how much can i handle my baby chick?

[Singlemaple]

i just hatched an egg yesterday im so happy but only one hatched and the chick is all alone and whenever i open the incubator that it is is it kind of hops and sqweaks and i pic it up and sit down and it curls up right under my chin in a warm rag... but i was wondering is there ever to much handling a chick?

also what temp should it stay at.

and can it stay in the incubator? ( mine is an ice chest with a light in it and a chicken wire thing to keep them away from the light )


do you want to see it? im wondering if it is an EE my roo is a silver laced wyandotte and i think it was my EE's egg cause for a few weeks she was laying dark eggs.. but it might be my black astralorp cause looking at her legs they have feathers on them.. but it might be my silver laced wyandottes hen.. i don't have more them 3 of each hen ( other then my 3 NHR ) anyway i have no idea what hen it was she looks like an eeXwyandotte but i have no idea so im clueless...

 

[chicmom]

Hello!

You can handle your little chick quite alot, and it won't hurt a bit. (Except you might get pooped on! LOL) Since your chick is alone, I would recommend putting a little stuffed buddy and maybe a mirror in the brooder for it, to help with the loneliness.

Temps for a new chick should probably be around 90 degrees, and you decrease that by five degrees a week, until the chick no longer needs a heat lamp. If you can regulate your temps in the incubator you made, and it's large enough, it would be fine to keep the chick in there for a while.

And we do love pictures! Please share!

Take care and good luck with your chick....If you can find another chick somewhere, it would be good for your little chick to have a buddy to interact with...(A lonely chick is a peeping chick!)