We have 12 Buckeye eggs under our red sexlink broody hen, due to hatch 7/22. Jerry, hatched her first 2 chicks in April, she did an awesome job.... When she got broody last week, we decided to let her have more babies!!
We didn't candle these eggs to check for fertility, should we candle them in a week and eliminate those not fertile so our hen has less eggs to worry about?
I hand feed/water her 2x a day, she won't leave her nest at all! I was surprised last time that her comb lost all the red color and turned a fleshy color.... She was so thin after too!
Jerry (Aka Little Jerry sienfield) is low on the pecking order in our flock, her beak was trimmed (we got her at 20 weeks old, it was trimmed not our chioce) she has a cross bite and under bite.... And was broody at least 5 times in the first 6 months we had her, and honestly were at the point of wanting to get rid of her because she is such a mess... Then last minute we let her sit on eggs... And fell in love with her and understand that is her purpose, Babies!!!
So far I have 4 brown chicks and 4 black chicks and 3 more eggs with pips.
The first chick hatched at 7am. The 8th just a few minutes ago. Now for the question...when do I move them from the incubator to the brooder with the heat lamp? I want to move them now but DH says be patient and wait for morning. Secondly, what temp should the heat lamp make the bottom of the cage?
Ady, the temp should be about 95 degrees for newly hatched chicks in a brooder. I'd wait for the other 3 to hatch before I opened the bator. If you open it, you can chill and kill the chicks. They can live for up to 3 days in there without food and water. They live on the rest of their yolk. Good luck to you.