day 1 baby chick hatched from egg in incubator seems distressed

[vempst]

i recently tried incubating some chicken eggs, and so far have had only 1 egg remain fertile and hatch properly, and the hatch went amazing and he seems extremely happy and healthy, but he is alone and seems a little bit in distress. i have his water, mash, and heating pad for him, yet he keeps having short bursts of energy, sometimes even falling asleep while standing, only to start exploring the next second. i have had it begin drinking water and eating food, and i have my heating pad set to a pretty low height, yet he seems like he might be cold or lonely. i can attatch pictures of his area. he makes short trills of chirps when he has energy, and then he goes deep into the heating pad and basically falls asleep, and im not entirely sure how to interperate all of it. let me know what i could be doing wrong, somebody. i am going out tomorrow morning to a nearby place that sells baby chicks to get him more siblings, i just want to make sure im not doing anything specifically wrong, thanks.

 

[Huntmaster]

He is lonely he does need company from other chicks. Can't tell how low your heat plat is but it needs to be low enough for him to touch his back on plate. Most put plate on an angle lower in back than front so chick can adjust as needed.

 

[Huntmaster]

Just looking at your setup and that looks like wax paper on the floor of brooder. If so, it needs to be removed it is too slippery for them to walk on causing leg issues. I would use paper Towles for first few days then pine shavings.

 

[WoDia]

Hello and welcome to the BYC community @vempst! I always monitor the brooder temperature with thermometers (make sure the chick’s warm enough). You can also supply a little plushie or cloth for it to snuggle against until you get the new chicks tomorrow.

 

[vempst]

Just looking at your setup and that looks like wax paper on the floor of brooder. If so, it needs to be removed it is too slippery for them to walk on causing leg issues. I would use paper Towles for first few days then pine shavings.

its purely just paper towels

 

[vempst]

i recently tried incubating some chicken eggs, and so far have had only 1 egg remain fertile and hatch properly, and the hatch went amazing and he seems extremely happy and healthy, but he is alone and seems a little bit in distress. i have his water, mash, and heating pad for him, yet he keeps having short bursts of energy, sometimes even falling asleep while standing, only to start exploring the next second. i have had it begin drinking water and eating food, and i have my heating pad set to a pretty low height, yet he seems like he might be cold or lonely. i can attatch pictures of his area. he makes short trills of chirps when he has energy, and then he goes deep into the heating pad and basically falls asleep, and im not entirely sure how to interperate all of it. let me know what i could be doing wrong, somebody. i am going out tomorrow morning to a nearby place that sells baby chicks to get him more siblings, i just want to make sure im not doing anything specifically wrong, thanks.

ive been constantly adjusting it and i think he might be happy with this but let me know if i should change it. i keep it slightly raised up front incase he gets too hot, and wants a slightly cooler temperature

 

[BigBlueHen53]

its purely just paper towels

Puppy pee pads work well too, and don't generate the dust that shavings do.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

ive been constantly adjusting it and i think he might be happy with this but let me know if i should change it. i keep it slightly raised up front incase he gets too hot, and wants a slightly cooler temperature

Hard to tell from picture, can he get under it?

 

[vempst]

Hard to tell from picture, can he get under it?

yes he runs in and out, and he has been silent for a little while but every now and then he makes pretty distressed chirps, im just not sure if i should lower it. hes decently small, born from bantams.

 

[Huntmaster]

ive been constantly adjusting it and i think he might be happy with this but let me know if i should change it. i keep it slightly raised up front incase he gets too hot, and wants a slightly cooler temperature

I see his back is barley touching in front that should be ok, but he needs an area in back that he can lay down and still snuggle up against plate. if it is low enough in back for that he should be fine.