Congrats!! So cute. I do use the electrolytes, but I am one that does not go with the full dose. I have found that it does more harm than good on the weaker ones. Not sure why. When I have a weak one, I give it even less than half the suggested dose. And I give the weak ones, just a tiny drop at a time. A drop an hr. for a half a day...or night, what ever it is when they hatch.For those that hatch on their own and are running around just fine, I put half the dose in the water container. Just sayin.
I thought a packet of it went into a whole gallon of water - is that the size water container you are using?
To whoever asked the question originally, I can honestly say I felt it was a waste of money. I've raised numerous batches of chicks on nothing but plain, old water, but recently acquired 21 newly hatched chicks from a local person who had hatched too many and didn't know what to do with them all. I noticed one was having difficulty breathing the day I brought them home and sure enough, it didn't make it. But from there, one by one they dropped. I went from having literally NEVER lost a chick, out of hundreds brooded, to losing one every couple of days. Nothing was different - temps were good, food the same as I always use, bedding/water the same, no drafts. Trust me, I went over every consideration. So I got some Sav-a-chick, hoping it would give them a boost. It didn't change a thing. (After a week of Sav-a-Chick, I tried Duramycin-10 - it didn't help either.) Long story short, I lost 13 of the original 21 chicks.its over and the 8 that remain are strong and healthy. They are now 3 1/2 weeks old and having some outside time each day in our high temps and so far, so good. I will admit I tried the Sav-a-Chick as a desperation move, but base my opinion on it on the results: it didn't slow down the rate of loss one iota. I have to conclude that these chicks were either a weak batch or brought some respiratory ailment in with them. I would have expected an infection virus to hit them at the same time instead of one by one over a period of three weeks but there you have it.
I'm a little wary about all these supplements and stuff. I trust that mother nature will weed out the weak ones and leave the strong ones. In general, why keep the weak ones to breed for more weak ones, right? That's how I see it. Of course I hate to see any animal suffer or die, I love all animals. I work on a non-profit rescue farm, we get a lot of animals that at times need very urgent care.
Anyway. I hatched my first 6 chicks last year, didn't know anything about hatching or any of these supplements and such. They all survived and are doing great today. These chicks that are hatching now, are their babies.
I will probably go get a thing of Sav-a-Chick anyway and put maybe half (or less) of the packet in the one gallon waterer we have plus have plain water for them to choose from. Can't hurt, right?
