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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Congrats on the hatch! Feel free to post pics..we LOVE baby pics!!!

Great to have you aboard and welcome to our flock!
 
Sorry for disappearing. I have been feeling a bit dispirited.

We lost our new chicks. Being inexperienced and trying not to interfere in my son's chickens, I'm not sure what happened. I did tell you that his hen brooded her first eggs. Well, I was hesitant about this because the first eggs a chicken lays are small and I wondered whether this would affect her likelihood of success or the health/development of the babies. But trying not to interfere I didn't say anything about my reservations. I just didn't really expect the eggs to hatch. But they surprised me and did. I don't know why the babies died, but I think that the eggs being her first, the babies being her first, and some cold nights may all have contributed to the result. We don't seem to be getting any other eggs from any of the chickens right now, but I think that since they are actually getting to the egg laying age right now, we may not get eggs til spring. I don't presently know whether my son might want to try letting her brood again, but if he does hopefully we will both be better educated and prepared. I do hope to get a few more chickens next spring to add to our flock.
 
OH NO!!
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Sorry about your baby chicks. But this is a chance to learn for next time. I don't know where you are from because it is not listed, but if it's cold there, it could have been the chicks just got too cold. Did you separate the mama & babies into a brooder box? We made our own 2'x2'x2' with hardware cloth on the bottom & the top has screen & boards. We have lights to put on top of the screen. Mine are grown enough they no longer need the light.

Chicks need heat (around 99.9F on 1st day) and you gradually decrease the heat. We do not remove the lights until one or the other happens:
1. The chicks are fully feathered.
2. The outside temp is same as brooder box.

Also, I am surprised your pullet egg hatched, but its not unheard of. I have seen pullet eggs with no yolk.

To address the fact that they are not laying, if it is cold there, you can put a light in the coop and get eggs through the winter, or just wait til spring. We have 70+ chickens & yesterday we got 5 eggs. The hens are going through molting season & I do not currently have a light in the coop. Hens need 10 hours of daylight to produce an egg.

Sorry again for the loss. I hate hard lessons, but I have had my fair share! Hope this info helps.
 
How old is your son? Depending on age it's not interfering it's teaching, sometimes kids simply need direction and welcome ideas. If he's a grown up son less so lol

Sorry to hear you lost your babies.
 
Agreed with appps previous post. My daughter is 8years old and while she knows more than most her class mates about chickens, we are still learning everyday
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Edited: By the way, what were you feeding the babies? We always smash up boiled eggs for their first meal. From there it is medicated chick starter.
 
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Thank you all. We are in Pahrump, NV, and we have had some cold nights recently. My son is 42, so I sometimes walk a fine line between advising and interfering. When he was setting up the coop, he made it known that he was doing this his way, so I have tried to keep in the background. We did have a few chickens once when he was about 10, but at that time all I knew was food goes in one end, eggs come out the other. I have learned a lot since then and am still learning now. Since we moved here 4 years ago I have wanted to get a few chickens again, but with one thing and another we got started rather late in the season. Personally, I would have waited another year, but once he had the coop all set up, he was anxious to get started. Since it is so late, I have no problem waiting til spring for eggs and if we get new chicks early, we should be doing nicely next year. He doesn't know whether he wants to brood his own eggs again, but if he does, we both know more this time and the timing for it will be better than this was.
 
Sorry, Outpost. I missed your question. We were giving them medicated chick starter. They were so tiny (about a quarter to a third the size of most chicks I've seen), that I thought the granules might be too large for them so I ground it in a mortar and pestle. If we do this again, I'll get a coffee grinder to dedicate to just this. I hadn't thought of feeding them egg, but will next time.
 
Wish I could edit my post rather than adding so many new posts. No, we didn't have a brooder box. Hadn't yet set up anything for supplemental heat though we do have a heat lamp ready. The winter in Pahrump is generally fairly mild with few freezing nights and it snows little and seldom, but it still wasn't warm enough in my opinion for these tiny wee ones. If I missed any one else's questions, please ask again.
 

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