ditsychick
Hatching
- Aug 30, 2016
- 5
- 0
- 9
Hi all. Im so thankful to have found this site. About a year ago my husband came home from work with a chicken and a rooster and informed me that i would now be raising chickens! Lol. He buult a little pen and at first it was easy. Long story short: now i have chicks and confusion. I already posted in the "hands on hatching" section earlier today about my little trash can miracle but the message when i joined said to post here so i figured I'd elaborate a bit. There were 14 eggs from 2 hens but only one seemed interesred in sitting on them. Shes a "round head" and was very protective of the 9 chicks that originally hatched there were four that did not hatch which she abandoned so i assumed they werent going to hatch and gathered them into a little folgers can to be disposed of later. The first day i found a tiny chick trampled and dead and didnt think much of it since the other 8 were hopping around and seemed fine until yesterday when i went out to feed them and found another trampled and half buried in the dirt under the base of the pen. The mother likes to kick massive amonts of dirt around and scratches furiously at the ground all day heaping mounds of dirt all over the place. Id seen her knock the chicks around this way before but i figured she wouldnt hurt them. Anyway the little one found yesterday i took inside and kept warm myself since when i tried to return it to the mother she attacked it and it was too weak to stand. I guess she already knew it would die. It slept in my hand all day i fed it baby chick feed mixed with egg yoke but it barely ate. I also offered water but it eventually started gasping, convulsed suddenly, vommited and died. The others seem fine so far but im worried . Then this morning the little folgers can which had collected a bit more trash since i put the unhatched eggs in it (we use it as a back porch trash canl) began peeping at me and although the discarded eggs had been sitting there for 6 days some how one was hatching. Unfortunately i found that another had begun to hatch but died after pipping apparently because of low humidity. Wish id known they were alive in there. I rushed the hatching one inside googled chick stuck in egg and attempted to assist the first chick ive ever seen come out of an egg. thankfully i found the hands on thread and managed to get the poor thing out and got some very good advice.ive been giving it water with the chick vitamin stuff all day just dripping it into his little beak and when not holding him close keep him in a bed of pine shaving at 95 degrees. He can lift his little head and even stand for about a second before napping again and he peeps at me when i wake him. So ive kinda got my hopes up he'll live. Though im wondering what to do about the umbilical cord? Also wondering if i should seperate the other babies and bring them inside incase they get buried or trampled by momma too or if they might get sick and seize and die also they get loose from the pen because they are so small they can just slip out and there are snakes and foxes and hawks and we cant afford to make an above ground chicken house right now but would the mom be totally devastated if i take her babies? She really doesnt like people and tries to peck snd scrat h me when i give her food and also there are the other three eggs in the can that i now have sitting under a heat lamp... what if they hatch too? How do i keep them humid enough that they dont get stuck? Should i check on them all night? Ive lost 3 chicks this week i dont want my own ignorance and negligence to cost me more. Ive been reading on here and learning all kinds of stuff but any thoughts on the situation would be appreciated. Sorry this was long.
