Incubators Anonymous

[OneMountainAcres]

This weekend's hatch lol. I actualy have to count them all still. I think i will just count eggs that didn't hatch and subtract

 

[Jessimom]

My final count was 35 out of 37 that made it to lock down. Started with 45 shipped eggs, had a total of 7 clears and 1 blood ring.
The 5 silkie eggs that didnt develop were probably scrambled, rather than infertile - the box was so damaged, the sender sent me replacement eggs.

 

[mchlldickson]

So at around 11 tonight I'll have hit the 21 day mark! I had 21 eggs shipped to me and only 4 of them were still viable by day 18... Im so incredibly anxious! I am terrified that they won't hatch out, considering how many were scrambled upon delivery! Plus the humidity dropped to 20% the first day they were in lock down, I've now had a consistent 60% humidity for a full 24hrs now, Im hoping I didn't mess up too badly!

 

[Jessimom]

Well, I'm a HORRIBLE chicken parent. I like to keep the babies in the house until at least a month old before moving them out to our coop with all our babies (together with their heat plate). My family convinced me they would be fine after only 5 days. Well, yesterday I moved out the 10 day old babies and 24 of the new babies. Of the new babies I left inside, 7 were boys, that I wanted to keep separate.. A cat snuck into their room yesterday and killed 3 of them. This morning we checked on the 34 babies outside, ONLY 8 were still alive. Not ONE of the new babies went under the heat plate. They spread out over the FAR end of their coop and died.

I will NEVER again go against MY instincts and be pushed into something that I know is wrong.

 

[sasafras4u2]

Well, I'm a HORRIBLE chicken parent.  I like to keep the babies in the house until at least a month old before moving them out to our coop with all our babies (together with their heat plate).  My family convinced me they would be fine after only 5 days.  Well, yesterday I moved out the 10 day old babies and 24 of the new babies.  Of the new babies I left inside, 7 were boys, that I wanted to keep separate..  A cat snuck into their room yesterday and killed 3 of them.  This morning we checked on the 34 babies outside, ONLY 8 were still alive.  Not ONE of the new babies went under the heat plate.  They spread out over the FAR end of their coop and died.  

I will NEVER again go against MY instincts and be pushed into something that I know is wrong.

oh im so sorry about your babies.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Well, I'm a HORRIBLE chicken parent.  I like to keep the babies in the house until at least a month old before moving them out to our coop with all our babies (together with their heat plate).  My family convinced me they would be fine after only 5 days.  Well, yesterday I moved out the 10 day old babies and 24 of the new babies.  Of the new babies I left inside, 7 were boys, that I wanted to keep separate..  A cat snuck into their room yesterday and killed 3 of them.  This morning we checked on the 34 babies outside, ONLY 8 were still alive.  Not ONE of the new babies went under the heat plate.  They spread out over the FAR end of their coop and died.  

I will NEVER again go against MY instincts and be pushed into something that I know is wrong.

Oh no! I am SO SO sorry for your loss.

 

[Jessimom]

Thank you!! I'm feeling so horrible!!

Oh no! I am SO SO sorry for your loss.

Thank you!! I guess we all have to learn from our own mistakes....

 

[duluthralphie]

Well, I'm a HORRIBLE chicken parent. I like to keep the babies in the house until at least a month old before moving them out to our coop with all our babies (together with their heat plate). My family convinced me they would be fine after only 5 days. Well, yesterday I moved out the 10 day old babies and 24 of the new babies. Of the new babies I left inside, 7 were boys, that I wanted to keep separate.. A cat snuck into their room yesterday and killed 3 of them. This morning we checked on the 34 babies outside, ONLY 8 were still alive. Not ONE of the new babies went under the heat plate. They spread out over the FAR end of their coop and died.

I will NEVER again go against MY instincts and be pushed into something that I know is wrong.

I am not sure there being outside was the problem, while this is a terrible disaster, just moving them should not kill them. I moved babies yesterday too. One bunch to a wire cage in the brooder shed. It was time to leave the tank. The other group 3 days old from the house to the smaller brooder. I checked the ones in the brooder shed and their light had burned out. They were huddled together and it was 57 degrees! I replaced the bulb with no major problems. It was around 35 degrees last night here. I have no idea how cold they got.

I had to run to the feed store and to Runnings to get some wire for an enclosed pen. I did not check the 3 day olds in the smaller brooder shed. Speaking of bad parents. I have about 25 in that batch. About 2pm when I got back from town I decided to go up and check their feed and water. I walked in and their light was out too. I am guessing the lightning we had knocked the filaments off. They were at 49 degrees. They were huddled together. I figured this will be dead chicks for sure. I changed bulbs and got them moving until they finally went under the light. Not a one was dead!

So being outside and cold will not kill them by itself. But I felt bad too, like a bad neglectful parent. Again sorry for your lose, I would look for other causes too.

 

[Jessimom]

I am not sure there being outside was the problem, while this is a terrible disaster, just moving them should not kill them. I moved babies yesterday too. One bunch to a wire cage in the brooder shed. It was time to leave the tank. The other group 3 days old from the house to the smaller brooder. I checked the ones in the brooder shed and their light had burned out. They were huddled together and it was 57 degrees! I replaced the bulb with no major problems. It was around 35 degrees last night here. I have no idea how cold they got.

I had to run to the feed store and to Runnings to get some wire for an enclosed pen. I did not check the 3 day olds in the smaller brooder shed. Speaking of bad parents. I have about 25 in that batch. About 2pm when I got back from town I decided to go up and check their feed and water. I walked in and their light was out too. I am guessing the lightning we had knocked the filaments off. They were at 49 degrees. They were huddled together. I figured this will be dead chicks for sure. I changed bulbs and got them moving until they finally went under the light. Not a one was dead!

So being outside and cold will not kill them by itself. But I felt bad too, like a bad neglectful parent. Again sorry for your lose, I would look for other causes too.

They were spread out in one corner of the coop as far from the heat plate (and the live chicks) as they could get, all lying on their side, and were cold. They had been dead for hours. The shed is a building, with a regular door and a window, with siding on the walls. Concrete floor. Nothing can get inside. There are 4 and 5 week old babies in one pen that were fine, 2 month old babies in another pen and they are fine. And 4 month old chickens in the 4th pen, all fine.

I've never seen so many dead babies spread out like that. No blood. They were fine at 7 pm, when I shut them in for the night. I have tenants in a second house on the property that is closer to the chicken coop. They said they heard loud chirping around 2 am, but didn't go investigate. I'm wishing they had....

 

[duluthralphie]

They were spread out in one corner of the coop as far from the heat plate (and the live chicks) as they could get, all lying on their side, and were cold. They had been dead for hours. The shed is a building, with a regular door and a window, with siding on the walls. Concrete floor. Nothing can get inside. There are 4 and 5 week old babies in one pen that were fine, 2 month old babies in another pen and they are fine. And 4 month old chickens in the 4th pen, all fine.

I've never seen so many dead babies spread out like that. No blood. They were fine at 7 pm, when I shut them in for the night. I have tenants in a second house on the property that is closer to the chicken coop. They said they heard loud chirping around 2 am, but didn't go investigate. I'm wishing they had....

I am still thinking about this...Please do not think I am being critical. That is not the case, I am trying to figure out why they died. What we need to do is figure out why they died so it never happens again.

10 day old chicks or even new babies, should not die of cold in southern California in one night. How cold did it get? They were not even outside they were on a porch.

While the concrete floor could absorb heat from them. I assume there was bedding that should have mitigated that.

Did you have a light over the heat source. I always use a ready lamp, one of those you get at Barnes and Nobles that clamp onto a book as you read it over the heat source. It is not enough light to keep them awake but enough to keep them near the heat source.

I find the deaths confusing, we ship day old chicks up here in the north in below freezing temps and they live. Granted they are 15 to a box and it is a tight area, but the boxes have holes and it is pretty darn cold in those trucks.

By New babies how old are you talking 24 hours or less?

Sorry if this is not very orderly written, I am trying to think about the "why" as I type.