they werent due to hatch for 4 more days! i dont see where any others have started. what do i do with a single chick?? leave him in the incubator for a few days and wait for others or take him out now? geesh guess i am not as prepared as i thought lol. peace connie in alaska
Connie--I'm no expert on chickens, but if you take him out now, he'll imprint on you and won't know he's a chicken. So it's probably best to leave him in there a while longer. When he has other chick brothers and sisters, he won't get confused as to what he is. For a realy fascinating read on the subject, check out King Solomon's Ring, by Konrad Lorenz, one of the greatest animal behaviorists of the twentieth century. Cindy
Connie, I was just talking to a friend yesterday about this very thing. She has just started doing the incubator and has been doing it both ways with different results. The first time she took the first ones out and they dies. The next time she left them in till all hatched and they all lived. So she is thinking about leaving all in til she's sure they all are hatched. I think when you lift the lid it messes with the humidity and heat. She's new at it, too and is learning as she goes. Christina has been posting on here about all her adventures with her incubator lately so maybe she'll see this and pipe in.
I guess you put all the eggs in at the same time? That's strange that one should hatch 4 days early. Maybe the rest will hatch soon after.
secondone hatched. they arent actually due to hatch until the 13th or so! both babies seem to be doign great! i will take them out and put into a brooder box probably tomorrow. gonna be intersting having then just days different in age, since they grow very quickly! i cant wait to see how many i will come up with *grin* peace connie in alaska