Our chicks died. It's too late to do anything about it, but here is my question.
My father-in-law passed away on day 20 of lockdown, we had to leave home immediately, which if course meant leaving the incubator.
I had a friend come in to keep an eye on the chicks. It was a bad hatch rate anyway, only 5 from 25.
I left instructions as she's never done anything like this before.
We were away for a week, but the day we got home the chicks had died overnight. She said she had seen them weakening the day before.
Anyway, we wondered if they were just weak/sick, until I realized that in my 'detailed' instructions I had forgotten to write about tapping at the food to encourage the chicks to eat. I had written about dipping their beaks in water so she did that.
So could they have starved to death? Would they really not have figured out about eating if the tapping thing isn't done?
Feeling pretty bad about it if they starved because of my poor instructions!
My father-in-law passed away on day 20 of lockdown, we had to leave home immediately, which if course meant leaving the incubator.
I had a friend come in to keep an eye on the chicks. It was a bad hatch rate anyway, only 5 from 25.
I left instructions as she's never done anything like this before.
We were away for a week, but the day we got home the chicks had died overnight. She said she had seen them weakening the day before.
Anyway, we wondered if they were just weak/sick, until I realized that in my 'detailed' instructions I had forgotten to write about tapping at the food to encourage the chicks to eat. I had written about dipping their beaks in water so she did that.
So could they have starved to death? Would they really not have figured out about eating if the tapping thing isn't done?
Feeling pretty bad about it if they starved because of my poor instructions!
you don't have to tap on the food container to get them to eat, they do a pretty good job of that themselves. So long as your neighbour dipped at least one of the chicks beaks in water then they would all figure out where to get water. Baby chicks seem to follow each other to work out what to do and after 3 days they will eat their wood shavings, cardboard or paper brooder lining, feed and more feed, their own droppings, etc., etc.
And then to come home to a lost hatch, sadness upon sadness. How discouraging! Please try not to blame yourself. You can't possibly know what caused the loss of your chicks. Perhaps the power went out and they got cold. I mean, it could have been anything totally beyond your or anybody's control. Beating yourself up won't change anything, and won't do anybody any good. It's just one of those things that happens, something you didn't cause and couldn't prevent. Better luck next time. 
