The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[Mama Bay]

lol. Disco chicks. 

Lol I put it in the 2 week old chicks brooder. It's not as bright as red ...

 

[Mama Bay]

It will work fine.

Make sure they have regular light during the day though. They do need light to develop.

Thanks! I have them in the sun room so there's plenty of natural light

 

[FrenchToast]

So far I have 4 chicks hatched with assistance out of 41 set. I floated them yesterday and several bobbed. Now today only two are rocking with the float test. Doesn't look good. I did pop a hole in the shell of one. It was alive and not in good position so I made a tiny air hole in membrane.....needless to say I lost that one. It seemed very weak to begin with.
So now what to do with the two that had a slight rock. I don't hear any pipping or peeping.
Can someone resist the thread about going in as last resort please. Someone posted a few days ago but can't find it. Thanks

 

[venymae]

Ugh. My little assisted chick are driving me bonkers! I looked in the bator just now to find they both managed to stick their heads through the chicken wire on the far side of the bator, even though I had put up a barrier and no other chick had even came close to doing so. Crazy chickens, into the brooder they go!

 

[venymae]

So far I have 4 chicks hatched with assistance out of 41 set.

I floated them yesterday and several bobbed. Now today only two are rocking with the float test. Doesn't look good. I did pop a hole in the shell of one. It was alive and not in good position so I made a tiny air hole in membrane.....needless to say I lost that one. It seemed very weak to begin with.
So now what to do with the two that had a slight rock. I don't hear any pipping or peeping.
Can someone resist the thread about going in as last resort please. Someone posted a few days ago but can't find it. Thanks

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[FrenchToast]

Thanks much venymae Not a first time hatcher here so I'm kicking myself right now. Tried to find this last night but there's no excuse for my actions I think with all of the eggcitement I got caught up in the moment and went for it although I think in the long run the last eggs are doomed either way.....just from experience.

 

[venymae]

Thanks much venymae Not a first time hatcher here so I'm kicking myself right now. Tried to find this last night but there's no excuse for my actions

I think with all of the eggcitement I got caught up in the moment and went for it although I think in the long run the last eggs are doomed either way.....just from experience.

I hear you. I think I might have killed one of mine

time will tell if the egg hatches... this is also my 1st hatch. newbies unite!

Edit- oh you're NOT a first timer. heehee. oh well!

 

[Happy Chooks]

HELP!! I just looked at the Wheaten chick with the yolk sack out and it was trying to climb out again, and it looks like it has pushed the ENTIRE yolk sac out!!!

And he is still trying to get out... and OH NO!!! It just polked the sack with its toe and all the yolk is coming out! I guess this is the end for this little guy...

I'm sorry. I've never had one with a ruptured egg sac make it.

More of my saga… I got home from last night to see a chick zipping and another one with a big hole. Checked my numbers. Gadnabit… 25% humidity, 96 degrees!!

I moved the stupid incubator to the bathroom before I left, because the environment is more stable… so I thought.

It was 9:30pm, so I got the humidity back up and sat by to make sure these two made it out okay. The one that was zipping took its good old time, but did it by itself. The one with the big hole I had to help because it was shrink wrapped. Normally I won't help because I only want the strongest chicks, but this time I knew that it was my fault letting the humidity get that low. So I carefully made an artificial zip, pulled the membrane off a little, and put it back in the bator. It worked to get out for the next 20 minutes but finally made it. It has a problem with one eye - just trying to decide now if its "birth trauma" or a deformation. He can't close it, so I'm wondering if that's something you'd cull for. It would be awful to not be able to close one eye. Opinions?

Anyway, there was one more egg with a pip, and I had pretty much given up on everything else. Then right before I left this morning, I noticed another egg that was zipping around the bottom! An egg I had given up on. But wait… looking closer I realized it had been knocked upside down by the chicks running around the bator and it was actually zipping in the right place! There was a little blood though. I had to leave, so I said a little prayer over it and left. When I came home three hours later, that chick was out and looking great!

As it seems is always the case in my experience, the last pipped egg is a BCM, and it has made a big hole this morning, but hasn't progressed since. I'm letting it take its time.

No official number yet, but if the BCM makes it, I will have 11 hatch out of 16 that went to lock down. Not bad for thinking I'd killed them all!

I see you already wet it. I'd put some eye ointment on it. If you don't have any, then use some neosporin. (without pain reliever)

Chicks are tough! Given that your chick with the eye problem was shrink wrapped, have you looked closely just to make sure that the eyelid isn't glued open? Try taking a q-tip with some warm water and cleaning above the eye to see if that unsticks it.

Good advise! I've had sticky chicks with eye glued shut before.

Approaching 24 hours since I noticed the first pip and this is as far as progressed. Plenty of cheeping, but not much pRogress Since last night.

That chick is stuck. Brown membrane means they are glued in.

That's what I was thinking. I've had a hard timebeing the humidity, I think it the cheap Chinese incubator, but I haven't been able to get it above 56%

How does one wet the membrane?

I like to use a hot washcloth in the rare instances that I help a chick. I will only help if it has started zipping, then gets stuck. I do not help any other time, as every time I have, I end up putting it down.

Well, I'm super bummed that my first time participating in the HAL ended with my absolute worst hatch ever. Only got 3 out of 80...

Had to help 2 of the 3 out of the egg (cochins), and we'll see if they make it. Not sure about their chances...

I found out what happened though...was hatching large fowl Cochins for a friend and I guess there was both a temperature spike and drop while the eggs were in storage (they never told me about it.) I knew about the other issue-the parents are very old and she was hoping to get a last batch of babies out of them. Now I'm going to have to give her the bad news that her birds need to be retired...

The only positive is that I have an utterly adorable and perky Crevecoeur who is doing awesome. I have another hatch of Crevecoeur due later this week, so hopefully he'll get some buddies if the other two don't make it.

A very sad way to end my HAL. I have learned my lesson-I will never hatch from old birds again! Even if my friend begs me...it's just too heartbreaking a process to see these little guys struggle.

Congrats to all the folks who had good hatches! Love those little fuzzy guys! To all those like me who had a disappointing hatch...I feel your pain!

I'm sorry your hatch didn't go better.

My hatch is officially over. 10 chicks is my total.

Out of the 40 that I set, 12 were clears. 15 made it to lock down (1 was iffy going in), no progress on 4 of them and one pipped internally then died. This has been a rough hatch, but I got ten chicks and I have 22 more eggs in my other incubator, which I get to candle tonight!

By the way, the chick with the eye problem, the eye is actually bleeding a little. So I'm thinking it got injured while the chick was struggling to get out. I'll watch it and hope it heals.

Now I need some sleep!

Again, get something on that eye. Ophthalmic ointment if you have it, or neosporin.

HELP NEEDED!

One of my past due eggs Day 23 just started a minute ago is oozing froth. I am presuming its dead but I am too afraid to open the bator and touch it. Lest it explodes! Any chance it may be alive?

I don't want to candle it. Would a zip-lock withstand the explosion if I place it in to candle?

I better do a float test on the remaining 4 and dispose them quickly.

Yikes, get it out of there and into a ziploc baggie.

well

I think I am too nervous to do a complete assisted hatch right now. I took a file and filed a little hole in the shell on the air cell end then put a tiny hole in the membrane and stuck the egg back in the incubator. At least I know s/he can get air now.

Hopefully I'm not doing anything harmful. Do you think that will be ok?

Assisting a hatch is a personal decision and is not for everyone. Don't feel bad that you don't want to. Now that you've basically pipped for it, make sure your humidity stays constant.

I still havent seeb anything from the 2 blue eggs...no movement and no noises. I just candled and water candled and nothing. What should i do? They are on day 23. One of them internally pipped saturday.

My one serama egg is the same. On day 21 today. The other egg is peeping rocking and internally pipped.

Have you tried tapping on the shells and listening for peeps?

Hey Guys, Today Is day 21 of our chick hatch and I'm getting worried because Im not hearing any peeping... Should I be worried? Thanks!

If your temps are low, they will be late.

@Happy Chooks
Will there be any more contest? I was hoping for the funny posting contest and some others but idk if there were anymore

No. The funny random posting contest was something Sally came up with and managed on her own. So, that is special to her.

I am about to put a batch of shipped eggs in my one incubator and my other one is full of eggs on day 6. But I have one lone turkey egg that's due to hatch Sunday. Can someone advise which eggs would better handle the higher humidity for a couple days?

I'd go with the higher humidity for the turkeys. A couple of days at a higher humidity shouldn't bother the other eggs.

This is my first time and I have only a few trying to hatch. It's been a long time and two are pipped, one with beak out, and another halfway unzipped as of this morning. Nothing since. Maybe they're sleeping? Should I help?

What color is the membrane?

Well, this morning my two zippers were still half-hatched. One had managed to get her head out, but not her bottom, and then immediately got her back and head glued to the towel lining the bottom of the bator.

The other guy was still in his shell - and was pretty much super glued in there. Humidity was around 80% all night.
Used a syringe to moisten the chick glued to the floor, just keep putting water over her. While she was softening/soaking I took the other guy out and used the syringe again to moisten the membrane around the egg, putting a little inside the egg (away from beak) and wrapped him in a sopping wet papertowel and back in the bator. It was slow slow slow work getting them unglued. Once I managed to peel the first girl off the floor, I ran her little body under warm water until she kicked off her shell. She had lots of goo binding her legs, so I continued to rinse until most of it was off, and I cut a bit of the last lump off. Then back in the bator.
The second guy was much harder. Lots of warm water slowly trickled over and over again. Test a membrane, peel a little back, etc. When I finally got him to kick out of his shell, I found his wing had been glued to his head (he also had a lot of goo in the bottom of his shell). Getting his wing unglued was the hardest part, because I didn't want to get water up his nose, and I didn't want to pull his eyelid off! Slow slow slow slow. Finally came free and after rinsing off all the gook, back in the bator he went. They are both very active now, running round the bator and peeping to wake the dead.

Neither ever appeared weak - just very very stuck!
So there was my first assist story. I hope I never have to do it again!!!

Slow is the key! Good job. If they are still sticky, there is no need to give them a bath, they will fluff up in a couple of days.

It really didn't look like yolk to me (I compared it to pics online) but looked like normal residual stuff and waste (one of my earlier normal hatchers left a similar yellowish clear blob behind in her shell). I suspect that because they took longer zipping (maybe they were not in an ideal position?) they simply got glued in by things that normally would be fine. Maybe because I had opened the bator a couple times to take out chicks? My humidity never seemed to drop that much though....who knows! This is my first hatch, so I am in no way an expert (or even a novice!) about these things.

I get sticky chicks when my humidity spikes (usually due to a bunch hatching at the same time), then drops.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Congratulations to everyone that have chicks! My condolences to those that had hatches not go well. Keep trying!

 

[Happy Chooks]

My hatch is looking like it is done with 13 chicks. If I get any more, I'll post it.