"Springing in the Chicks" 2016 April Hatch-a-Long Hosted by Mike & Sally

flocktastic said:

I KNEW I should have helped that pipped chick!! It started to make a bit more progress so I went to bed...found it DIS this morning!!

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That happen to me too. And I've tried to help them and they died anyway.. Some just aren't meant to live.
I am trying to learn with this hatching stuff (what will be will be.) you save some you loose some)
What hate worse than anything is when you though away the eggs in the dumpster and they start peeping. It just kills me.

NN was hatched on Friday night. Saturday I brought in two of the little Banties to keep him company. Noisy little stinkers when they're by themselves, ain't they? I named him "Sluf". This evening Sluf and the two Banties went out to the outdoor brooder. I thought he'd stick close to the ones he was used to, but nope - headed straight for MHP and I think he's there to stay until he either grows feathers on that pink target on the back of his head or the others forget he's out there.

Chaos18 said:

Thanks. 8 eggs made it to lockdown and I got 4 ducklings out of them so I'm fairly happy.

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Waffle, Biscuit, Gravy and Toast.... if I get a duckling (I have decided to wait and to try again) I think I will name it Latte!
Congrats. I can't wait to see it all dried off.

mamahmendez said:

Waffle, Biscuit, Gravy and Toast.... if I get a duckling (I have decided to wait and to try again) I think I will name it Latte!
Congrats.  I can't wait to see it all dried off.  

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Thanks. for yours.

Waffles (the black), Biscuits (the lavender) & Gravy (the lavender with pink leg band). Big difference in size between them. Waffles is the oldest by one day over Biscuits and two days over Gravy. Will get pics of Toast tomorrow evening.

The skunks have fluffed.. Er chickens.
40 set, 30 to term, 16 hatched. 2 eggtopsied DIS. The remainder are under lock down but not hopeful. Not bad for first incubator batch.

A few obligatory shots of my 4-5 day old Red "bricks"...

Any chance a chick hasn't pipped but would still survive if assisted? Day 22 starts in about an hour and a half and I left 8 eggs in the incubator that hadn't pipped (can't really see if there's an internal pip because shell is too dark) I swear I keep hearing a phantom CHEEP over there once in awhil but not sure if I'm crazy or what...because I see ZERO evidence of any pips...thoughts? How long would you wait to finally help??

flocktastic said:

Any chance a chick hasn't pipped but would still survive if assisted? Day 22 starts in about an hour and a half and I left 8 eggs in the incubator that hadn't pipped (can't really see if there's an internal pip because shell is too dark) I swear I keep hearing a phantom CHEEP over there once in awhil but not sure if I'm crazy or what...because I see ZERO evidence of any pips...thoughts? How long would you wait to finally help??

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I'd probably wait at least until day 23 to worry. Especially if you are hearing signs of life. If day 21 is just now over there is still time for it to hatch just fine on its own.

flocktastic said:

Any chance a chick hasn't pipped but would still survive if assisted? Day 22 starts in about an hour and a half and I left 8 eggs in the incubator that hadn't pipped (can't really see if there's an internal pip because shell is too dark) I swear I keep hearing a phantom CHEEP over there once in awhil but not sure if I'm crazy or what...because I see ZERO evidence of any pips...thoughts? How long would you wait to finally help??

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I normally toss my unhatched eggs on day 23, but if you want to check to see if there's life in the remaining eggs, you could do a float test to see if any are wiggling on day 22 1/2. Make sure the water's plenty warm (around 100F), and don't keep them out of the incubator long at all so they don't shrink-wrap. I'd also start by opening the air cell a tiny bit to see if there's movement. You may have to swab the membrane with a damp Q-tip to see through it. If you see movement and no blood vessels, slowly start tearing the membrane and removing small pieces of shell until you find the beak. Once you reach the beak and open an airway for it... stop and see if the chick can make it out on it's own. You don't want to open the shell any more than necessary, in case it hasn't absorbed the yolk. If it hasn't come out after 24 hours of artificially pipping it, then you should try to go farther. They usually don't hatch with the others for a reason, but if you want to take a chance on them, go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained... right? Good luck and keep us posted!