UGH! I am a horrible chick mother!

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Nothing yet from the two others. I will post a pic soon. I've been trying to get a good one.

Don't feel guilty.. All of us chickie mama's have helped at one time or another... A little over a year ago, I tried my first hatch with a homemade bator.. I lost all of them because i was inexperienced and because the heat and humidity was out of whack, I kept opening the bator and candling them to make sure they were still alive.. i started out with 18 eggs and by day 20, i was down to 3.. This three eggs made it to day 21 but then died..

My second hatch, i did really well.. I built another bator that held the temp and humidity much better and out of 36 eggs, I hatched out I believe 27... Of the original 36, one had a crack that I completely missed and 4 never even started to develop so all in all, I did pretty well with the hatchrate... On days 20 and 21, i had a LOT of trouble keeping the temp down (kept trying to go to 103) and the humidity up but I had 3 chicks that got shrink wrapped because they had already pipped... I took them out (keeping them in a small box with a hot damp washcloth and one by one, I wet my finger and gently started wetting the membrane.. I then picked off the shell in little pieces.. 2 of the chicks were fine but the shells were glued to them so I picked enough off of their beaks and tummy but kept the shell on their feet and heads and just kept dripping warm water on their sides to detach them from the shell.. Once they were unglued, I put them back in the bator and let them hatch on their own...

The third was a lot more problematic... She was not only glued to the shell but she had not fully absorbed her yolk... I did the same thing with her but in a MUCH slower pace because i did fine small veins here and there.. I would take a small piece of shell off, wrap her in a wet warm towel and place her back in the bator.. I would do this every few hours.. Finally, she had absorbed most of the yolk and i had her free enough to get out on her own but she was weak.. For two days she was stuck in a partial shell wrapped in a towel inside the bator.. The other chicks that had hatched would walk all over her and i felt horrible.. She eventually wiggled herself out of the shell and for the next two days she was the only one left in the bator and I honesty didn't think she'd ever survive.. After she got out of the shell, she would lay on her side and almost look like she was in convulsions.. i would put her on her feet and as ong as she was sitting, she was fine but when she tried to move, she would fall over again... I kept using a syringe to get some vitamins and food mushed in water into her to give her strength.. she would use the side of the bator to prop herself up.. She was so tiny but she finally started perking up and walking on her own...

I know many people advise against it but if they are going to be pets and we are willing to spend the time with them, rehabilitating them or caring for them in whatever way we can, then I don't see anything wrong with helping.. Yes, survival of the fittest is fine and dandy in the wild but if there is a chance the animal can live a full and happy life, why not let them? I would go through what i went through again in a heartbeat! I named her "Miracle". She is about 2/3 the size of my other standards but she gives me the best aqua colored eggs with light brown spots!!!!


This is Miracle while still in bator while learning to walk



This is Miracle now


And this is one of her eggs.. Hen was a blue egg ameraucana and roo was RIR (see the brown spots?)


Goddess

I just helped one.. it was a pip that hadn't moved in 24 hours and all the other chicks were out. S/he is doing well so far. I've actually never had a problem 'helping' when it's necessary, just be prepared to cull if you find there's a reason the chick did not make it out other than user error (ie bad humidity/shrinkwrap). I wrote the same post you did on my first hatch when I helped out a guinea keet. I was so scared I had broken the rules, but that keet did just fine. It's not good if you don't sit on your hands for a good long time first tho.

Don't feel bad. I have not helped but that is because I just put my 1st batch in to the incubator last night. I don't think I could watch them struggle that long and not help. It is called having a heart. I pray she keeps getting stronger. But don't feel guilty.

I'm gonna sound like a bab mum but I've helped nearly all my ducklings and my chooks out - all survived. I'm very careful about it though and keep water on hand to keep dipping my fingers into as I do it. Very careful and never take off the bottom, let them do it.

But now I don't want to do it - they were my first few so I was excited and eager. Now I'll just let them if they need it. But I might just be lucky never having a problem; so I'd rather continue not to risk it.