Arkansas folks speak up.........

[Jarhead]

Well... there are 4 of them now

They are hanging around under Mom in the nest - even though it is 100 out there. The others are still making it out. One of them I am slightly worried about, the yolk sac was still attached to the egg shell that was discarded. It was bleeding a little at first from the abdomen, then after a couple of minute it had stopped, so maybe everything will be alright. I will snap some pics later.

 

[Jarhead]

Just checked again and it looks like 3 have died before making it out. We are leaving them in there just in case. All 3 have a nice size hole and their bills are sticking out, so you think they would be ok, but they appear not to be breathing or moving. The others that are still in the shell, we can still see them moving around through the hole. The 4 that have hatched seem fine, they are drying off and resting.

 

[roche477]

I guess I wasn't meant to have any silkies.

7 out of 8 eggs were bad (oozing, blood ringed, or clear) and now the 1 that hatched and has been fine all day suddenly is flapping its little wings around and shuffling its feet trying to walk. I have no idea what is wrong with it. I'm watching it right now, but I think hubby is gonna have to put the poor thing out of its misery.

 

[Jarhead]

Give it some electrolytes and see how it is in the morning.n You never know it might pull through.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Quote:

Hatching chicks has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn about nature. We get so attached and try so hard and sometimes it's just not enough. I nursed a pullet for two weeks that wasn't destined to thrive. I hope your baby makes it. I really, really do cause you need to have at least one silky to spoil rotten, but if it's not to be, thank God for the strength of DH's.

 

[jenjscott]

Bye everybody, gone to Wisconsin fly fishing for a week, I don't know if I'll have internet access or not. Hold the fort.

 

[Jarhead]

... going fishing sounds good ... hmm

have a good time!

Final results are in we have 5 baby muscovies. The hatch went well... worse than expected. I blame the extreme heat, but who knows. I was also told that sometimes they develop funky with a leg/foot kind of around the front of the face, so they can pip, but can't move their head enough to get more done. That may have been the case. As I opened all the ones that died late last night during the hatch to see them, and they did have a foot over their faces. 2 were still in the shells, so we helped them out gently. When we did get those free one was strong and bright eyed, the other was taking shallow breaths and very lethargic. The one was dead when I woke this morning. Maybe if we had helped the others out earlier in the hatch they would have lived, next time we know what to look for at least. So here are the official #s:

4 - alive, hatched all by themselves
1 - alive, helped it out of shell
1 - dead, helped it out of shell, passed in the night
5 - died before making it out, fully developed

2 - underdeveloped - died at some point during incubation

Of the ones that made it, 2 look to be lavender, 2 look chocolate, and 1 looks black. At least that's how it looks right now.

I pinioned them this morning, man was that easier than I thought it would be

They barely noticed I did it, and there was very little blood, I dabbed the end in neosporin for protection. Cutting my dogs nails is 100x worse than pinioning a day old duck

 

[juliechick]

Quote:
Aww, I'm sorry.

Some hatches are just like that. Don't give up.

 

[roche477]

Awww Jarhead sounds like you have some beautiful babies, so sorry that more didn't make it through the hatch.

My little silkie is still alive. I help it eat and drink since it can't stand up and walk. It is just dragging its butt and scooting its feet to move. I started giving it sugar water and it seems very strong, but it has been like that since it hatched. My husband said this is one of those times you wish you were Dr. Doolittle so you could talk to it and see what was wrong.

Hey, who said they were going fishing? I wanna go toooooooo!

 

[jenjscott]

hey, little rock airport has WiFi!