- Apr 17, 2011
- 167
- 13
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Hey everyone! I ordered some eggs from all the way across the United States. I knew it was a risk shipping them so far but they were a breed that I really wanted and have had trouble finding someone who is nearby that sells them. So, here is the story. I had 18 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte bantam eggs. I candled them at 7 days and everything looked good. Two not fertilized so I tossed them out. At day 17 I candled again and saw only two birds actually moving within the egg. When hatch day came, nothing happened. On the morning of day 22, one chick started hatching. It got about halfway zipped out and I stopped making progress. About 6pm that evening the second chick started hatching out. Chick one still hadn't made any progress. I noticed the membrane around the chick and the chick itself looked really dry. The humidity had fallen down to 47% the second night of lockdown. I quickly fixed it as soon as I got up. I also had a few times during incubation that the temp spiked up to 102 degrees overnight. The chick had been struggling for over 24 hours so I finally took matters into my own hands. I turned on a hot shower in the bathroom and sat the humidifier on toilet and got the room all hot and steamy. I took the chick in there and slowly but surely picked it free from the shell. I had to cut around some of the membrane and shell that was too stuck to the baby to remove without hurting it.
So, after an hour of sweating pretty bad and my nerves torn to pieces, I get this little chick out of its egg. It does great and is trying to stand up all over the incubator. The next day the other chick still hadn't hatched, so with a tiny bit of assistance I it was able to get out of the shell. During the day though, the one piece of shell that was stuck to its back must have gotten pulled off because he had a little gash on his back. He was a lot smaller than the first one as well. Needless to say, he died the morning of his third day. He didn't show any interest in eating of drinking and I believe he had a prolapsed vent because his rear end just didn't look right. So now I have the other chick who is doing fine and running all around but still has membrane and shell stuck to its back. How can I get the shell off? Should I try to remove it or just wait and see? The baby was lonely and wouldn't stop chirping loudly after his hatch mate died. I found a seller of silkie bantams and purchased two for the new baby since it really didn't like being alone. Someone please help! This is a new thing for me. This is only my third hatch and this is something completely new for me! Thanks everyone!
Here is a picture of the new little chick two after the hatching. Still lots of shell there. I've put the humidifier next to the brooder to make the air more humid with the theory that maybe this will help.
So, after an hour of sweating pretty bad and my nerves torn to pieces, I get this little chick out of its egg. It does great and is trying to stand up all over the incubator. The next day the other chick still hadn't hatched, so with a tiny bit of assistance I it was able to get out of the shell. During the day though, the one piece of shell that was stuck to its back must have gotten pulled off because he had a little gash on his back. He was a lot smaller than the first one as well. Needless to say, he died the morning of his third day. He didn't show any interest in eating of drinking and I believe he had a prolapsed vent because his rear end just didn't look right. So now I have the other chick who is doing fine and running all around but still has membrane and shell stuck to its back. How can I get the shell off? Should I try to remove it or just wait and see? The baby was lonely and wouldn't stop chirping loudly after his hatch mate died. I found a seller of silkie bantams and purchased two for the new baby since it really didn't like being alone. Someone please help! This is a new thing for me. This is only my third hatch and this is something completely new for me! Thanks everyone!
Here is a picture of the new little chick two after the hatching. Still lots of shell there. I've put the humidifier next to the brooder to make the air more humid with the theory that maybe this will help.