Hi there I want to hatch some chicks for a class demonstration. I work in a lab where I can incubate the eggs but I cant keep the hatched chicks in there. I was wondering if I can take the half-hatched chick and leave in room temperature. Would it survive? What I want to do is imprint the chick onto either me or some object so I can show to the class. Has anybody tried this before and how easy is it to get it to work? Please let me know thanks
Quote:Agreed. It's not safe to take them out of the warmth of the incubator right after they hatch, and it's not even really safe to mess with them right directly after they hatch, for that matter. It's best to leave them alone, unless they are obviously having problems and need you to intervene, during the hatch and afterwords, too. They need to have time to try and gain their footing and adjust after they hatch, and that needs to happen in the 90*F incubator/hatcher. If you can't leave the newly-hatched chicks in the incubator/lab, you should put together a hatcher. A hatcher is what some people use when they are incubating eggs; what they do is they incubate the eggs in an incubator, and then on the day of the expected hatch date, they move the eggs to the hatcher, which is similar to the incubator (same temperature and humidity), except the eggs are no longer needed to be turned (after day 18) and the set-up is a little different: it's more cushioned, with extra paper towels/cloths for the chicks and also more space so they can have as much room as they want to wobble around, etc. after they hatch. Once all the chicks hatch, the temperature should be lowered to about 90*F. The hatcher is also used to keep them in for a day or so, so they can stay as warm as possible and adjust to everything after recently hatching. After a day or so of being in the hatcher, the chicks can be moved to a brooder box with a little food and water, and with a heat lamp of course to keep them warm. The temperature is lowered in the brooder box each week as the chicks grow, because as they grow they need less and less warmth to survive. There is a ton of more information about this, so please feel free to search the forums. And good luck with your hatch!
Let me say the same thing - in a different way: The hatching chicks need to be kept in a very stable, warm (99.5F), with appropriate humidity (approx 70%) during the entire hatch. They should be left in this environment until they are completely dry (12-24hours). After they are dry, they can be removed from they incubator/hatcher and put into a brooder under 90-95F heat (with enough space to move away from the heat source - they regulate their temp by moving closer or further away from the heat source). I hope this helps.
Also, about the imprinting, it can be very easy to have a baby chick imprint on you. Especially if you hatch them yourself and raise them yourself. Chicks that are raised by a brooder hen tend to be more shy of humans, and they will obviously imprint on their mother hen and not you, unless you spend a lot of time with them. But the best way is to raise them yourself, handle them a lot (but not too much), and before you know it they will think you're their mother and they will be following you everywhere! Have fun and again, good luck!
Chicks imprint within hours of hatching. They will imprint to their fellow hatch-mates, if they are all in the incubator together. You may want to google this, but I think the key imprinting time is within the first 12 hours of hatching - therefore he/she would need to hatch alone and be with the object/person to imprinted on immediately out of the shell and for the first day, at least.
