August Hatch-A-Long

[Bookworm0124]

So little guy had a totally empty crop. Not moving well. I put a hobble on him to try and fix his legs. Also syringe fed him some crushed feed mixed with water and then some yolk. Not sure about his odds of pulling through but I tried.

 

[Wezdin]

@john_wrightson2003 how is your staggered hatch goin?

 

[Wezdin]

 

[jolenesdad]

So little guy had a totally empty crop. Not moving well. I put a hobble on him to try and fix his legs. Also syringe fed him some crushed feed mixed with water and then some yolk. Not sure about his odds of pulling through but I tried.

Great job fingers crossed!!!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Splay leg?

It does appear to be splay leg. Medwrap/sports wrap/vet wrap, it's called all sorts of things but the wrap that sticks to itself without adhesive was by far the best for fixing this.

It would have really helped to have purchased this earlier, but I finally broke down and ordered a small Brinsea incubator that we could use as a hatcher. I’m using it for the one lone guinea egg that I removed from the nest about ten days ago when the other keet was hatched by the broody guineas. We don’t know how old the embryo is, but from candling, it looks close to hatch date so we transferred from our styrofoam incubator with much younger eggs into the Hatcher. Good luck little keet! We have a lonely keet that really wants to meet you!!!

I hope it hatches soon so little one has a friend!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I have a Pip! I'll keep you all posted!

So little guy had a totally empty crop. Not moving well. I put a hobble on him to try and fix his legs. Also syringe fed him some crushed feed mixed with water and then some yolk. Not sure about his odds of pulling through but I tried.

Aww, poor little one. It appears to be in good hands with you!! I hope it pulls through!

 

[john_wrightson2003]

@john_wrightson2003 how is your staggered hatch goin?

The hatching starts this coming sunday.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The hatching starts this coming sunday.

Good luck!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So little guy had a totally empty crop. Not moving well. I put a hobble on him to try and fix his legs. Also syringe fed him some crushed feed mixed with water and then some yolk. Not sure about his odds of pulling through but I tried.

Aww poor little one! How’s he doing?

 

[jolenesdad]

I was coming here, too, hoping for a good update from @Bookworm0124!

I lost one of mama's babies last night. :-( Poor thing.

Always learning.

I think the best option lies somewhere in the middle of the general advice, as even broody hens aren't totally set it and forget it. I totally understand breeders not wanting to "help" chicks, but, Im really not convinced AT ALL that helping a chick in the first few minutes or days of life means you're doomed to repeat the same cycle even if you breed that chick. There are SO MANY Issues caused by incubation and human interaction to incubation. I think I probably should have treated these eggs as shipped eggs under the broody. Especially when in the end, I got 3/11. :-\ My broody hatch from local eggs, if I count the loss today (which I think 36 hours after hatch should be counted as a loss), is my worst hatch so far!

There was one egg that had zipped and was stuck in a zip for 8+ hours. I popped the top off, and put it back under mom. I really probably should have taken it into the incubator and ensured it got Nutri drench and food. It clearly had been in the shell too long after absorbing the yolk, it didn't want to lift its head out when I removed the top of the shell that was zipped all the way around. I had two black chicks hatch, and that was one of them, and it was a black chick that died, so I am assuming that was it.

NEXT TIME, especially since I have SUCH docile birds, I'll plan on monitoring just a bit more. I should have candled for REAL all along the way to remove the exploders. What an elementary mistake there. I just occasionally picked up one of the eggs and put my phone light on it and said, ooooh, air cell.... good. Plus, I should have removed this zipping chick after a couple of hours. I just was thinking "Broody mom, don't do ANYTHING."

As an aside, Im really not at all interested in breeding directly to the SOP and showing, I'm mostly interested in preserving some breeds and breeding for local climate vigor and hopefully working my own line towards more utility. You can bet your butt that I am going to absolutely try and breed "assisted" chicks, monitor their hatches, and debunk this theory that you shouldn't assist chicks.