5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[Whoops]

Quote:
They are two days late. No progress. I think I am in last ditch effort land.

 

[ronott1]

They are two days late. No progress. I think I am in last ditch effort land.

Yes you are!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

My 4 dark shelled eggs turned out to be duds. Looked fertile but nothing happened. I'm glad they did not explode though. A benefit of thick shells.
My 1 RIR is still in the process of an assisted hatch. I think it will make it the humidity dropped low last night after it had pipped. I think the wet towel finally dried out. But with the drop in humidity, the membrane was gluing the little one in place, only the beak was moving. I helped it zip a little every 2 hours since about 6 am this morning. The top part of the shell is off and the wings are out but there is still shell attached to the cord. I'll give it some more time before trying to help any more.

 

[jlynnet]

Edited: 2 tolbunt polish and 2 SFH

They're beautiful!

 

[ronott1]

My 4 dark shelled eggs turned out to be duds. Looked fertile but nothing happened. I'm glad they did not explode though. A benefit of thick shells.
My 1 RIR is still in the process of an assisted hatch. I think it will make it the humidity dropped low last night after it had pipped. I think the wet towel finally dried out. But with the drop in humidity, the membrane was gluing the little one in place, only the beak was moving. I helped it zip a little every 2 hours since about 6 am this morning. The top part of the shell is off and the wings are out but there is still shell attached to the cord. I'll give it some more time before trying to help any more.

Good job with assisting!

 

[Aphrael]

Got a new camera for Christmas!

What a lovely colorful flock you have!

I had no idea hatching eggs would be a source of so MUCH DRAMA!

First is the paranoia and the worry.
Then the estactic joy of that pip.
Then the horror.

Oh how horrible! One of the dried out ones attacked one as it was coming out of the shell! Then they all got in the game and were flinging this poor thing around until it got a bloody wing. After some debate we decided we had better remove the dried chicks to save those coming on. Afraid to open the bator - but it must be done. I wet a dishtowel with hot water and flopped it in the bator as it was opened and the four dried out chicks quickly removed to allow the next ones coming on a better chance. There were 4 pipped at that time and I knew it was dangerous. Temp and humidity barely fluctuated and due to the warm towel went back up and stabilized quickly.

Then one hatched with a little umbilicus issues. It had a small bloody protrusion. I thought to myself that it didn't look too bad and I hated to open the bator again. Went to town and came home to carnage. Blood all over the incubator and this chick is hopping around dragging its insides after itself.

Of course it had to be culled and quickly. The last chick also had a little bloody bum but I separated it by putting it in a bowl on newspaper shreds (still in the bator). What should I do for the last chick? I hate to cull it if a trick will fix it.

Are these bloody umbilicus issues from opening the bator?

Also, I have 6 unpipped eggs left. Set on the 12th at 12:08 a.m. I didn't candle before lock down. At what point do I candle these last eggs? The incubator has been opened 3 times today already. Kind of don't want to mess with it anymore.

Oh no! I am so sorry you lost these babies so horribly.

I have read where people put chicks like that in a cup for a little while to let them finish up and they are fine. I hope she finishes all up and comes out bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Depends on if it had pipped or not or if it died a day or 2 early.
Nutrition is one culprit, also heredity, low humidity, inadequate ventilation or turning, etc..
Here is a good list to review.
http://www.natureform.com/kb/index.php?article=1011

I read over that article as well as several others listing possible causes of dead in shell. From what I've been reading it seems that the humidity, temp, turning and ventilation should have caused some difficulties in my other eggs as well. But the ones that hatched hatched perfectly, right on time quick zip no troubles. No stickiness, no excess wetness. Just pip, zip and hit the ground running. None of them died a day or two early either. 2 had pipped internally, 3 never pipped internally. But I know they were all alive yesterday morning because every one of those eggs was rocking and shimmying a lot.

I'm sad to say the baby chick I was hoping for died in the night. But, I feel wonderful at giving it a chance that it otherwise wouldn't have had. I like to learn something from each hatch, and doing what I did last night was something that had scared me far too much to even try in the past. I know I came out of this hatch with more knowledge than I had in previous hatches, and that should be each one of our goals. Learning from our mistakes, trying new things, and perfecting this thing called hatching. In years to come with much diligence, some of us may be the ones giving expert advice in the ranks of Ron, Chicken Canoe, or Sally Sunshine....One can only hope!

Oh, I am so sorry it didn't make it.

You did all you could for it.

How can Ron continue to be such a nice guy and a gentle soul after over 7300 posts and all the work he has done for this, not to mention that he's trying to hatch his own birds.
I'd be absolutely batty and be losing patience.
Do you even get any sleep Ron?

Because Ron is Superman!

Seriously though. Thank you so much Ron and everyone else who has been so helpful to everyone during this hatchalong. You guys all rock.

They are two days late. No progress. I think I am in last ditch effort land.

Yep. Sounds like "Last Ditch Effort Land" to me. Good luck!

 

[Whoops]

Wow. Suffice it to say, the hens that laid those eggs had sufficient calcium. Like digging through concrete. Baby chicks must be tough little critters with diamond lined beaks. But, I artificially pipped the large end of the six remaining eggs and spritzed the 'bator with water to up the humidity after messing with it. No stinkers, no chirping. I don't hold out much hope, but we'll see.

 

[CackleJoy]

I wish I knew the answer, but I do not...hope someone more experienced tells you what you should do.

What about the cup method? I saw a couple of people who put their underdeveloped chicks in a cup...separated from the rest. Maybe you could try that and see if it fixes itself??? Can you post a picture of the problem?

The second chick I put in a bowl with newspaper and placed back in the incubator for the night. It appears to have sorted itself out. It also had a friend with it in the bowl this AM! So funny. I isolated it again in the brooder. Try to give it another day to recuperate. I wish I'd have just opened the bator and put the first one in a bowl. At the very least I wouldn't have a bloody mess in the bator to try and clean up. It also may have been pecked at. I should have realized anything bloody was asking for trouble. With sleep deprivation (baby - not party) going on, my brain just is not always at full function. Oh well, this being our first hatch, we have learned a lot and I'm so surprised anything hatched! Amazed! We have Oh my goodness! I went to count chickens and the one in the ICU box has removed itself to be with the other chicks. So much for my cleverness. Note the ICU box in this picture and the two little chicks huddled in the corner. I can see the box is just not tall enough to do it's job.

Anyway, we had 12 out of 20 fertile eggs hatch! It's our 1st time so we are pretty happy!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Oh, no, I wasn't upset!!! I guess my post must have sounded that way? I was just asking why you'd suggest it...what your reasons were. I respect everyone's opinions and advice...not meaning I agree with them all...but everyone has the right to do as they see fit for their situation!

I do have the time to baby the baby

so if her toes and feet don't straighten out by the time she's dry, I'll make her little sandals

I take the time to baby if I think the problem isn't genetic or nutritional but an incubation issue.
That said, intervention usually eats up an exorbitant amount of time.

Yes I sleep! I slept through the last one hatching again last night.

I learned over 18 years of IT work here at UCD to answer questions simply and thoroughly. I also try to keep in mind that there is a lot we do not know. For many of us this is a very new experience that is not a common activity even for chicken owners.

This is all a very refreshing topic to me from Computer Techie stuff....
It would be great to have you hatch with us next time!

I learned a lot this time too.

Guy has been an inspiration during this hatch a long!

It's important to keep a cool head. I worked in industries with big egos and anything but cool heads so places like BYC have been a learning experience.
In the last 20 years, I was an automation engineer, robot programmer, robotics and integration instructor, industrial electrician and feed mill programmer.
When I couldn't find work in my field, I migrated to wind and solar power. When that dried up, I went to Costa Rica and volunteered to do maintenance and bird care training for a Macaw breeding project. It was selfish since I was able to improve my Spanish at the same time while not having to pay for instruction.

This is much more enjoyable than the electric stuff.

Don't cull! She could still straighten it out and do fine once she starts walking. Can't see the legs too well, if the legs are separated too far, they could be splayed too. I had to tape my blue Marans leg...and put a boot on after a day of her not walking on the foot right, but I waited a day. I have photos of a bootie on one that I made last summer.
I trim the corners to a round look. I keep them taped for just a day.

Yes. I wouldn't cull until you're sure it's a goner.

When should I help an egg?

I have two that have not pipped yet. 5 are already hatched...the last to hatch was this morning.

I am pretty sure one is already gone...hadn't seen movement since the day before lockdown. The other egg, however, was moving yesterday, but have not seen movement today. Since I had no pips, I went ahead and candled that egg. I see an internal pip and can see it breathing.

I am worried because I've seen that some of ya'll had eggs that internally pipped but died before external pip. I do not want this to happen to this baby. Do they run out of oxygen in the air cell? If so, is it ok for me to pop a little hole in the very top so oxygen can get to it?

Thanks in advance for your opinions and suggestions.

IMO it never hurts to try to help and I do so, especially when I think the chicks failure is my fault - i.e. poor storage conditions, improper temp, humidity, ventilation, etc..

Normally, I don't intervene often. Vibrant, healthy chicks that are going to have a high quality of life and improve the flock, rarely have to be helped. The ones that need helping usually aren't going to help the flock.

Quite a dichotomy, eh?

If it has been a while, I would pop a hole. They do run out of air in the cell and when CO2 goes too high that is what stimulates them to externally pip.

Can you elaborate, Ron? Do you have a link to this? What does it mean to "close a flock for 20 years"?

I ask because I've been worried about my two new Chocolate Orpington bantams...one male, one female, from the same breeder. When I called to ask her if they were siblings, she said she wasn't sure, they came from two different incubator hatches. That got me thinking, that if they are siblings, I'll have to get one or two MORE COB's before I can hatch eggs!

One can tell pretty quickly if inbreeding has been taken to extreme. The offspring will not be very robust. That was a bad mating.
Sibling mating will duplicate all the genes, both good and bad. Without genetic diversity, vigor and fertility drops off fast.

What?! I should try putting a pip in the eggs that haven't hatched?! Dang - I am going to go try that!

Be very careful with humidity when you try that and be ready to intervene with dry membranes. Not pretty.

 

[insanity]

It's now day 23. Yesterdays tapping had stopped so I investigated. I'm down to 2. Both with the end wide open but still trying.