If one chick hatched, that is good! It shows conditions were fairly good!
It is common for the slowest chicks to hatch several days after the earliest chicks, so don't worry too much about whether the others may be taking too long.
Yes, it's good to keep the incubator closed. But it's OK to open it one or two times in a day, to take chicks out.
Baby chicks absorb the egg yolk right before they hatch, and that provides enough "food" for the first few days of their life. So it's OK to just leave a chick in the incubator until the next day (also OK to move it out, and put it in the brooder.)
For the brooder:
--if the brooder is getting its heat from a light bulb, you adjust the temperature by moving the light up and down (closer to the chicks or farther away.)
--it needs to have one part that is the right temperature. About 90-95 degrees Farenheit if you're using a thermometer, but you can tell it's right if the chicks walk around and eat and drink and sleep. If the chicks go right under the light and peep loudly they are probably cold. If the chicks all stay at the edge far from the light, they are probably too hot.
--Other parts of the brooder can be any temperature cooler than that. Chicks will mostly stay in the warm area the first day or two, then they will start wandering further from the heat and coming back to warm up. They adjust their temperature by moving in and out of the heated area, and as they grow feathers they will spend more time away from the heat.
--Bedding: paper towels are good the first few days. Newspapers are too slippery. After the first few days, it's fine to use any normal chicken bedding (wood shavings, hay or straw, dead leaves, even dirt or sand.)
--Food should be a purchased chick starter. That will have the right nutrients, and be in small enough pieces for them to eat. You can sprinkle a little bit on the paper towels for the first few days, so they pick up bits from there as well as from the feeder.
--Water dish is needed, but chicks occasionally drown in small amounts of water. You can avoid this by putting glass marbles or clean pebbles in the water: put in enough that they almost fill the space, but the chicks can reach into the little spaces to get a drink. The shiny marbles also help teach the chicks to drink, because they peck at the marbles and get water in their beak.
*If you do not have purchased chick starter, do not use "layer" feed. It has too much calcium for baby chicks. But food labeled as grower, all-flock, or flock-raiser should be fine. If the pieces are too big, break them up a bit (blender, hammer, whatever works.) Foods labeled for game birds, turkeys, or ducks can also work (as long as they are not "layer" feeds.) If you do not have ANY of those, offer scrambled egg, water, and maybe whole-grain bread crumbs, then go buy the right stuff today or tomorrow.
Light: baby chicks can sleep even when it is light. For the first few days, do not worry about it.
It is common for the slowest chicks to hatch several days after the earliest chicks, so don't worry too much about whether the others may be taking too long.
Yes, it's good to keep the incubator closed. But it's OK to open it one or two times in a day, to take chicks out.
Baby chicks absorb the egg yolk right before they hatch, and that provides enough "food" for the first few days of their life. So it's OK to just leave a chick in the incubator until the next day (also OK to move it out, and put it in the brooder.)
For the brooder:
--if the brooder is getting its heat from a light bulb, you adjust the temperature by moving the light up and down (closer to the chicks or farther away.)
--it needs to have one part that is the right temperature. About 90-95 degrees Farenheit if you're using a thermometer, but you can tell it's right if the chicks walk around and eat and drink and sleep. If the chicks go right under the light and peep loudly they are probably cold. If the chicks all stay at the edge far from the light, they are probably too hot.
--Other parts of the brooder can be any temperature cooler than that. Chicks will mostly stay in the warm area the first day or two, then they will start wandering further from the heat and coming back to warm up. They adjust their temperature by moving in and out of the heated area, and as they grow feathers they will spend more time away from the heat.
--Bedding: paper towels are good the first few days. Newspapers are too slippery. After the first few days, it's fine to use any normal chicken bedding (wood shavings, hay or straw, dead leaves, even dirt or sand.)
--Food should be a purchased chick starter. That will have the right nutrients, and be in small enough pieces for them to eat. You can sprinkle a little bit on the paper towels for the first few days, so they pick up bits from there as well as from the feeder.
--Water dish is needed, but chicks occasionally drown in small amounts of water. You can avoid this by putting glass marbles or clean pebbles in the water: put in enough that they almost fill the space, but the chicks can reach into the little spaces to get a drink. The shiny marbles also help teach the chicks to drink, because they peck at the marbles and get water in their beak.
*If you do not have purchased chick starter, do not use "layer" feed. It has too much calcium for baby chicks. But food labeled as grower, all-flock, or flock-raiser should be fine. If the pieces are too big, break them up a bit (blender, hammer, whatever works.) Foods labeled for game birds, turkeys, or ducks can also work (as long as they are not "layer" feeds.) If you do not have ANY of those, offer scrambled egg, water, and maybe whole-grain bread crumbs, then go buy the right stuff today or tomorrow.
Light: baby chicks can sleep even when it is light. For the first few days, do not worry about it.
