Babies due Saturday! :D

[LaynaDon95]

The one that pipped this morning just hatched! While I was typing up the last message I heard some really loud peeps and went in there in time to see him flop out of his shell! He's adorable!

I'm about to go take a pic.

 

[LaynaDon95]

Here he is.

He has a twisted foot, and maybe something wrong with were his "umbilical cord" was attached. If you're interested in seeing a pic of that, I'll post it. I'm about to post a thread to see if anyone knows what it is.

 

[JesikaD01]

so cute! our chicks are only 5 weeks old and I am already missing the baby stage

 

[LaynaDon95]

I know the feeling. This is my third hatch and my last "babies" are now 4 months old. I don't know how they grow that fast. I ordered some last month and they are 4-5 weeks old (I need to recalculate) but I didn't bond with them the same way I did with my own hatches. I hope this guy is okay, and that the other one hatches soon. I'm worried that I'll having nothing to show for this hatch by the end of the day. :\ If his "belly button" is messed up and he has to be culled, and the other guy doesn't finish hatching, that leaves the 3 eggs that aren't doing anything. Which means I won't have any babies until next weekend. That's a very real possibility at this point. I'm getting nervous. I hope he's okay.

 

[LaynaDon95]

So The hatched guy is doing well. His "belly button" looks good from what I can see without taking him out of the incubator. He acts normal, except his curled foot, but even that doesn't seem to be slowing him down. The other guy is a different story. When he hit the 24 hour mark he started to fade. I opted to start help him out more actively, and when he was pretty much out I noticed he wasn't fully formed. His feet are still soft and light pink, and only one eye is able to fully open. I read on that thread Sumi posted a link to and found someone with a similar problem. Following what she did, I wrapped him up in a wet, warm, paper towel and plastic wrap. He's still fading and I don't think he's gonna make it. I'm really disappointed, but I know I did what I thought was best. I guess if he wasn't fully formed by day 22 then there wasn't much hope for him anyway. This is by far my worst hatch rate. I knew it would be poor, but I was expecting more than 1 chick. I'm glad I got him, though. I've picked out a stuffed duck to put in with him when he's ready to be moved to the brooder.

 

[LaynaDon95]

OMG He might live! I just unwrapped him to change the paper towel before I went to bed and he's perked back up. He's absorbed most of his yolk, but his "umbilical cord" is too attached for me to leave him unwrapped. He looked annoyed when I re-wrapped him. He was trying to detach himself from his shell. I don't think he is underdeveloped after closer inspection, he was just really wet I guess. I have a bit more hope now that I've seen him act normal. I hope he's okay.

 

[madi99]

OMG He might live! I just unwrapped him to change the paper towel before I went to bed and he's perked back up. He's absorbed most of his yolk, but his "umbilical cord" is too attached for me to leave him unwrapped. He looked annoyed when I re-wrapped him. He was trying to detach himself from his shell. I don't think he is underdeveloped after closer inspection, he was just really wet I guess. I have a bit more hope now that I've seen him act normal. I hope he's okay.

wait was he still in the shell when you wrapped him in the paper towel or had he hatched? and congrats! then maybe your other chick wont be alone!

 

[LaynaDon95]

He still had about 1/4 of his shell left. I stopped because I saw blood.

 

[sumi]

I hope he makes it!

The one in the pic is too cute! I love seeing newborn chicks first thing in the morning

 

[LaynaDon95]

He's alive and well! I don't have much time to update, but I checked on him at 3:00 this morning and he was trying to escape his wrappings. I unwrapped him and went to go get a drink and he was detached from his shell and trying to walk around. His feet are slightly curled and kinda soft, but he can get around. He keeps trying to escape the incubator. He's adorable!

I'll give a better update later.