Dansk Fjerkræ Forum
Hønsegården => Høns => Emne startet af: Che Guebuddha efter 13 Maj , 2014, 09:19
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Hi all,
I keep Dansk Landrace Hens both black and brown and one of my hens started laying on one egg 21 days ago. Within one week she got more eggs and ended up with 13 eggs total. The first egg has hatched today and its a black chick :) Some eggs need a few more days to hatch, but the mama hen is not laying on them anymore.
She is laying only on that one living chick beside the nest! What will happen to the other eggs? Should I do something, like place them in a box with a light bulb over them to keep them warm?
All and any help much appreciated!
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The only thing you can do is to continue the hatching in an incubator. The remaining chicks will continue to break out over as many days as it takes until all eggs have hatched for 21 days
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Tak Helle!
If I get lucky with hatching the remaining eggs can I still place them with the mama hen or will she kill them?
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When at hen starts laying on eggs, she should have all the eggs at the same time. She will not stay on the nest and wait for the rest of the chickens to hatch. If you can get an incubator asap you may be able to save the rest of the eggs, but they are possibly already dead.
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The only chance to save the rest of the chicks, is to put them in a incubator (rugemaskine) instantly. Next time you should remove the eggs every day until your hen lays all day long on either false or real eggs and then replace the eggs under her with the eggs you collected ....then they will hatch at the same time /o
Hens leave the rest of the eggs a couple of days after the first chicks hatched !
Be aware that other hens like too lay their eggs in the nest, so you need too make sure that they cant do that.
I hope you understand my poor English ;D
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Thanks for all help :)
I have no incubator so I placed 6 eggs in a small aquarium (no water in it) and placed a light bulb above them. I also placed a dish cloth in a small dish with water in for humidity.
So far I have only 21'C where the eggs are. Should it be warmer?
Must I turn the eggs twice a day?
(http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g294/Duskob/aegg_zps5e208a87.jpg) (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/Duskob/media/aegg_zps5e208a87.jpg.html)
By the way, when I went to the hen to take the eggs away from her I found only 6 eggs :) she actually moved 6 eggs under her. Is it possible that she had moved only the ones that are still alive? Can hens sense the living ones in the unhatched eggs?
Thank you for helping me! I thought Hens can naturally raise chicks but it seems as they need human help to so ???
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The temperature must be as close to 37,5'C as possible
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Tak Helle!
If I get lucky with hatching the remaining eggs can I still place them with the mama hen or will she kill them?
She might accept them. I think there is a good chance that she will. Place the chicks gently under mamma hen's wings from behind at nighttime, when mamma hen is on the nest, and then wait and listen. If she seems interestet and calm...perhaps talking to them... everything is fine, but if she looks angry and raises the fethers especially in the neck, you have to remove the chiks and nurse them yourself under a heat lamp
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The temperature inside the aquarium went from 21'C to little over 40'C so I opened it totally to cool it down and now its constant on 33'C. Im trying to get it up to 37'C. Im not sure this will work but I will give it 5 days before I throw them away :(
I think I will need to buy an incubator soon.
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You frie og boil the eggs at 40'C +. If the temperature in your aquarium keeps on turning over 38'C during the night - where I guess you won't be watching - the eggs are dead.
I was very glad, that I have an incubator 8 days ago, where my mama hen killed her first chicken, and I very quickly had to remove the rest of the hatching and breaking eggs to the incubator
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Do you have an update on the situation in the aqua-nest?
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None of the eggs hatched so far :( the temperature in the night went down from 37'C to 34'C so Im trying to raise it a bit more now. I will update as soon I know more :)
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One eggs hatched in the "aquarium-incubator" ;D I helped the chick a bit by removing gently the egg shell but I can see the chick is still attached to the egg with some sort of cord hanging from the vent. Do I cut the cord or do I let the chick release itself?
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Wait an se if the chik doesn't release the cord itself
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How long do i wait and where to cut the cord? Do I pull out the cord?
Thanks for helping this chick come to life :)
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How long do i wait and where to cut the cord? Do I pull out the cord?
You can cut the cord - which I guess must be the umbilical cord - close to the eggshell, but the cord has to dry up and fall off the chick itself, otherwise you will kill the baby
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Ok I have cut the cord off and left a bit hanging from the chicks vent. The chick is fluffing up and walking a bit but mostly sleeping.
I gave it a few drops of water from my finger tip and it was drinking :) it seems to be eating small parts of wood shavings! Is it already hungry?? I read on the net that chicks need only water in the first 2-3 days and food afterwards?
I placed a shallow dish with water in the brooder with small stones in so the chick doesnt dry.
So far no new eggs have hatched but the aquarium incubator is holding same temperature all the time 37'C
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Good that you have managed to control the temperature in aqualand /o
A chicken doesn't need food or water for the first 48 hours, but my chicks usually start tasting food and water as soon as they are removed from the incubator - I remove them as soon as they are dry.
If the chicken seems ok and healthy tonight, you can try to give it to mama hen when she is on the nest with the other chick for the night. Gently place the newborn under her wing..from behind. If the chick needs some more time to get in shape you can wait until tomorrow night. I hope she accepts it - if not - you have a problem. The newborn has to have a mate or two
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It is important that "baby food" is available at once, so that chicks can feed as soon as they are able to.
The sac with leftover nutrients from the hatching period is not supposed to be used as food, but as a supplement to the food the chick is able to find itself. The way Nature intended, so to speak. See the link below: :)
http://fjerkrae.dk/prod/index.php?topic=810.0