OK sorry for posting so many threads, but a lot has been going on the past week and I haven't been able to get on...
When the chicks hatch in my homemade incubator, after a couple days, when should I give them food and water? Should I give them sugar water? How much sugar do I put in water and what kind of sugar?(or does it matter?)
Thanks!
Quote:
You should have your feed and water set up in your brooder ready for when the hatch is finished and take the chicks out no later than after 2 days. They won't need sugar water. That's given to weak or shipped day olds that you receive from hatcheries if they are stressed from the shipping and only given for one day in their water.
i give sugar water the first week just to give them a jolt just in case and i put less and less sugar in the water as they get old then eventually at a week and a half no more sugar! thats just me i do it with my ducklings too!
Quote:
You should have your feed and water set up in your brooder ready for when the hatch is finished and take the chicks out no later than after 2 days. They won't need sugar water. That's given to weak or shipped day olds that you receive from hatcheries if they are stressed from the shipping and only given for one day in their water.
Thanks!
The brooder is actually connected to the incubator; I made a homemade bator from a huge Igloo ice chest(100q), so since I had so much room in it, I put a divider in the middle. On one side is the incubator(where the light, egg turner, temp./hum. meters, etc. are located) and on the other side is where we will put a shallow water dish and feed dish(and the little room has that soft counter liner stuff to cover up the mesh wire...it's kinda like a little chick nursery
) I have a staggered hatch(all eggs are at different ages), so when an egg reaches 18 days(I marked it on my calendar when to stop turning each egg), I just take it out and place it in the bottom of the bator(under the egg turner. And yes there's plenty of room). When the chick hatches, I will let it stay in the bator for a day or two to dry off and everything. After that, I can then move it into the other section of the bator, in the brooder room. That's where it can eat, drink, rest, etc. And when another egg hatches, I let it stay in the incubator for a day or two, then I move it into the brooder with the other chick.
I don't think we will give sugar water to the chicks; unless, after 2-3 days after hatching, one chick is acting more weak than the others.
I usually don't put sugar in the water. I have heard that it constipates them. I have put a little Gatorade mixed with a whole lot of water sometimes if they look a little weak.
