So how is it looking? I am a little concerned as the zip is headed down towards the bottom instead of up, maybe this is what they do? I am a nervous wreck!
So how is it looking? I am a little concerned as the zip is headed down towards the bottom instead of up, maybe this is what they do? I am a nervous wreck!
Been zipping since am, pipped at 4:18pm yesterday and yes themembrane looks a little dry. The chick is still moving.
Ok so here we are with three chicks now! The original one that pipped is still working. Three of the brown eggs have hatched. I move them into the second bator as they were stubbing and falling into the water tray.
Number 1 - hatched awy from viewing windows of course
Number 2
Chick 1
Both
All three, I had to quickly move them into a tub with heat lamp as they were starting to stand and I was worried they were getting to close to the heat source.
Another blue egg just hatched But the first pip is still zipping or trying. I just turned it over an part of it shell was stuck on liner. Didn't do anything else, it did peep.
If he has been working on the zip that long, I, personally, would pull it out, wet the membranes and help the guy. It normally does not take that long to zip.
If he has been working on the zip that long, I, personally, would pull it out, wet the membranes and help the guy. It normally does not take that long to zip.
It is still stuck but is most of the way out and is moving around the bator now. I have just been giving it time. It's head is out just the rear still stuck to shell. I just pulled most of it off of it. Still has a little bit stuck but it's legs and head are all free now.
Well yesterday was a marathon day, it began at 5 am. When I went to bed Tuesday night we had one pip and woke up to 12 pips and one unzipping. We had hatches in waves yesterday, the first 8 moved pretty quickly once they got going. Then we rounded out the day with 4 more. The first pip ended up not hatching until almost 4 pm (they pipped around 4:18pm Tuesday) and I had to partial assist. Her shell had gotten stuck as she zipped down towards the floor rather than around. Anyway long story short, after all day of her trying to unzip all the way she couldn't. So I moistened the membrane and then was able to get most of the shell off. There was still about 1/4 stuck to her, that eventually came off and she is doing ok. The first wave seemed pretty robust a healthy, the second weave definitely seemed more small and a little more fragile.
So right now we have 12 from yesterday, two that just hatched and two more currently unzipping and a hand full in the bator still. Here are a few pics of the twelve from this am.
Here is the one I assisted, so I didn't pull the shell all the way off, I moistened the membrane (it was dry, brownish/yellow) and then turned the egg over and pulled the membrane back some and the shell partial off. She was able to free herself eventually.
It was the strangest thing, in the middle of dealing with hatching etc, I decided to go check on the flock. I went out and started slopping their fermented feed into their feed pans when I noticed one of our dark Cornish. She was laying lifeless on the ground. I walked over and picked her up and she seemed dead. She wasn't cold yet, she wasn't stuff. I picked her up and examined her some. No visible injuries, my BF then started to go over her body. He tried giving her some air, nothing. It did seem as if her vent was protruding some, not all the way outside of her body but it was fairly swollen and reddish. The best we can figure is she died while being mounted by our roo. She was the runt of the litter and was rather small. It was just a very odd day, bringing in babies and saying goodbye to a flock member. We have no come full circle with our flock from just over a year ago. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since we started this journey.
