No, it wasn't stiff it was pliable but sort of stuck down with oil, preventing it from fluffing. It's looking worse this morning, I don't think it is long for this world.
I think things would have turned out better if I had washed it straight away. Also I think because it was weak and different...
Hatched yesterday. Not sure what number day it hatched on, wasn't the first or the last to hatch though.
Had plenty of time to fluff up and it must have been the enthusiastic application of oil that prevented that.
I was previously using a wet paper towel to try and stop my hatching chicks from shrink wrapping, and then I read on here that it is better to use coconut oil because that doesn't evaporate and make them cold. So I tried it, my chick (a silkie) hatched out okay, but didn't fluff up after a day...
Be careful about putting solid objects, like cartons, in your incubator which will disrupt the air flow. I put a container in mine to separate the different sort of chicks and it caused it to get too hot and killed most of them.
I would candle the 15 eggs after a week or so and then you can get rid of the ones that don't show any action so that she has less to look after.
My little Silkie hatched out 3 Australorps and I gave her another 6 out of the incubator a couple of days later and she looked after them all. But...
I do have three cats Maggie, and three dogs too but I dont think it was one of them, I think it was something with a sharp beak, I said crows because everyone knows what they are, but I think the culprit could also be a magpie, they are right there everyday.
I'm thinking that once the crow or whatever pulled the leg off the other chicks were attracted by the blood and meaty hole and just kept going.
The day cage is about 1m x 1.5m and the box they have to sleep inside at night is smaller.
I probably should separate the silkies from the Australorps...
Thanks, yes it was a nasty surprise. Years ago we had ducklings in a cage and a crow managed to actually scalp one through the wire, that was quite unpleasant too.
Yes the whole leg and they did have food.
Now that I have settled down a bit I am thinking it could have been something outside the cage, maybe a crow or something since in a couple or places there is a tiny gap in the bottom. I found the chick in the middle, well away from the edge but I...
I had 29 chicks in a cage on my lawn, they are about a week and half old and a mix or silkies, Wyandottes and Australorps. I went to check on them and found that one of the silkie chicks was missing a leg and the others were pecking at it. Could they really have pecked it's leg right off like...
If there is too much blood there still you should be able to see it if you have opened the shell, if it doesn't look ready, wrap it in a paper towel that you have moistened with warm water ( with breathing space) and stick it back in the incubator.
Make sure you keep your humidity pretty high, if they dry out as they are hatching they can become shrink wrapped.
I feel your pain, I can't resist fiddling with them if they don't hatch as quickly as I would like.
I guess I'll just have to wait and see, I've also got this funny looking kid with pretty much no comb at all, can't wait to see what he/she turns out like :D
I've recently been getting into the golden wyandotte thing, and bought some eggs which I have hatched out, am I right in thinking the bird in the top picture might be a blue laced golden? It seems so much lighter than the other one.