Anyone up for a Hatchalong?

[birdbrain5]

3 of my chickies hatched, been so busy to post pics but i will tonight! ill try to get pics of thier heads as well, interesting to see what everyones guesses will be.

what kind of brooder are yall using for your chicks? i have a big half inch wire bottom and sided cage i had made for my chicks and turkeys, plenty of head from and room to run around and play for a while until they are bigger. does anyone else keep thier emus on wire? mine are only 2-4 days old, but all are walking and needing more room than i have in my little bucket - first timer for emus, had no idea how much room they would need!!! so would my wire bottom cage be ok for them?

 

[The Sheriff]

I wouldn't put them on wire. They will start running in a few days and the possibility exists that a toe would get caught and they could get injured. I think for these little whirling dervishes, the more solid the surface, the better. Can't wait for pics!

 

[Pollitollito]

still wiggling a lot!!!! day 44 perfect

im so proud that finally got a baby... ok whats next, it should born exactly on day 50? temp has been set exactly at 97.5... can I place him on my chicken broother? Im anxious this is my very first timeee!!! with emusss!!! how much to wait, on day 50 what to expect!!!! woa too many questions!!!!

 

[yinepu]

still wiggling a lot!!!! day 44 perfect

im so proud that finally got a baby... ok whats next, it should born exactly on day 50? temp has been set exactly at 97.5... can I place him on my chicken broother? Im anxious this is my very first timeee!!! with emusss!!! how much to wait, on day 50 what to expect!!!! woa too many questions!!!!

nope.. can hatch a few days early or a few days late.. just depends on the chick.. but it should be close to day 50 at that temperature

 

[yinepu]

Set February 14th, 2012:

F (from Lampasas, Texas)
On Day 1: 549 grams
On February 21, (day 7) 541 (8g lost or 1.46%)
On February 28, (day 14) 532 (9g lost or 1.66%) total lost so far 17 g 3.10%
On March 6 (day 21) 523 (9g lost or 1.69%) total lost so far 26g 4.74%
On March 13 (day 28) 514 (9g lost or 1.72%) total lost so far 35g 6.38%
March 17th (day 32) we have wiggle!!
On March 20 (day 35) 506 (8g lost or 1.56%) total lost so far 43g 7.83%
On March 24 (day 39) start tap testing
On March 27 (day 42) 496 (10g lost or 1.98%) total lost so far 53g 9.65%

Set March 15th, 2012 (VERY OLD eggs):

G-1 (from Killeen, Texas)
On Day 1: 683 grams
On March 22, (day 7) 669 (14g lost or 2.049%).. egg was rotten (completely watery inside.. blown out shell)

G-2
On Day 1: 531 grams
On March 22, (day 7) 519 (12g lost or 2.26%)
On March 29, (day 14) 506 (13g lost or 2.50%) total lost so far 25g 4.71%

G-3
On Day 1: 639 grams
On March 22, (day 7) 623 (16g lost or 2.50%)
egg was weeping on March 28, (day 13) so i blew out the shell.. it was very rotten

Set March 16th, 2012:

H-1 (Killeen, Texas not related to "G" eggs)
On Day 1: 576 grams
On March 23, (day 7) 565 (11g lost or 1.91%)

H-2
On Day 1: 573 grams
On March 23, (day 7) 564 (9g lost or 1.57%)

H-3
On Day 1: 541 grams
On March 23, (day 7) 530 (11g lost or 2.03%)


for the "G" eggs.. I will be very surprised if the last one hatches since they were very old when I got them.. but the way I look at it.. they were free and at least I have more shells to carve!

the "H" egg that had droplets on the shell.. well.. it's probably bad as well.. however there have been no more droplets and it does not have a foul odor.. so I am going to allow it to incubate until it either weeps or starts to stink

 

[Pollitollito]

nope.. can hatch a few days early or a few days late.. just depends on the chick.. but it should be close to day 50 at that temperature

Oh thats great so tomorow its lockdown!! as you you have one set the same day !!!!

 

[yinepu]

Oh thats great so tomorow its lockdown!! as you you have one set the same day !!!!

lol.. no lockdown for emu eggs in the traditional sense... you can open the bator and talk to them all you want.. unlike "poultry" eggs

but yeah.. mine is due around the 4th

 

[Pollitollito]

My English termsmaybe are not too good as Im from Puerto Rico and we mostly talk in panish lol,,, but I mean not to tuurn them anymore, as I raise chickenns a lot from eggs I use this term but its true theres no lockdown of emu eggs lololololol Im talking to him a lot !! as I have 6 more eggs at the bator to turn everytime I turn them I speak and he reacts lol

lol.. no lockdown for emu eggs in the traditional sense... you can open the bator and talk to them all you want.. unlike "poultry" eggs

but yeah.. mine is due around the 4th

 

[greyfeather]

We bought 2 "fertile" eggs from Kayla and,...needless to say, after the due date we realized neither were "fertile". We contacted them & they stated it must have been our incubation process. When we drilled holes in the egg it was all fluid that came out. No indication of vasculature whats so ever.

Our second 2 were from a farm in MD. Were doing well & right on schedule. One piped yesterday,hatched today & appeared active & healthy. Just a little while ago I checked on the chick & she was dead. We are so upset & wondering what we did wrong. The other one we opened up today & it wasn't moving at all & must have died between Tuesday and Yesterday.

We have 12 more in the incubator from a local man, and they seem to be progressing well.

We have had 2 oozing eggs we took out with in the past 2 weeks & in the Emu handbook it says that we should wash the incubator out if there were bad eggs so not to contaminate the other eggs. Is this absolutely necessary if the bad eggs hadn't exploded & physically "contaminated" the others? Or are all of the eggs contaminated now?

I did view your video & thats exactly what our chick looked like, but I thought it was because she was just weak and not able to hold her head up yet. There was also a lot of the white membrane of the egg still stuck to her.

Since this was our first hatch,...I don't know what "normal" looks like,...& I was looking all over the deceased body for this "yolk-sac", that should be present.....I have no clue, cause there didn't seem to be any yolk-sac anywhere.

If any one has any advice on possible cause of this chicks death, I'd appreciate it. I can't imagine loosing the 12 others left in the incubator.

 

[yinepu]

We bought 2 "fertile" eggs from Kayla and,...needless to say, after the due date we realized neither were "fertile". We contacted them & they stated it must have been our incubation process. When we drilled holes in the egg it was all fluid that came out. No indication of vasculature whats so ever.

Our second 2 were from a farm in MD. Were doing well & right on schedule. One piped yesterday,hatched today & appeared active & healthy. Just a little while ago I checked on the chick & she was dead. We are so upset & wondering what we did wrong. The other one we opened up today & it wasn't moving at all & must have died between Tuesday and Yesterday.

We have 12 more in the incubator from a local man, and they seem to be progressing well.

We have had 2 oozing eggs we took out with in the past 2 weeks & in the Emu handbook it says that we should wash the incubator out if there were bad eggs so not to contaminate the other eggs. Is this absolutely necessary if the bad eggs hadn't exploded & physically "contaminated" the others? Or are all of the eggs contaminated now?

I did view your video & thats exactly what our chick looked like, but I thought it was because she was just weak and not able to hold her head up yet. There was also a lot of the white membrane of the egg still stuck to her.

Since this was our first hatch,...I don't know what "normal" looks like,...& I was looking all over the deceased body for this "yolk-sac", that should be present.....I have no clue, cause there didn't seem to be any yolk-sac anywhere.

If any one has any advice on possible cause of this chicks death, I'd appreciate it. I can't imagine loosing the 12 others left in the incubator.

for the Kayala eggs.. when you blew them out was all the liquid the same color?.. if so the eggs were scrambled in transit.. if you saw a definite white and a definite yolk then they were infertile
Some of the eggs I blew out were scrambled.. I couldn't discern between the white or yolk.. all the liquid was a pale yellow and runny.. however I did also blow out an infertile emu egg and there was a definite difference as the contents came out. I would have to check my records to see where the infertiles came from

I stopped by Janice Castleberry's home and got a copy of her book. One of the things she addresses in her book are the deaths of chicks when incubated at 97.5
She said that even though many chicks were strong enough to pip the shell they were too weak to break out of the egg without assistance. Even some of the chicks who hatched on their own would die shortly after hatch because they were too weak. In her opinion (and she has hatched out thousands of emu chicks) she believes that the chicks are stronger and healthier when incubated at a temperature closer to nature 95.5 (58 - 60 days). She calls chicks which hatch out at 97.5 "premature".. by lowering the temp she had chicks pip the membrane at 55 - 58 days and at hatch they were more like week old chicks compared to ones who hatched out at the higher temps.
So far I have been lucky with my emu hatch and chicks.. but when I get some new eggs (probably next year) I intend to try the lower temperature just to see the difference in the chicks for myself.
for the eggs that pipped/hatched.. how much weight did they lose (%)?

for oozing eggs.. I remove the bad egg and spray down the incubator with Oxine. So far that has worked well for me and it doesn't harm the other eggs in the incubator when overspray hits them

in a perfect world you won't find the yolk sack on a hatched chick.. it should be absorbed into their body when they hatch