Hi - I was referred to post my message here from "incubators" so here's my first post and my 2nd. If you have any advice to share.
Hi - first time incubator hatch project - no prior chicken experience. Chicks hatched yesterday (Tue) - 5 fluffy chicks in a brooding box. However, there is one chick struggling in the incubator. He was the first pipper on Sunday and struggled over 48 hrs. We read several sites and I "helped" him Tue night - only breaking the dried rubbery exposed membrane. He had a hole in it around his beak and had been breathing and pushing out. He "fell" out of his shell this morning (Wed). 7pm and he's still wet. Wobbly, falls to his back often. Very loud peeps. Rests, stands, moves around the incubator. No sign of drying. I put a shallow dish with fresh water and marbles in there - he has been to it several times. Can't seem to hold up his head - rests it on that dish and the other non-hatched eggs for support. I put a shallow dish with feed in there, he found it, couldn't tell if he actually ate anything but he did peck at it. He fell on his back on the saucer so I took it out.
Questions!!!!!!!!! What can we do if anything to help him now. For some reason the incubator is having trouble holding at 100. Had no problem for 3 weeks. The water tray beneath him is full, nasty and smelly and when he rests, his beak gets in it - yuk. The incubator reeks - have to cover our faces to open it - needs to be cleaned out. Should we take him out and put him in a smaller box inside the same brooder as the others? Even if just to clean out the incubator? How long could/should he last in the incubator like this? Still wet? He's been breathing air since Sunday though stuck in the egg till this morn - shouldn't he need to drink and eat by now?
Please advise, thanks!
Thanks to all advice. We put him in a smaller box inside the brooding box (Wed night). Gave him a dish of water w/marbles and some feed. Swapped the lightbulb from 85 to a 100watt and the temp is steady at 92/94 in his area. Put down newspaper, paper towels, then a washcloth. He's not steady - rolls to his back and doesn't get up well, but he can. Haven't seen him get to the water yet - about 5 inches away (he's in a shoe box inside the brooder).
Hard to watch. Does not look good - not that I really know what the stages look like for long - the others fluffed up so quickly. He is however drying - one side of him is fluffing, but the side he lays on is still wet looking. Fluff looks really ragged and thin too. His breathing is very heavy and fast too.
Will see what he looks like tomorrow - to the one that took 2 days to hold up his head - sounds about like this guy too.
Thanks again. I also dumped the incubator outside and gave it a vinegar rinse - too late, dark out and tired to clean tonight - but could not stand the smell any longer. Will give the other eggs a couple more days and then clean up that process.
Online
Hi - first time incubator hatch project - no prior chicken experience. Chicks hatched yesterday (Tue) - 5 fluffy chicks in a brooding box. However, there is one chick struggling in the incubator. He was the first pipper on Sunday and struggled over 48 hrs. We read several sites and I "helped" him Tue night - only breaking the dried rubbery exposed membrane. He had a hole in it around his beak and had been breathing and pushing out. He "fell" out of his shell this morning (Wed). 7pm and he's still wet. Wobbly, falls to his back often. Very loud peeps. Rests, stands, moves around the incubator. No sign of drying. I put a shallow dish with fresh water and marbles in there - he has been to it several times. Can't seem to hold up his head - rests it on that dish and the other non-hatched eggs for support. I put a shallow dish with feed in there, he found it, couldn't tell if he actually ate anything but he did peck at it. He fell on his back on the saucer so I took it out.
Questions!!!!!!!!! What can we do if anything to help him now. For some reason the incubator is having trouble holding at 100. Had no problem for 3 weeks. The water tray beneath him is full, nasty and smelly and when he rests, his beak gets in it - yuk. The incubator reeks - have to cover our faces to open it - needs to be cleaned out. Should we take him out and put him in a smaller box inside the same brooder as the others? Even if just to clean out the incubator? How long could/should he last in the incubator like this? Still wet? He's been breathing air since Sunday though stuck in the egg till this morn - shouldn't he need to drink and eat by now?
Please advise, thanks!
Thanks to all advice. We put him in a smaller box inside the brooding box (Wed night). Gave him a dish of water w/marbles and some feed. Swapped the lightbulb from 85 to a 100watt and the temp is steady at 92/94 in his area. Put down newspaper, paper towels, then a washcloth. He's not steady - rolls to his back and doesn't get up well, but he can. Haven't seen him get to the water yet - about 5 inches away (he's in a shoe box inside the brooder).
Hard to watch. Does not look good - not that I really know what the stages look like for long - the others fluffed up so quickly. He is however drying - one side of him is fluffing, but the side he lays on is still wet looking. Fluff looks really ragged and thin too. His breathing is very heavy and fast too.
Will see what he looks like tomorrow - to the one that took 2 days to hold up his head - sounds about like this guy too.
Thanks again. I also dumped the incubator outside and gave it a vinegar rinse - too late, dark out and tired to clean tonight - but could not stand the smell any longer. Will give the other eggs a couple more days and then clean up that process.
Online
