First lockdown!! couple questions.

[Mr weeds]

Hard lesson learned by me, sometimes if a hatching chick takes to long you have to help it by cracking shell enough for wings to move, or they don't make it

 

[southernhusky]

Aww yeah sorry to hear that. Did it appear anything else was wrong with it?

I know I've read sometimes there is a reason they can't finish the job. =( Deformity, mal-position, etc. Plenty say don't assist, you may have had to cull it later or it pass a few days after, etc. You did a good job! And you got some wonderful babies to tend to! Focus on the positive!

I'm a bit torn myself at the moment. Woke up to 4 total hatched, all but 2 of the remaining 15 have teeny cracks. I know I have more time before I should consider assisting but I'm sure I will stress about it, since some are going well on 12+ hours from when they internally pipped.

I did read a several people say they had lower hatches when humidity was 70%+(possibility of chicks drowning during hatch) so I'm going to be honest I've fiddled with my "vent holes", also near where the vent holes are is a hot spot and the one thermometer therethat would read 100-102F when the other reads 98-99, there is a line of vent holes by the glass door and a place for humidity tray(I lost the tray, but put duct tape and a sponge there). And anytime(like hatching) that the humidity went over 70, opened those holes for a few minutes til it was down to 60-65(I also have another hygrometer/thermometer as well as a 3rd thermometer that isn't digital on the wall.

Most responded to tapping the glass and that very much encouraged the first baby so I've probably been doing it more than realistic but hey it worked. Who doesn't like some encouragement?

 

[jstlitlome]

Oh! So excited to see your chicks hatch! Beautiful babies. I'm going to get more eggs over the next several days for another batch. These will all be local so hoping for a better hatch rate.

Here are my chickies this morning!

We already have wing feathers!

 

[Mr weeds]

Thanks, I was told after about 6 hrs give a little help, last hatch I threw in 8 pheasants, they all hatched but 4 got like no bone structure after a couple of days and passed, other 4 healthy and happy

 

[southernhusky]

Yeah that would sound about right to me & I wouldn't help if I did see it really trying. Out of 14 hatched I only minorly helped one & it had been trying for several hrs, had a few cracks but couldn't seem to open the membrane, I checked for blood vessels & made a quick tiny hole. It's beak showed soon & it was trying harder. I'm not sure how long a chick could breather(im assuming its body responds to oxygen in the air cell & starts absorbing) but prob not more than 6-8, with a tiny hole I'm sure it could easily go to 24 but I also figure with a hole shrink wrapping will set in eventually as the area under the hole dries more. A 15th baby is showing its beak & a big hole, u can see in pic.

It's cheeping more than trying to peck the egg, it's a slow progression but I think it will get there. My humidity is up to 80 but its in an upright position so I doubt there's as much chance of drowning, I think I will definitely try to set them in a upright pipping position(lowest part of air cell on top). I want to leave them in the brooder but I have a feeling it's going to be messy by the early am. But tomorrow is really my day 21.

 

[southernhusky]

I ended up with 17 out of 19 by last night. I did assist the chick with pip in last pic, he was def shrink wrapping & was slightly malpositioned, he couldn't moved his head enough or even wiggle his head free after I helped some, membrane was stuck hard on top of his head & along his back. He's one of my few reddish chicks, one in middle.

 

[Mr weeds]

It's hard to know when to step in, my wife keeps me in line, I get to eager, can't stand loosing babies

 

[southernhusky]

Yes it's very much a guessing game, I think the trick is to help a little & watch more. I will admit that after struggling with the red one(& limited sleep night before) I was very much ready for bed but when I turned the eggs around there was a pip I wasn't sure when it had been made(& I was keeping mental note of who cracked/then pipped) and I already had one shrink wrapped so brooder was opened closed a few times. I added a crack to this 17th pip, went away came back 30 mins later(after my boiled water cooled), checked for veins, none i saw so I poked a tiny bit at membrane(which from the earlier chick i had better luck wetting/stretching it then breaking it, was tough) saw a teeny blood spot(see pic) so I stopped and hr later baby came out just fine. remove just a little shell & see what's going on using as sterile as possible water or vaseline/qtips, checking for proper position, etc.

And the assisted red chick. Still obviously a little less energetic but looks/appears fine.

 

[southernhusky]

And more pics. I definitely have a couple special favorites, I can tell all of the yellow/reddish ones apart, all diff shades.

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[southernhusky]

Hem maybe my phone has trouble adding more than one.