Help ... don't know what I am doing

[Molpet]

If any of you have ever had dirty eggs and had to throw them away because you can't wash them off before you put them in a incubator, I done a expierment and washed off some very dirty eggs a friend gave me and then I wiped them down with egg white and let them dry and put them in the incubator and it worked just fine, I have embryos in them now.

if your NPIP you HAVE to wash the eggs

 

[pjellen]

All six babies have hatched. They are in a big box on the table right now. They are peeping and flailing around like little drunk birds .
I have dipped their beaks in water but I don't think they have caught on yet. This is our 2nd set of raising babies, but the first that we have hatched ourselves. My next concern (other than praying they survive the next few days) is introducing them to the older 4 hens that we have.

 

[red horse ranch]

All six babies have hatched. They are in a big box on the table right now. They are peeping and flailing around like little drunk birds .
I have dipped their beaks in water but I don't think they have caught on yet. This is our 2nd set of raising babies, but the first that we have hatched ourselves. My next concern (other than praying they survive the next few days) is introducing them to the older 4 hens that we have.

Do you have heat for them? A 60 watt bulb in a crookneck lamp will work fine. If they are warm enough they should sleep a lot.
You've done a great job hatching them! Congratulations!

 

[lazy gardener]

You don't need to dip their beaks. Mama broody would be sitting tight to the nest for at least the first 24 hours after hatch, and perhaps even longer. Dipping so soon after hatch may cause aspiration.

Congrats. Be careful if you try to foster them back to the broody hen. Since she most likely already killed 2, she may do so with the rest. B/C the broodiness has been bred out of so many hatchery birds, they may sit eggs, but abandon them when the chicks start pipping, or they may kill them when they hatch. At this point, If I were you, I'd brood them with a Mama Heating Pad (do a thread search for more info. Blooie is the queen of MHP brooding and has written an article, as well as starting a thread on brooding chicks with a heating pad.

 

[pjellen]

Thank you. I will check out the heating pad. Right now I have a heat lamp with red bulb over the box they are in. It is holding steady at 92 degrees per the thermometer. So far they are ok..... some more active than others. The youngest seem weaker but I'm hoping tomorrow (2nd day) they will have more strength. The first borns are actually starting to nibble on the starter food and taking sips of water. I'm more hopeful. My hen is still broody. I am trying to break her by removing her from the nest box (3x today). I then covered them after gathering eggs and she was sitting on top of the board rather than the roost tonight. I guess I will try to block them off even more tomorrow. Everyone, thanks for your advice. I am open to any other suggestions anyone may have.