help with hatching emus

Yes that Emu was very premature, opening that egg wasn't the way to go.

First thing you should do right now is set them on a hard surface and whistle or tap them, see if they wiggle in response.  If they don't wiggle, simply try again later.  They will hatch on their own, do not help at all, helping them out is very last resort and often does more harm than good.  If you can hear the chicks chirping inside by holding the egg up to your ear, you've still got a couple days before they'll pip.  My guy Gerry was chirping for 3 days before he pipped.  Good rule of thumb is if they start to stink, toss em or clean em out.

When they hatch the yolk should be fully absorbed and the navel closed.

Good luck with your others.

I did the same thing on my first batch.  I do not help them get out. 

it sounds like your temperature was a bit cooler than 97.5... which means they will take longer than 50 days to hatch

eggs incubated at 95 degrees will take closer to 60 days to hatch

the only way I recommend helping them is if you know your temperature, know for certain the due date (since it will vary with temperature)... then if there are a lot of eggs in the bator and you are concerned about carbon dioxide poisoning from lack of air flow, I would recommend drilling a SMALL hole into the air cell only.. after that the chick should hatch on it's own with no problems...

if you are well past the due date and the chick has been peeping and is sounding weaker then it's a judgement call on your part as if you should make a larger hole to check on the chick or not

a few things to consider:

when you are at day 31 or so the egg should start to wiggle (give or take a few days if incubated at 97.5... cooler temps would push the wiggle date and all other dates back some)

the egg should also want to "stay" on one or two sides only.. if you lay it on a flat smooth surface.. when tapped with a metal rod (like a metal drill bit) it should have a deep hollow sound

if the egg will lay on whichever side you place it (at day 31) I can pretty much guarantee it's rotten.. also tap testing a rotten egg on day 31 will result in a higher pitched (non resonating) sound than a good egg tapped on the same day

the reason for this is that the rotten egg will have caused the membrane to pull away from the shell.. which alters the "lay on one or two sides only" rule plus it will also alter the sound

as a note: an infertile egg will have the deep hollow sound when tapped... unless it has gone rotten.. so a good egg can be confused with an infertile (non rotten egg) by tap testing.. and an infertile egg will also want to lay on one or two sides only.. the same as a good egg

only good eggs will wiggle.. also at day 31 or so you can leave the eggs out of the bator for 3 to 5 minutes then feel both ends.. the air cell end will cool in all eggs.. however an egg containing a live chick will still be warm at one end since the chick is generating some heat.. rotten eggs and infertiles will be cooling down at both ends

when an egg is ready to hatch (within a few days) it will also "sound" which is the higher pitch sound.. because the chick has broken through the inner membrane and it has started pulling away from the shell

Yeah, there are a lot of very knowledgeable people on this forum who have helped me and other first time Emu owners a lot, there's a lot of information to be had in the Hatchalong thread.

Emus don't need neck support after they hatch, that's complete nonsense.  The only thing you have to watch out for is a really active baby that thrashes around a lot, they may bash into something hard and hurt themselves or strain a leg if it gets caught on something.  When Gerry hatched I put him in a small dog/cat bed so he'd have a soft safe place to find his balance.

Best plan is really to just take it as it goes after they hatch, don't do anything you don't have to do and when in doubt don't be afraid to ask on the forums here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raptor65 

Yeah, there are a lot of very knowledgeable people on this forum who have helped me and other first time Emu owners a lot, there's a lot of information to be had in the Hatchalong thread.

 

Emus don't need neck support after they hatch, that's complete nonsense.  The only thing you have to watch out for is a really active baby that thrashes around a lot, they may bash into something hard and hurt themselves or strain a leg if it gets caught on something.  When Gerry hatched I put him in a small dog/cat bed so he'd have a soft safe place to find his balance.

Best plan is really to just take it as it goes after they hatch, don't do anything you don't have to do and when in doubt don't be afraid to ask on the forums here.

X2

something else you will need to know..

Nutrition for the babies is a major concern... you want to make sure they get enough calcium, not too much protein.. and plenty of leafy greens

they need the calcium for those growing bones.. but not so much protein that they will grow too fast.. plus the green are full of all kinds of vitamins and nutrients that they need

Once yours hatch we can all fill you in on feeding...