Thank you for the idea. I will set these things up in the brooder until I see if I can find a few more chicks later tonight or tomorrow. Waiting to hear back from a possible local source.you can also try mirrors and stuffed animal if you cannot find a chick
Congrats drafthorserider! Looks like the girls have you covered, I may add just a few suggestions in case you hadn't known already... there are several recipes for electrolytes in the Hatching 101 article, also my main concern is infection of the navel, I use veterycyn umbilical gel spray, its expensive but well worth having on hand. This protects against infection as well as dries the yolk and the umbilicus stump. I would love to see an image of the yolk if you can, its always better to help with images, plus I love to see new hatched chicks period! If you don't have veterycyn to speed up drying and prevent infection, swab some diluted tamed iodine onto a raw umbilicus or unretracted yolk sac as the Hagen Avicultural Research Institute suggests . Be it in the brooder or hatcher, what is most important is the most clean environment you can provide until its umbilicus is proper. And I wouldn't worry about it being alone for now, the more it gets active be it upset at being alone or not, it is managing its metabolism and helping the retraction/absorption process along. Good Luck with your new little one!
That is correct, everyone's situation is different and it also comes down to personal choice. I take it you are aware that dry hatches should not be done at high altitudes, due to the lower oxygen levels? I have never dry hatched and I've had good hatches. For me correct humidity levels = correct egg weight loss (12-14%) during incubation and correct air sac development. I found that maintaining humidity of 45-50% during the first 18 days incubation, followed by 65-70% for lockdown works fine. If all goes well during incubation and the chick hatched when it is ready, i.e. after completing the absorption of the yolk sac and detaching from the inner membrane, it's navel will be sealed and clean when it leaves the shell and it will be left if the incubator to dry off before being transferred to a brooder. I've hatched many chicks and I had no problems with their navels.
