Jojociita
In the Brooder
- Aug 25, 2023
- 39
- 36
- 44
I just wanted to update if anyone was curious, after 18 hours he managed to knock off a bunch of shell but nothing else. I resigned myself to saying goodbye in the morning and went to bed. When I got up to hesitantly check he was zipping! In earnest!! However after about 4 hours he was kicking and not peeping. I continued to ensure the humidity was up and peeped at him as well as talked to him from outside the bator to ensure he was still alive. At the 6 hour mark I heard a muffled peep and panicked as I realized he was face down and his bum feathers were sticking out of the membrane hole. I bought bacitrin and cracked the incubator, then quickly but gently applied a small amount to any exposed membrane and immediately closed it back up, after about 20 minutes he successfully popped his beak back out but was certainly struggling, he had already hurt a wing and his back by trying to rip free. Not knowing what to do I held off. At 34 hours since the simultaneous internal & external pip.. he barrel rolled out of the egg. He was very wobbly and still dragging his shell with a huge red stomach and a fat pink belly button.. they eventually fell off and I realized it was far too damp in the bator now that he had hatched.
Scrubbed the heck out of my hands and sanitized every inch of my skin so I could put him in the dry brooder. He refused to leave my hand. When I tried to gently ease him off he peeped loudly in protest and scrambled back. Long story short I swaddled him in a clean towel and threw a few hand warmers in. He spent the entire day on my chest in his towel under my shirt. He seemed content and fluffed up, peeped at me if I stopped paying attention to him, and when I finally put him in his brooder (to some angry peeps) he was far less wobbly and his belly was getting smaller (figured just absorbing his nutrients..) next morning found him in the brooder struggling to breathe and unresponsive. Once i realized he wasnt going to make it, I swaddled him back up, keeping his airways open and just hummed and sang to him until he passed laying on my heart. He was the only one to hatch and my first chick. 16 hours of post-hatch life.
it’s been almost a week since he passed and I’m still bawling. He more than likely had mushy chick and the injuries he gave himself in his haste to exit the shell were the likely culprits. So I’m sad to say he never made it. Learned so much thanks to this site and the amazing users so I’m not ready to try again yet.. but maybe one day I will be
