Pixijayne
Chirping
- Jun 13, 2015
- 82
- 8
- 56
My broody had waited 4 days from the first hatchling and gave up, leaving me with 9 ‘half incubated’ eggs.
Thinking it would only be 24hrs max till they hatched and I would be able to pop them out with the mamma. I put them under my bedside lamp, in a foil lined ice cream container, and stole all the gauges from the kids hermit crab tank.
I sprayed the towelling, to increase the humidity, moved the container higher and lower, to the left and to the right. Making adjustments almost hourly, trying to keep these darn eggs at 37.5C the magic number ….
With no real incubator I was so panicked and worried. I would not leave the house for more than an hr at a time. I woke every 2 hrs right from deep sleep, as my eyes opened I would startle myself wide awake in seconds, giving myself a constant headache.
Then on the 3rd evening I had an internal pip, when I checked before bed I could hear the chick cheeping away, it was so exciting to lay in bed listening to the cheep cheep, in the morning the pip/egg had a raised lump and I was over the moon. I had kids to get off to school, when I came home from walking with the kids and the dogs and all was silent.
I thought its ok its resting up for the big event ... but by mid-afternoon, which was about 15hrs after pipping had started I decided to assist by just making an air hole. I was sure that my poking about would lead to some of those wonderful peep peep, cheep cheeps I was enjoying, but nothing ..... As I held the egg I knew it had died, there was no inner warmth, the outside of the egg was nice and warm but once that warmth had started to dissipate, I could feel no inner warmth.
I was truly dejected thinking that the other 2 eggs were dead too ...
I candled and found LIFE !!!!!!
So I had new motivation to keep on doing what I was doing, I was so tired but seeing their beating rhythms and little movements them each time I candled just kept me going.
To be honest, I think these 2 survivors and now scared of the dark I candled them so much in the last 36 hrs .... it was such a relief to get a hold of an incubator, I posted on my local area poultry Facebook page – looking for an incubator for a week or so, and got one !!!
They hatched about 12 hrs apart, the first one about 12 hrs after I got the incubator.
I was so worried that the 2nd one wasn’t going to make it. It also stopped at the lumped up pipping point, for about 24hrs. I ended up pulling it out with a plan to pop open the inner membrane, but at the last moment that inner voice said stop - so I just increased the amount of open space, by removing a very small amount of shell, about the size of 2 match-heads side by side and then poping open the first membrane. And back in the bator.
I kept playing a recording of cheeping chicks in a hope to motivate it along.
About 20 seconds after I put it back into the incubator, hatching #1 (now known as Thing #1) march right over and in one quick peck, popped the inner membrane.
About 3 hrs later Thing #2 hatched out !!!!!
And now they have moved into their new accommodation, I 'borrowed' all the stuff from the hermit crabs .... heat-pad, thermostat regulator, temp gauges .....
Thinking it would only be 24hrs max till they hatched and I would be able to pop them out with the mamma. I put them under my bedside lamp, in a foil lined ice cream container, and stole all the gauges from the kids hermit crab tank.
I sprayed the towelling, to increase the humidity, moved the container higher and lower, to the left and to the right. Making adjustments almost hourly, trying to keep these darn eggs at 37.5C the magic number ….
With no real incubator I was so panicked and worried. I would not leave the house for more than an hr at a time. I woke every 2 hrs right from deep sleep, as my eyes opened I would startle myself wide awake in seconds, giving myself a constant headache.
Then on the 3rd evening I had an internal pip, when I checked before bed I could hear the chick cheeping away, it was so exciting to lay in bed listening to the cheep cheep, in the morning the pip/egg had a raised lump and I was over the moon. I had kids to get off to school, when I came home from walking with the kids and the dogs and all was silent.
I thought its ok its resting up for the big event ... but by mid-afternoon, which was about 15hrs after pipping had started I decided to assist by just making an air hole. I was sure that my poking about would lead to some of those wonderful peep peep, cheep cheeps I was enjoying, but nothing ..... As I held the egg I knew it had died, there was no inner warmth, the outside of the egg was nice and warm but once that warmth had started to dissipate, I could feel no inner warmth.
I was truly dejected thinking that the other 2 eggs were dead too ...
I candled and found LIFE !!!!!!
So I had new motivation to keep on doing what I was doing, I was so tired but seeing their beating rhythms and little movements them each time I candled just kept me going.
To be honest, I think these 2 survivors and now scared of the dark I candled them so much in the last 36 hrs .... it was such a relief to get a hold of an incubator, I posted on my local area poultry Facebook page – looking for an incubator for a week or so, and got one !!!
They hatched about 12 hrs apart, the first one about 12 hrs after I got the incubator.
I was so worried that the 2nd one wasn’t going to make it. It also stopped at the lumped up pipping point, for about 24hrs. I ended up pulling it out with a plan to pop open the inner membrane, but at the last moment that inner voice said stop - so I just increased the amount of open space, by removing a very small amount of shell, about the size of 2 match-heads side by side and then poping open the first membrane. And back in the bator.
I kept playing a recording of cheeping chicks in a hope to motivate it along.
About 20 seconds after I put it back into the incubator, hatching #1 (now known as Thing #1) march right over and in one quick peck, popped the inner membrane.
About 3 hrs later Thing #2 hatched out !!!!!
And now they have moved into their new accommodation, I 'borrowed' all the stuff from the hermit crabs .... heat-pad, thermostat regulator, temp gauges .....
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