Incubator Chicks... Past 2 days

[StaceyLynn]

So, I've hatched my first run of incubator chicks. I thought I had prepared. I thought I had researched enough. And here I am not knowing WHAT in the world is going on!

So, the first chick hatched late yesterday. It was fluffy and active in just a couple hours, but all the other eggs were pipping and I understood that the incubator was NOT to be opened during this time. I got up this morning and all the rest had hatched, but every single one of them were soaking wet, or so it looked, including the first. I couldn't see through the incubator sides, there was so much condensation, so I opened the vent to allow some humidity to escape and went on to work. I figured they'd be at least semi-fluffy when i got back, but they hadn't changed a bit, and two chicks were face down in the floor with the others walking on them.

After some research, I found that some chicks have albumen on them with high humidity cases, and they should be washed off. So I carefully fixed some water in a pan and washed them, dried them quickly and put them in the little brooder I made for them. Now, I'm worried sick because I don't know what the temperature is! I've got a digital oral thermometer I've been using, putting it underneath the chicks, but as might be expected, I'm getting wildly varying temps, from 90 to 99, and everywhere in between. I've adjusted the light every way I know how, and looks like I'll be up all night checking on them!!

After the washing, most chicks have fluffed up for the most part, with some stickiness still on the head and sides of the head, and a few odds and ends places. Two of them are walking around, inquisitive, eating and pecking at things, but the others are not. They are somewhat lively when I pick them up, but they aren't moving around. Two are extremely lethargic, haven't walked at all, since hatching, have no fluffy down anywhere on their bodies, and I fear they won't make it through the night :-( I know, and even told my children, it's not likely that all would make it because that's just nature, but I wasn't ready to actually walk through that. Ugh... i don't know if I'll have the heart to hatch any more, if any of these make it. After my husband passed in March of this year, I just stopped living for a long time. I've been trying to get back into the things WE had planned on doing, and this was one of them, but... I don't know. Maybe I'm just not ready.

At any rate... my main concern is the temperature in that little brooder, which I made out of a plastic tote. I just currently have some puppy pads in the bottom with a few pieces of scrap material from my sewing room for them to huddle against. there's also a small flat container of crumble and another with water. The lamp is about 2 to 3 feet away from them. Could their lethargic attitudes be because they are too hot or too cold? I'm super worried that anything I do and everything I've already done is wrong!

Thanks so much if you've read this far! And forgive my drawn out whining, lol. This is the first place I've talked this much since losing my husband, lol, even in person! And thanks in advance for any advice offered. I already feel at home here!

Stacey~

 

[HRoseY]

I'm so sorry for how hard this has been. Especially after loosing your husband. So sorry for your loss. Praying for you.

I'm definitely not an expert but there behavior does sound concerning. It should be pretty easy to tell the temperature based on there behavior. If they are relaxed and happy they are correct. I would try to keep one side warmer and another cooler so they can adjust there own temp. I don't think the temp is causing the lethargic behavior especially since they haven't been in it long and were lethargic before. I would cook up some egg yolks and try to feed it to them. Hopefully an expert will be by to help soon.

 

[StaceyLynn]

I'm so sorry for how hard this has been. Especially after loosing your husband. So sorry for your loss. Praying for you.

I'm definitely not an expert but there behavior does sound concerning. It should be pretty easy to tell the temperature based on there behavior. If they are relaxed and happy they are correct. I would try to keep one side warmer and another cooler so they can adjust there own temp. I don't think the temp is causing the lethargic behavior especially since they haven't been in it long and were lethargic before. I would cook up some egg yolks and try to feed it to them. Hopefully an expert will be by to help soon.

Thank you so much. I do have one side cooler than the other, for sure. I had read about that, so I chose a long tote for the brooder. I had thought that too, about their behavior, but I wanted to ask. I know with this being my first hatch, I have a LOT to learn! I'll cook some egg yolk immediately! Thank you!

 

[StaceyLynn]

Sadly, one has already passed :-( It looks like I will only have two to live through this. They are just laying down and dying, it looks like. The two that are doing well are in the same brooder, and I just don't know what is going on. This will definitely be the last time I do this! My heart can stand it :-(

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi, StaceyLynn,

I'm sorry to hear about your husband.

Please don't give up on this.

Hatching and raising chicks is very enjoyable and you need to try again as it does get better. Sometimes it takes a few bumps. I can tell you the proper equipment makes a world of difference.

Please pardon all my questions but I'm going to try help you help the chicks now, and for future hatching.

What kind of incubator is it? I leave the vents always open, and when they hatch, yes, the humidity will spike up, but it goes back down itself.

Is it a heat lamp or a heat plate that you're using for heat?

They should be at 90-95°F for their first week, then down 5 degrees each week after. Most of us have separate hygrometer/thermometers to double-check the incubator, and to test the temp in brooders. The incubators are rarely accurate. Govee is a reliable brand of hygrometer/thermometer that many of us have, and they're on Amazon. I have five. Some of those have apps for your phone, too, if you want.

Do you have chick crumbles or all-flock for them? You can mix some crumbles with a bit of water just so they're wet and the chicks should love that.

If you can pick up something at a farm store for their water, there are many products for chicks that can help them through stress and to be stronger. We use Hydro-Hen. If you do that, just give it every other day and alternate with fresh water.

 

[HRoseY]

Sadly, one has already passed :-( It looks like I will only have two to live through this. They are just laying down and dying, it looks like. The two that are doing well are in the same brooder, and I just don't know what is going on. This will definitely be the last time I do this! My heart can stand it :-(

I'm so sorry. It's so hard to loose them.

 

[StaceyLynn]

Hi, StaceyLynn,

I'm sorry to hear about your husband.

Please don't give up on this.

Hatching and raising chicks is very enjoyable and you need to try again as it does get better. Sometimes it takes a few bumps. I can tell you the proper equipment makes a world of difference.

Please pardon all my questions but I'm going to try help you help the chicks now, and for future hatching.

What kind of incubator is it? I leave the vents always open, and when they hatch, yes, the humidity will spike up, but it goes back down itself.

Is it a heat lamp or a heat plate that you're using for heat?

They should be at 90-95°F for their first week, then down 5 degrees each week after. Most of us have separate hygrometer/thermometers to double-check the incubator, and to test the temp in brooders. The incubators are rarely accurate. Govee is a reliable brand of hygrometer/thermometer that many of us have, and they're on Amazon. I have five. Some of those have apps for your phone, too, if you want.

Do you have chick crumbles or all-flock for them? You can mix some crumbles with a bit of water just so they're wet and the chicks should love that.

If you can pick up something at a farm store for their water, there are many products for chicks that can help them through stress and to be stronger. We use Hydro-Hen. If you do that, just give it every other day and alternate with fresh water.

Thank you so much for responding, for your condolences, and for your many suggestions I really appreciate that! And I don't mind the questions.

The incubator is a PetsFond 12-egg model by OneAmg,, with digital controls: https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Egg-Incubator-12-40-Eggs/dp/B0DYK1CF6B
I never did get the settings to work, the manual was no help really. It's supposed to have a setting specifically for chickens, but it kept "resetting." There's something wrong with it, I'm sure, but I can't afford anything like this. This one was gifted to me. I tried looking up the "how-to's" online and never found anything really. It monitored the humidity, which during the incubation cycle, stayed between 53 and 65, and the temperature, which stayed between 99 and 100. But it was supposed to keep count of the days and give off a timer or something, and it did none of that. Of course, I've been struggling a lot to just get in the shower and go to work, so anything more feels like a million pounds anyway, but I digress, lol.

As for the vents and humidity, I didn't have them open at first, because I thought that was discouraged. But when the chicks hatched, all the eggs, that is... the humidity did shoot up, and I expected it would go back down as it said it would, but it didn't. I checked on them yesterday morning around 9, and they were all hatched. I checked the settings and everything, and went to work, worked six hours, did some quick shopping for my son's birthday, and came back home and the humidity was as bad or worse, and the condensation was so thick on the inside of the incubator, I could hardly see the chicks inside. I'm definitely doing something wrong there, I know!

I have a heat lamp... the silver clip ones you can get at TSC, with the red bulb that comes in a two-pack, also at TSC. I used this lamp with the two sets of chicks that I bought, and with two sets of ducks that hatched here at home but needed help. It did well for that, but with these chicks being... I don't know, wet, sticky, whatever the case was... I know it wasn't just the lamp issue. Honestly, I probably killed them trying to wash the sticky off. I did what I saw posted... warm water, about 95 degrees, keeping them warm and putting them right back under the lamp. I just may not have had the lamp set right is my fear, because I had no way to check

If by some miracle I decide to do this again, I will definitely have to get a thermometer, so I'm going to check the link you gave me. Thank you for that! I just don't know if I have it in me to try this again. Another 4 were dead this morning and of the four left, two are belly-down with no strength in their little legs at all. Two are still eating, drinking, and running around the brooder, but I still fear something is going to go wrong before they ever make it to the coop...

I did go out and buy specific crumble for chicks, but opted for the unmedicated, because from what I've read, it's best that way, especially if you're not sure. I had just looked at the stuff for their water the last time I picked up feed, and for some reason, just passed it by. I guess i thought I had longer. If I decide to have another go at it, I will most assuredly have this on stand-by for sure.

Again, thank you so very much for the response and options. I can't tell you what it means to me that you took the time to share

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you so much for responding, for your condolences, and for your many suggestions I really appreciate that! And I don't mind the questions.

The incubator is a PetsFond 12-egg model by OneAmg,, with digital controls: https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Egg-Incubator-12-40-Eggs/dp/B0DYK1CF6B
I never did get the settings to work, the manual was no help really. It's supposed to have a setting specifically for chickens, but it kept "resetting." There's something wrong with it, I'm sure, but I can't afford anything like this. This one was gifted to me. I tried looking up the "how-to's" online and never found anything really. It monitored the humidity, which during the incubation cycle, stayed between 53 and 65, and the temperature, which stayed between 99 and 100. But it was supposed to keep count of the days and give off a timer or something, and it did none of that. Of course, I've been struggling a lot to just get in the shower and go to work, so anything more feels like a million pounds anyway, but I digress, lol.

As for the vents and humidity, I didn't have them open at first, because I thought that was discouraged. But when the chicks hatched, all the eggs, that is... the humidity did shoot up, and I expected it would go back down as it said it would, but it didn't. I checked on them yesterday morning around 9, and they were all hatched. I checked the settings and everything, and went to work, worked six hours, did some quick shopping for my son's birthday, and came back home and the humidity was as bad or worse, and the condensation was so thick on the inside of the incubator, I could hardly see the chicks inside. I'm definitely doing something wrong there, I know!

I have a heat lamp... the silver clip ones you can get at TSC, with the red bulb that comes in a two-pack, also at TSC. I used this lamp with the two sets of chicks that I bought, and with two sets of ducks that hatched here at home but needed help. It did well for that, but with these chicks being... I don't know, wet, sticky, whatever the case was... I know it wasn't just the lamp issue. Honestly, I probably killed them trying to wash the sticky off. I did what I saw posted... warm water, about 95 degrees, keeping them warm and putting them right back under the lamp. I just may not have had the lamp set right is my fear, because I had no way to check

If by some miracle I decide to do this again, I will definitely have to get a thermometer, so I'm going to check the link you gave me. Thank you for that! I just don't know if I have it in me to try this again. Another 4 were dead this morning and of the four left, two are belly-down with no strength in their little legs at all. Two are still eating, drinking, and running around the brooder, but I still fear something is going to go wrong before they ever make it to the coop...

I did go out and buy specific crumble for chicks, but opted for the unmedicated, because from what I've read, it's best that way, especially if you're not sure. I had just looked at the stuff for their water the last time I picked up feed, and for some reason, just passed it by. I guess i thought I had longer. If I decide to have another go at it, I will most assuredly have this on stand-by for sure.

Again, thank you so very much for the response and options. I can't tell you what it means to me that you took the time to share

You are so welcome. My heart goes out to you.

Since they all hatched, your incubator, though might not be working properly, worked well enough for them to hatch, so that's a positive thing!

I wouldn't worry next time about the humidity in the incubator while they are hatching. Mine spikes up so the lid is actually dripping water. I've cracked a side for a second, then another side, and that'll lower it by 5% or so. If there was a wet opened shell right by the side I opened, I'll snatch that out real quick. That helps a bit too.

Next, the brooder. Just one idea, to get the sewing material out of there, and if you want something soft, use a fuzzy cotton washrag or small towel that's been washed/dried. I'd worry there could be a chemical or dye that they can't tolerate in the fresh material.

If they are too hot, they will lay splat down, wings out, and might be panting. If they are too cold, they'd be chirping.

Sprinkle some of those crumbles around your brooder, and make sure each has learned to drink by dipping their beak in the water.

Let us know how they're doing, please. I sure hope what you have left will survive.