April 2023 Hatch-A-Long

[Yard Farmer]

Oh no! I’m so sorry that happened but sounded like you did the merciful thing for the chick. It’s never an easy choice to make.

It's alright, thank you. At least the little thing isn't suffering anymore.

 

[Waterfaery]

I’m mostly finished up and I’m tired out from all this hatching!
There is one egg left that has pipped and taking its time. One sticky chick didn’t make it through hatch. And 18 eggs that I’m pretty sure are duds.

I kind of panicked when I counted the eggs left but realized that out if 150 eggs I’m actually over 85 percent which is pretty much what I seem to get with big hatches… although I was closer to 90 on my last one… so I’ll take it & I’m so relieved to have that done.

I would not purposely want to hatch that many at once again though. Is there such a thing as too much fluff???

That is really quite amazing! You should be really proud. I can't imagine how you do it.

 

[Waterfaery]

I did my day 7 candling and I have what looks like 9 clears out of the 16 eggs from the Light Sussex / Australorp coop. I was totally expecting that because I can't tell my Light Sussex eggs from a couple of my Australorps so I threw in anything at all that could be hers, knowing that at least half of them would be probably unfertilised Australorps.

That means 7 of the 16 eggs from that coop are developing and hopefully all Light Sussex, although there is a slim possibility of a fertile Australorp in there. They were only with their cockerel for a couple of hours and I didn't see him do much but you never know! One or two of the 7 don't look great but I thought the same in my last hatch and they turned out fine, so we'll see.

The other 8 eggs are from my Bresse and they all look great so far. They were 100% in my last hatch so I'm crossing my fingers for a good rate from them again.

 

[Poodlemum]

Snow day, two of my favourite things: chick cuddles and knitting wool socks

 

[BarnyardChaos]

We're nearing the end of this hatch, but not without problems, sadly. Most hatched just fine yesterday or this morning. But this afternoon (Day 22) we have issues:
* Five with no external pips at all. I'll candle them tonight, maybe drill some safety holes, to see what's going on.
* One that pipped 25 hours ago but is quite bloody around the pip. I peeled some shell back and saw that shrink-wrapping is already starting. Applied coconut oil. Still has active blood vessels in the membrane. Sigh. This one's going to be a full assist once the vessels dry up.
* Five more that pipped overnight and appear okay at the moment, but I'm afraid they'll shrink-wrap, too. Boosted humidity to 80% and added some wadded up wet paper towels into the incubator.
And this one:
* One chick has what may be spraddle-leg or a slipped tendon, I'm not sure. It won't walk upright, sits on its hocks kind of sideways then falls over on its side. Struggles to get up, then falls over. One hock joint is swollen and slightly inflamed. I've given it a couple of drops of PolyVisol, then put it in a little sling in a cup so that the legs hang down and feet can touch the bottom of the cup. Had to kind of strap him in with a little press-and-seal wrap and scotch tape, 'cuz he was getting out of the sling with his one good leg. He's bouncing around in there (good - exercising that leg), then takes brief naps.

Does anyone know how often I need to dose the Poly-Visol, or would Nutri Drench be better? @Wyorp Rock @EggSighted4Life @Eggcessive

 

[Dinoroar]

We're nearing the end of this hatch, but not without problems, sadly. Most hatched just fine yesterday or this morning. But this afternoon (Day 22) we have issues:
* Five with no external pips at all. I'll candle them tonight, maybe drill some safety holes, to see what's going on.
* One that pipped 25 hours ago but is quite bloody around the pip. I peeled some shell back and saw that shrink-wrapping is already starting. Applied coconut oil. Still has active blood vessels in the membrane. Sigh. This one's going to be a full assist once the vessels dry up.
* Five more that pipped overnight and appear okay at the moment, but I'm afraid they'll shrink-wrap, too. Boosted humidity to 80% and added some wadded up wet paper towels into the incubator.
And this one:
* One chick has what may be spraddle-leg or a slipped tendon, I'm not sure. It won't walk upright, sits on its hocks kind of sideways then falls over on its side. Struggles to get up, then falls over. One hock joint is swollen and slightly inflamed. I've given it a couple of drops of PolyVisol, then put it in a little sling in a cup so that the legs hang down and feet can touch the bottom of the cup. Had to kind of strap him in with a little press-and-seal wrap and scotch tape, 'cuz he was getting out of the sling with his one good leg. He's bouncing around in there (good - exercising that leg), then takes brief naps.

Does anyone know how often I need to dose the Poly-Visol, or would Nutri Drench be better? @Wyorp Rock @EggSighted4Life @Eggcessive

Sorry your dealing with leg problems. I have one in this batch with a leg problem too. I don’t know the specific recommended frequency maybe someone else can chime in. I just try and give drops on the beak as frequently as o remember.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

And this one:
* One chick has what may be spraddle-leg or a slipped tendon, I'm not sure. It won't walk upright, sits on its hocks kind of sideways then falls over on its side. Struggles to get up, then falls over. One hock joint is swollen and slightly inflamed. I've given it a couple of drops of PolyVisol, then put it in a little sling in a cup so that the legs hang down and feet can touch the bottom of the cup. Had to kind of strap him in with a little press-and-seal wrap and scotch tape, 'cuz he was getting out of the sling with his one good leg. He's bouncing around in there (good - exercising that leg), then takes brief naps.

Improvement, already! I won't say it's out of the woods yet, but after taking it out of the cup and sling, it's sitting upright, it can stand up and take a few steps without falling over! I also put it over on its back a few times, and each time it righted itself in a second or two. I also noticed the swelling and redness in the hock joint is GONE. I can't tell one leg from the other, now. Woohoo! Gave it another good dose of Poly-Visol and turned loose in general population in the brooder. I'll keep an eye on it and keep dosing a few more times.

 

[Kikilu]

Rain, Rain, go away!
Keep those freezing claws at bay!

Already lost power (flicker) once. Terrified of it going out for longer. The freezing rain isn't supposed to stop until this afternoon, and then it's regular rain until tomorrow. Oh, and thunder/lightning. Lots of it.

Oh no! Freezing rain here too but not supposed to be too bad on the east coast. I just set my eggs tonight. Fingers crossed for you!

 

[5 Points Wingfeather]

Tonight was lockdown so we candled one last time.

11/12 of them look good (to my very untrained eye). About as good as I could hope for. I think the one bad one looked like a quitter but without the red ring so we just left it in just in case.

Turning device removed.
Vent fully opened.
Water added.
Humidity up to 59. I’ll check it again before bed to make sure it’s in a decent range.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If I had a chick with leg issues, I'd give 1/4 tablet B-Complex which contains B2(Riboflavin). Dissolve the tablet in a tiny amount of water, then give her a few drops several times a day until you've given it all. Repeat.

PND or Poli-Vi-Sol are popular as well. PND does not contain B2(Riboflavin), I don't know about Poli-Vi-Sol (never used it). A couple of drops of either one 2X a day would be good too.

For the first couple of days after hatch, I usually provide electrolytes along with fresh water so they have a choice, but the chicks usually like the electrolytes.