HELP! Ants got our chicks.

[talkofthetown]

Need some quick advice…DH has been letting our hens sit on some eggs in the coop, trying to hatch chicks the good old fashioned way. They started hatching today, but ants got to them. DH took care of them, but noticed one egg was just barely cracked. He picked it up and ants started crawling out. He just finished cracking it and tried to get the chick out. I know you’re not supposed to help them hatch but he had to try.

So. We have the broody hen (that’s been sitting) up on our porch in a large dog crate, along with the chick and a few unhatched eggs that are due any day now.

I know there’s a chance this chick might not make it…no idea if it was bitten by the ants. But we want to at least try. Any advice on what to do? Poor mama hen is not selling down so far. Should we let her be for a while? Let her out and put baby under a heat lamp? Being a second hen in there for company? What about the other eggs when they start to hatch?

[Pep_n_Ann]

Cover the crate, they like to be in the dark after being moved. Keep it quiet as well. She should settle down again.

[Foxtrot_s]

We put Borax around when there are ants coming inside - on the ground, in the cracks between floor and wall. Seems to work. Don’t know if chickens would eat it???

[microbovine]

If she doesn’t keep those babies warm, they will die quickly. She should be on them all the time, if she is doing her job. They may need you to make a brooder for them. Do you have chick starter? You can wet it down a little. Put a very small amount of molasses in their water to perk them up and keep them from getting stopped up. It should look like a weak tea mixture. I don’t know if chickens would purposely eat the Borax, but they do peck at everything.

[talkofthetown]

Thanks all. Mama settled down after a while. She’s sitting on the eggs and chick, and baby chick has made it through the night and can stand up on its own! I think the sheet over the crate really helped as well.

DH has stated that if the chick survives, he’s going to bring it inside and let it be an indoor chicken. :rolleyes: :lol:

[microbovine]

Oh boy. Don’t let him make any promises to the little guy about living indoors. Feather dust is awful. I only let baby chicks stay inside for a few days when they are first hatched. After that, out they go and deep cleaning of the guest room begins…

[talkofthetown]

He’s now mentioned a diaper. Let’s hope he’s kidding…:lol:

We have a second baby chick! Survivor Chick is still doing great, too. Hopefully the rest of the eggs will follow suite and we’ll have oodles of fluffy babies running around.

[microbovine]

LOL!