New hatch Help Please

[2727Hope]

I have babies hatching I brooder. How long can they live in brooder? When/what do I feed them. Please help. Don't they need water right away? Also, the dried ones are sticky. Should I wipe them with damp cloth? Please help me.

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Feed them chick starter.
So up to three days without food, but it's better to have it available immediately, the same goes for water. If you have it available put a little apple cider vinegar in their water, it's okay if you don't though. As for the stickiness I assume that will go away as they dry more and preen themselves. I noticed when I hatched ducklings last year their feathers would stick to my fingers a little but not because they were sticky, just because the where getting thicker down in and the baby fluff was starting to shed.

Also I'm a little confused as to whether you mean the brooder or the incubator? Once they hatch people usually leave them in the incubator for 12-24 hours to strengthen and dry. After that they go into a brooder with food and water, you have to show them where the food and water is. This is done by dipping the tips of their beaks in each substance.
Chicks are usually kept in the brooder until they are 6 weeks old, that way they have pretty much all their feathers and depending on your climate will be able to keep warm.

 

[MagpieDucks]

Keep the chicks in the incubator until they are dry and fluffy. Then put them in their brooder (cardboard box, kiddie pool, Rubbermaid tub etc etc) with a heat lamp at 90-95 F. Decrease by 5 degrees every week. Keep on 18 % chick starter until laying age.

backyardchickens.com/articles/raising-your-baby-chicks.63100

 

[lazy gardener]

To OP: do you mean in the incubator, or in a broody pen with a mama broody? They should fluff up as they dry off. If in the incubator, and all the eggs were set on the same day (which they should have been) I'd wait till the hatch is completed before opening it to take them out. If you've done a staggered hatch, you'll have to use your best judgement on this, realizing that opening the incubator may drop the humidity making it difficult if not impossible for the remaining chicks to hatch on their own due to dried membranes. I offer my chicks both feed and water as soon as they come out of the incubator.