please help EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!!!!

[chickadee101]

ok, so i have 2 broody hens laying on eggs and have been for 2 weeks now. but, everyone in my coop is infected with coryza. i can't have the chicks come in contact with their mothers, can i take the eggs, on the 20th day, and put them in the brooder under the light they will be going in? or will i have to wait until they hatch out from the hens? on the 20th day they shouldn't have much forming left to do, do they?

 

[Silkies~Polishes]

I think you'll have to wait. They need humidity to hatch and the brooder won't hold enough humidity. I would take each chick from the mother as they hatch to minimize exposure to the disease.

 

[chickadee101]

makes sense, can i take them from the mother WHILE they are hatching, or do i have to wait until they are completely out?

 

[Debs55]

Wait until they are completely out so that you won't risk them drying out or breaking blood vessels before they are ready

 

[luvtohatch]

I agree. If the humidity gets too low while they are hatching the inside membrane 'shrink wraps' them and the chick can't get out. If this happens I use a qtip with some warm water and carefully dampen the membrane to soften it. Then you run the risk of them chilling. However, under the hen the humidity is usually just perfect and they are toasty too.

 

[keesmom]

I'd take them as soon as they hatch. And cross your fingers they don't pick it up.

But what do you intend to do with the infected birds? They will remain carriers...

 

[chickadee101]

well yeah but the later they get it, the higher their chance of fighting it! i guess it will just have to be according to chance...

 

[Sharon Bee]

What is coryza?

 

[chickadee101]

it is an upper respiratory disease that occurs only with poultry. it is EXTREMELY contagious, and once cured, the bird will still be a carrier of it for life.