Preparing for my first hatch

[Katbird01]

We have 4 eggs in a Brinsea mini that are due to hatch this weekend so we're hoping for the best and getting things ready.


I know I need a chick feeder and waterer, plus the food, but what other things should I have on hand for them? Special antibiotics? Food additives? ets.

We will be keeping them inside for at least a month, probably longer since February can be pretty cold even way down here in MS. I think we'll have plenty of space but what should we use for substrate as they grow? My plan is to start with some pee pads left over from puppy training to make cleaning easier at first. When can I move to something more like shavings? Or should I use something else. I looked through the forums but haven't seen this addressed. If there's somewhere it's already talked about you can just point me to the right page.

 

[georgiagail]

Special antibiotics? Nope

Food additives? Nope

Just a brooder with a source of heat (this can be as simple as a cardboard box with a clamp light for heat and a towel to catch the poop) as their first home.

I used to raise finches so I use one of my finch cages with a clamp light on top for heat.

Good luck!

Gail

 

[AmyLynn2374]

We have 4 eggs in a Brinsea mini that are due to hatch this weekend so we're hoping for the best and getting things ready.


I know I need a chick feeder and waterer, plus the food, but what other things should I have on hand for them? Special antibiotics? Food additives? ets.

We will be keeping them inside for at least a month, probably longer since February can be pretty cold even way down here in MS. I think we'll have plenty of space but what should we use for substrate as they grow? My plan is to start with some pee pads left over from puppy training to make cleaning easier at first. When can I move to something more like shavings? Or should I use something else. I looked through the forums but haven't seen this addressed. If there's somewhere it's already talked about you can just point me to the right page.

Hi there! Good luck on your hatch!!! Ok, no you don't need special antibiotics. I do use sav a chick in my water dish for the first three days. You can find it at feed stores or TSC. For the brooder you will need a source of heat at one end, most use the brooding light. The brooder needs to be 95-100 degrees under the light for the first week and then decreased 5 degrees every week until you hit room temp. As for bedding. Again a vast majority use pine shavings (do not use cedar). A lot of people have the pine shavings in at day one, but put paper towels over the shavings for the first couple of days. I just put them straight on the shavings from the start.
I also brood inside and I find the first 4 weeks easy to deal with, by 6 weeks it's very hard to keep them inside, but doable. They do cause a lot of chicken dust. I would recommend if you brood them inside that they are in a good ventilated room versus a closed bedroom if someone is sleeping in there. You only have 4 incubating so even if they all hatch that shouldn't be too bad.
what kind of eggs are they? (Looks like maybe a couple EEs in there?) Don't forget to post pics too. We love seeing newbies.

 

[Katbird01]

Thanks for the info. I'm heading to TSC today.

We have two EE's, a black austrolorp, and an unknown. The girl we got the eggs from wasn't sure who laid the pinkish one. Maybe a maran cross.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and will hopefully be updating with pictures this weekend.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for the info. I'm heading to TSC today.

We have two EE's, a black austrolorp, and an unknown. The girl we got the eggs from wasn't sure who laid the pinkish one. Maybe a maran cross.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and will hopefully be updating with pictures this weekend.

Cool!! I get my pine bedding at TSC too. An 8 cubic block is about $6 here. You may or may not want to use marbles or sterilized rocks in your waterer for a week or so too. This allows the chicks to step in the water to drink, but lessons the chance of drowning.