a True Blue Whiting (from MurrayMcMurray. They didn’t mark my breeds so I couldn’t tell which of those two breeds she was). She’s not sitting on her own eggs though. She’s sitting on two RIR eggs and one EE egg. The Roo is a Lakenvelder.

 

[asokatonu]

After the hatching proses has started it can take up to 24 hours for the chick to escape its shell. So I would probably say they would hatch somewhere around tomorrow. I raised 5 chicks from eggs I got from a naighbor and feed them non medicated chick starter and they are almost a year old now so I figure you could do either. I think the biggest thing would be, if you did get medicated starter, you would have to keep any other laying hens out of it. The mom should be ok eating either, but if you have any laying hens the medication in the feed can be passed on Into the eggs. Good luck with your chicks.

 

[cmom]

I came across this and have followed it because I have experienced coccidiosis in the past but really not since I started feeding the medicated chick feed since my brand of choice stopped making the feed I was using. I show my birds at poultry shows so I usually start them off with a higher protein feed. I bought the regular medicated chick feed but now I have switched over to Game Bird Chick Starter as it is higher in protein but does not come in medicated so I also give them some of the regular medicated chick feed. I have had no problems so far.

The Enemy: Intestinal Parasites

Medicated chick starters utilize coccidiostats, which help limit the incidence of coccidiosis in young birds. Coccidiosis is an intestinal parasite that is widely spread and found just about everywhere. It multiplies rapidly in the gut and then appears in the feces. As chicks scratch and peck they ingest the coccidiosis from the feces and become infected. Symptoms of infected chicks are a red or orange tint to the feces, a drop in feed consumption and lethargy. This disease can quickly infect your whole group of birds and is often fatal if untreated; Coccidiosis is one of the leading causes of death when caring for baby chicks. One way to help protect your birds against this disease is to feed a medicated chick starter.

While the choice to feed medicated or non-medicated chick starter is solely your own, there are certain instances where it is usually a good idea to feed a medicated starter. This includes brooding large batches of chicks (more than 50 at one time), brooding large batches consecutively, living in a warm and humid environment, and if you have a history of coccidiosis in your coop.

Likewise, there is one situation where feeding medicated chick starter is not recommended – vaccinated chicks. Always ask your chick source if chicks will be vaccinated. In this case, it is not recommended to feed medicated chick starter.

 

[cmom]

My broody's eat the chick feed too with no ill effects that I have noticed.