March 2022 Hatch-A-Long

[LadiesAndJane]

Hmm, any of you have a chick that seems to be okay other than the yolk sac not fully absorbing? I have read some say that it is okay and should eventually either finally be absorbed or dry up and fall off. Is this true or is this baby a likely cull that won’t thrive? Any experience with this? It needed to be assisted and is up walking and cheeping a LOT and seems rather unencumbered by it other than having to walk a bit awkwardly. I started up my old cheapo incubator and put her in that one to minimize pecking or damage by other chicks but she’s so lonely! I finally decided to try a stuffy to see if that made her less sad and she’s now snuggled up with a pink unicorn

Is there anything more I can do for her? I sprayed the yolk sac with antiseptic and cleaned the guck from hatching…so she just needs to finish that yolk!

I have one last egg that I can hear cheeping but has not attempted to hatch yet. Hoping it hatches over night…I hate assisting as I’m always worried I will do more bad than good. I made it a safety hole and heard the clicking sounds you mentioned @LadiesAndJane. How long do I leave it? It was due to hatch today so not really super overdue, but it internally pipped late last night and still hadn’t externally pipped so I got worried. Now I’m just hoping it feels ready to hatch.

My one “throw in an extra egg to fill all the egg holes for shipping” Cochin bantam mix hatched about 4:45 today and she’s beautiful Not sure what color I will get—mom was a bantam light Brahma and dad was a blue birchen bantam Cochin.

View attachment 3019077

View attachment 3019078

Sorry for the late reply I was dealing with my own hatch and hadn’t been online!
Sounds like you did everything right.
The one with the little unabsoorbed yolk sack will either be fine or she won’t but there’s not much else you can do. I would advise keeping her by herself with her new unicorn friend until the yolk is completely absorbed.
Your little cochin mix baby looks like it is black. What a little cutie!
How is the last remaining chick doing?
Any progress?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Some of the 26 Leghorn chicks I took out of the incubator this morning View attachment 3018962

Beautiful chicks!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Lockdown last night:
12 Black Amercaunas
12 Self Blue Amercaunas
4 Bantam Cochins (Blue Mottled hen, Black Frizzle rooster)

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I took the chicks out of the incubator this morning. After counting and putting colored rings on them so I can distinguish between the breeding groups, I packed them up and take them so they can get their Marek shots. 51 hatched, one was not doing well, I had to cull it. So 50 chicks made it out of 54. I don't think that is half bad. View attachment 3019101

Wow, that’s a lot of chicks!
And a really excellent hatch rate, congratulations!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Here DAY 21, up off and on last night with the two malpositioned chicks.
Had to keep checking them to make sure they were doing OK and not intervening too soon. Finally had to give them both a little help to get out of their shells, they were dry and SO ready to get out of the eggs! Both are doing fine here at 4:30 AM. There is a third that is malpositioned that is not quite ready for help yet. Three hatched on their own. Three more I’m still waiting for progress. These last three have not internally pipped so there’s not much I can do at this point. They may end up being DIS.
Trying to breed away from the vaulted skulls, looks like only one of the hatched chicks has a vaulted skull so that’s good, one of the malpositioned chicks.
Photos later when they’re all cute and fluffed up!

 

[3KillerBs]

Day 22. 6 hatched and in the brooder. One more in the process of zipping. One with no activity at all yet.

 

[wolfwalker]

My eggs arrived early, on Monday. So I set them yesterday and since there was only 8 the tray looked empty, to I had to fill it with any and all eggs I had on hand, even though I am getting a 25% fertility rate on them right now. They are calling for 3-5 inches of snow today with our area having the possibility of up to a foot, so replacing the roof on the barn whish is now divided into pens has to wait till next week. One last hurrah from winter it seems.

Oh, I have pips

 

[kurby22]

Sorry for the late reply I was dealing with my own hatch and hadn’t been online!
Sounds like you did everything right.
The one with the little unabsoorbed yolk sack will either be fine or she won’t but there’s not much else you can do. I would advise keeping her by herself with her new unicorn friend until the yolk is completely absorbed.
Your little cochin mix baby looks like it is black. What a little cutie!
How is the last remaining chick doing?
Any progress?

I know how that goes! Thanks for the info, she's currently sleeping on my chest inside my sports bra...she is very content now. I'm not expecting her to make it...the yolk is not being absorbed anymore it doesn't seem. It is getting darker in color and the blood vessels are no longer visible so maybe at some point it will just fall off? I am hopeful but prepared for a sad end. The last egg made zero progress over night so I opened the end with the air sac and peeled away a little bit of the membrane and left her in the shell. I'm going to give her a little bit to see if that makes a difference in progress. If not, I will open it all the way and see what the issue is--perhaps the same issue of slow or incomplete absorption? Shipped eggs are just a lot more complicated! I hope it isn't because of lockdown being early for the Polish eggs. Oh well, what's done is done! Thanks for your help! I'm glad you were able to help your babies! The ones that don't internally pip always make me sad. Getting so far to not make it

 

[Josip]

I think i guess gender right we Will see in few months but Here are names all my chickens have names. Why not

 

[LadiesAndJane]

First two babies have now been moved to the brooder. They were starting to try to eat the little pieces of broken eggshell so I figured it was time to get them some food! They figure it out pretty quick.