Tips on introducing day old chick to water and food?

[BigBlueHen53]

I buy "day-old" chicks from a hatchery. They send them to me in the mail. They ship them the day they hatch, but I don't get them until two or three days later. They don't eat anything until I get them, and they are fine. This is possible because, as others are telling you, they can survive on the nutrients of the yolk during this time. You don't need to feed and water your chick right away. Your broody hen will take care of them. She can continue to sit on the eggs until it's time to feed the chicks that have hatched. Then, even if some have not hatched, she will leave the eggs and take the chicks to food and water. She knows what she is doing. Let her do it.

 

[aart]

They aren’t her eggs. They are another hens eggs that are fertile that she sat on

Did she start setting on the eggs all at once, or were there other eggs added after?

 

[Chickenlover1310]

Yes, Aart gave the right answer. Chicks can do without food and water for a few days. Don’t start to worry so soon.
Trust your broody.

Thank you!

 

[Chickenlover1310]

I buy "day-old" chicks from a hatchery. They send them to me in the mail. They ship them the day they hatch, but I don't get them until two or three days later. They don't eat anything until I get them, and they are fine. This is possible because, as others are telling you, they can survive on the nutrients of the yolk during this time. You don't need to feed and water your chick right away. Your broody hen will take care of them. She can continue to sit on the eggs until it's time to feed the chicks that have hatched. Then, even if some have not hatched, she will leave the eggs and take the chicks to food and water. She knows what she is doing. Let her do it.

Thank you so much for the reassurance!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you so much for the reassurance!

You're welcome, happy to help. Nature knows.

 

[BDutch]

They aren’t her eggs. They are another hens eggs that are fertile that she sat on

You get a staggered hatch is when eggs are added later. Or maybe when some of the eggs got a bit cold somewhere in the process.

How many eggs did you give her? Any other peeps in the meantime?

 

[Altairsky]

Usually, broody hens will abandon the unhatched eggs 3 days after the first chick hatched, so they can care for the hatched chicks full time.
Every case is different, but generally the problem with staggered eggs is not che chick that hatched, but those that are not hatched yet when the hen decides it's time to leave the nest.

 

[Chickenlover1310]

You get a staggered hatch is when eggs are added later. Or maybe when some of the eggs got a bit cold somewhere in the process.

How many eggs did you give her? Any other peeps in the meantime?

She had 11, now she has 10 with 1 chick. I’m not sure how many eggs are alive

 

[BDutch]

She had 11, now she has 10 with 1 chick. I’m not sure how many eggs are alive

Just one out of 11 eggs does happen sometimes. For all kind of reasons.
Maybe the eggs got cold . The rooster didn't mate properly. Hatching eggs that were transported got ‘scrambled’ too much. The eggs were too old or kept in room that was too warm.

In 2023 I had 9 chicks from 11 hatching eggs. This spring in March I had just 1 chick from 6 hatching eggs. In July I had 3 from 6 hatching eggs. And the guy that sold me speckled Sussex hatching eggs last year, didn’t want to sell any to me this year, because he had an extreme poor outcome himself.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yup. We have only hatched once so far. Set 22 eggs, 9 hatched. Seven cockerels, two pullets. And they were the dumbest birds ever! They are about two years old now and are named Dingbat and Dipstick. They finally figured out they are chickens ....