I also use weight loss. I do candle and mark the air cells, but the obsessive-compulsive part of me wants to see the numbers, because I'm not good at visually comparing the air cells, other than to know if they are getting bigger. Lol! I think it would be even more difficult with detached air...
Since you weighed the eggs before incubating them, you can calculate what the weight loss should be by day 10 or any day for that matter. You can do this by the numbers with math or by plotting the weights on a graph and you can do this with an average of all the eggs weights together or for...
In that incubator, you would actually tilt the eggs, similar to the way a lot of the automatic egg turners work. You lean the eggs as far to the one side as you can, as close to a 45° angle as you can get, then lean them as far to the other side as you can, again as close to a 45° angle as you...
What kind if incubator do you have and is it a still air incubator or circulated air. Are more vents open than usual or does the incubator have a crack that maybe is not very noticable? If possible, you could try closing a vent to see if that helps. I had this same problem with one hatch with my...
@junebuggena I don't know if you read all of this thread, but this chick externally pipped the side of the egg, not near the aircell, so I was thinking it is not in the right position. At 12:22 pm it had been 15 hours since it pipped and it was no longer chirping. It started chirping again after...
The yolk sac is on the abdomen and gets drawn into the abdomen before the chick hatches. It's not runny unless it has broken. It should be enclosed like the yolk in an egg when you break an egg open. Some of the reasons moving may be a lot of effort: it could be because of an awkward position...
It doesn't sound like just normal end-of-life symptoms to me. Do you know for sure if she shed her tail feathers or could they have been pulled out or lost during a struggle? Older hens who are winding down do sometimes get picked on by the younger hens, but older hens usually show other signs...
Personally, I would continue to chip away, as long as there is no bleeding and the yolk sac is absorbed. You may be able to see if the circulatory system has not receded, but I would hazard a guess that it has. It has been long enough and the chick is weak, so in that situation, I would help it...
I would start with chipping away enough to see the beak and see if it is breathing. Then as long as there is no bleeding, I would continue chipping away until the chick can break itself out the rest of the way or until it is out. I would stop right away if I see the yolk sac is not absorbed and...
From what I was told and what I have read, I thought this should be addressed immediately, but maybe I have been doing it wrong. I am confused by what @MillersFarm said about chicks not being able to use their legs until day 2. In my experience the chicks have always been up stumbling around on...
It doesn't look like splayed legs. The one foot that the toes are curling inward you may be able to splint to hold the toes in the correct position. I'm not sure from the pic in what way the other foot is curling under, but if the bone structure is normal, it may be able to be splinted into the...
If it was two days after the first chick hatched, moving the eggs did not cause a problem. Usually there is not more than 24 hours between eggs hatching and most often, not even that long.
That external pip sure looks to be in the wrong place, assuming the air cell is at the large end where it is supposed to be. From the pic, it looks like there is a small hole in the membrane, but I don't think that is enough for it to breath. At this point, I would be assisting. Have you read...
It could go either way. If there were problems during the incubation time, you may not want to assist, because you may find a chick that can't survive and thrive. You may want to read these, if you haven't.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/...
I don't have any experience with Polish, but some of my roosters were getting bald heads. I did some research and I read that when roosters are molting, it starts with the head feathers. That turned out to be the case with my roos. Maybe that's a possibility for your guy. :confused:
You should start a new thread for this!:yesss: I, for one, would love it if you could keep us updated about how this hatch is going and how many chicks you end up with. :pop I have read a lot of info about washing eggs vs not washing eggs, but this is the first I've heard about coating the eggs...
To answer one of your questions - yes, if the grains are finely ground before fermenting, lacto-fermentation will still work. I can't say if it would again cause an impacted or sour crop. The vet would have to say what may have caused this in the first place. I am curious if the fermenting...