August Hatch-A-Long

[Tazbeaux]

*Sigh* I don't know what I should do! BUT I'm fairly sure my humidity is good (not too dry in there), none of the other eggs have even started yet and she still seems to have enough energy to rock her egg a fair bit, so maybe I'm best to give her another overnight bout - she did a lot of work through the early morning hours this morning - I checked her at 2am and there was no progress but by 8am she'd been busy! I know she is resting now anyway, so right now is not a good time.

I'm also thinking that if she hatches now I'm risking the others by lifting the lid and only so Faith is in the brooder on her own ( ducks like ducky friends

). I DID have the temp down low and there are stories here of chicks being 7 days late....maybe I need to trust? and all will happen in good time. Something tells me Faith is a pretty tough duck!

It's a tough decision - I appreciate that you gave me the answer I was looking for, but I had dreams last night about rushing things and them becoming disasters - I'm also going to college next year to become a midwife, and I trust women's bodies to birth their babies...I really should practice what I preach....I have read and re-read the assisted hatch guide at least three times - I get the feeling that what was trying to be relayed was that the chicks really need to go through the 'birth' process because nature has a wonderful way of ensuring the survival of the species, it's us who like to interfere!!

That said - I am Sooooo glad of your company while I go back to waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I understand, it's a hard call to make. If you don't help she could die, but if you do, you could kill her. I hope I don't have to make that decision next week with my hatch.

 

[darkbluespace]

*Sigh* I don't know what I should do! BUT I'm fairly sure my humidity is good (not too dry in there), none of the other eggs have even started yet and she still seems to have enough energy to rock her egg a fair bit, so maybe I'm best to give her another overnight bout - she did a lot of work through the early morning hours this morning - I checked her at 2am and there was no progress but by 8am she'd been busy! I know she is resting now anyway, so right now is not a good time.

I'm also thinking that if she hatches now I'm risking the others by lifting the lid and only so Faith is in the brooder on her own ( ducks like ducky friends

). I DID have the temp down low and there are stories here of chicks being 7 days late....maybe I need to trust? and all will happen in good time. Something tells me Faith is a pretty tough duck!

It's a tough decision - I appreciate that you gave me the answer I was looking for, but I had dreams last night about rushing things and them becoming disasters - I'm also going to college next year to become a midwife, and I trust women's bodies to birth their babies...I really should practice what I preach....I have read and re-read the assisted hatch guide at least three times - I get the feeling that what was trying to be relayed was that the chicks really need to go through the 'birth' process because nature has a wonderful way of ensuring the survival of the species, it's us who like to interfere!!

That said - I am Sooooo glad of your company while I go back to waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't remember if the others had pipped yet? Once one has started zipping you can generally help them without much trouble. If others haven't pipped yet they would be fine. Honestly, I know people say it is the worst thing ever to open the bator, but I have had a hatch where I had wrong end pips and was assisting and opened the bator countless times and it didn't keep anyone else from zipping out. I think you just have to go with your gut!

 

[darkbluespace]

End of day 19 and I have my first PIP!!!! It was supposed to be an internal pip but he missed by a quarter inch. It was on top though, fortunately. I wanted to make sure he could breathe and there wasn't too much fluid so I opened his crack a tiny bit. No fluid, so that is excellent. He does look oddly positioned. His little beak is so cute!! I might have heard a peep from someone else too.... I don't think he made a sound yet. I hope by tomorrow morning they will all be pipping!! I should go to bed early!

 

[Tazbeaux]

End of day 19 and I have my first PIP!!!! It was supposed to be an internal pip but he missed by a quarter inch. It was on top though, fortunately. I wanted to make sure he could breathe and there wasn't too much fluid so I opened his crack a tiny bit. No fluid, so that is excellent. He does look oddly positioned. His little beak is so cute!! I might have heard a peep from someone else too.... I don't think he made a sound yet. I hope by tomorrow morning they will all be pipping!! I should go to bed early!

I can't wait to see pics!

 

[Sylviaanne]

Yes veins can happen and then 'disappear' with early quitters.

Always learning. Thank you.

 

[Mamasaurus]

End of day 19 and I have my first PIP!!!! It was supposed to be an internal pip but he missed by a quarter inch. It was on top though, fortunately. I wanted to make sure he could breathe and there wasn't too much fluid so I opened his crack a tiny bit. No fluid, so that is excellent. He does look oddly positioned. His little beak is so cute!! I might have heard a peep from someone else too.... I don't think he made a sound yet. I hope by tomorrow morning they will all be pipping!! I should go to bed early!

Oooh, exciting! Also can't wait for pics!!

 

[Mamasaurus]

Thanks Taz and DarkBlue,

I will wait at least till the kids go to bed (late afternoon here) and then think about what to do - to help or not to help?? Yes! It's an incredibly hard decision to make. H is all, let it happen! I'm worrying a bit - but whatever happen, happens!

I have noticed that Faith appears to have pushed out a small piece of shell so I may not need to worry about her too much anymore. Big deep breaths, big deep breaths!

 

[darkbluespace]

Thanks Taz and DarkBlue,

I will wait at least till the kids go to bed (late afternoon here) and then think about what to do - to help or not to help?? Yes! It's an incredibly hard decision to make. H is all, let it happen! I'm worrying a bit - but whatever happen, happens!

I have noticed that Faith appears to have pushed out a small piece of shell so I may not need to worry about her too much anymore. Big deep breaths, big deep breaths!

She's doing it!! Yay! I love how birds name themselves sometimes!

 

[Mamasaurus]

She's doing it!! Yay! I love how birds name themselves sometimes!

Well, after dinner and kids in bed I checked again on the eggs and for some hours there'd been no sign of anything, even with tapping on the outside of the bator, so I armed up with warm water, paper towel, tweezers, clean hands and a warm towel to investigate. Almost as soon as I picked her up I could see she was alive, I picked at her 'zip' but couldn't see the air cell well because she is mostly in it! so just chipped away carefully, exposed her beak and she began quackling, then I hit the teensiest bit of blood...I held it until it stopped, wet her membrane which is discoloured where its been open all day and put her back on a wet paper towel.

The bator had dropped its temp when I misted the others (even though it was warm) so I cranked up the temp and am now waiting for it to settle before heading to bed

Faith is resting nicely right under the window where I can see her well, she's breathing and doing all the right things - she is better off in her egg even though once I had her out of the bator H was 'egging me on' (sorry, had to do it!

) to just rip the top off....come on! You know you wanna!!

Anyway, we'll see how she does in the morning and hopefully her siblings come along for the party soon!

 

[hamzaahvalli]

Mamasurus- may i ask Which duck breed eggs you are incubating?