HollyDutton
Chirping
I am starting this thread here from the end of a tail one I started about dealing with a broody, elsewhere:
OK so we have 4 that have hatched in the incubator, but #1 which hatched yesterday was pecking at #2 and #3 through their pip holes. When #2 broke out, #1 dragged the shell off and ate the stuff in there. Yuck. Kept going back and pecking at the top of #2's head which has an injury that's got blood and some swelling. Eventually I pulled #1 out and put it in a brooder tote with a heating plate. Of course, that results in incessant cheeping (which is bugging my husband), but I couldn't let Murder Chick (as I'm calling #1 for now) continue to have access to the injured one.
The other two hatched right before I had to leave for my daughter's gymnastics practice, and all 3 were moving/rolling around in the incubator when we left. Still got 2 eggs that I don't think have pipped yet (BCM, so hard to see in them, but when I candled them at lockdown, I didn't see movement, but it was all solid dark in there with a good air pocket and no sloshing. They might just be slow because the 3 that came out today went from pip to hatch in about 1.5 hours each.
Anyhow, suggestions on how to handle the injured chick? I'm hoping as it gets dark in the incubator tonight, everyone will settle down to sleep, and #2 can heal up. My thought is that when it dries off tomorrow, might move it to the tote with the plate, and put #1 back in the incubator with the others, if they look strong enough?
OK so we have 4 that have hatched in the incubator, but #1 which hatched yesterday was pecking at #2 and #3 through their pip holes. When #2 broke out, #1 dragged the shell off and ate the stuff in there. Yuck. Kept going back and pecking at the top of #2's head which has an injury that's got blood and some swelling. Eventually I pulled #1 out and put it in a brooder tote with a heating plate. Of course, that results in incessant cheeping (which is bugging my husband), but I couldn't let Murder Chick (as I'm calling #1 for now) continue to have access to the injured one.
The other two hatched right before I had to leave for my daughter's gymnastics practice, and all 3 were moving/rolling around in the incubator when we left. Still got 2 eggs that I don't think have pipped yet (BCM, so hard to see in them, but when I candled them at lockdown, I didn't see movement, but it was all solid dark in there with a good air pocket and no sloshing. They might just be slow because the 3 that came out today went from pip to hatch in about 1.5 hours each.
Anyhow, suggestions on how to handle the injured chick? I'm hoping as it gets dark in the incubator tonight, everyone will settle down to sleep, and #2 can heal up. My thought is that when it dries off tomorrow, might move it to the tote with the plate, and put #1 back in the incubator with the others, if they look strong enough?
Id like to see how it responds first to the ointment and time alone in a warm DRY environment.
