Chirping in the egg...UPDATE! Turken didn't make it

[mommywoes]

Okay here's the thing... there is no incubator really. The hen was the incubator until this little guy started piping because the broody hens started fighting over the chance to 'mother' and we lost 5 chicks in the mayhem. I have a water cooler so the humidity is pretty high in my house already the lowest it's been is 65%. I placed the piping chick in a styrofoam cooler wrapped lightly in a wet paper towel and with a heat lamp and a thermometer maintaining at 99.3- 100.

So no matter what I would've lost this guy even I left it with mom.

And no other eggs have shown any signs of an impending hatch. Multiply hens are laying and only 2 are sitting and of course the eggs all have different set days.

 

[Nikkumz]

I am so sorry about the loss, and im sorry about causing a bit of an argument here, different people believe different things when it comes to hatching and incubating.
Every one has thier own way,
Sounds like you should just leave it up to your hens from now on though

Good luck with the rest of the hatch!

 

[mommywoes]

Quote:
You in no way caused an argument

... Everyone has their opinion. And I came here because I am a novice at this, and I'm trying to get a chick to survive... My hens are inadvertently killing the chicks before they even hatch because as soon as they start to zip the ladies start fighting. Normally I would just separate them but there are a couple of dogs that have been attacking the chickens.

I can't win ... ACK

 

[Nikkumz]

Do you have a dog kennel or anything along those lines? You could put one of the broodys in a dog kennel with the remaining eggs, and maybe put her in the house for a day or two till more hatch. I would keep them outside in a kennel though unless it were in the coop because a chick could probably get out of the little wire holes. Or maybe just a big box for now?

 

[mommywoes]

I tried a dog kennel already the chick that hatched walked right through...

ack. Trust me bringing the egg inside was the last resort. But I have an incubator kit on the way from incubator warehouse. http://incubatorwarehouse.com/index.php/egg-incubators/combokits/little-giant-9200-combo-kits.html it has EVERYTHING I'll need!!! I'm excited for it to arrive. Hopefully I'll get a better hatch rate with the next clutch I set.

 

[Nikkumz]

LOL, well im sorry but thats kinda funny!
Good luck with the incubator!

 

[Jloeffler]

I'm so sorry!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Wish we had known this last bit of information earlier. Our advice could have been different, especially once it started drying out. I assumed it was in an incubator with other viable eggs. If I had known it was in the house under a heat lamp and not on an incubator with other eggs, ofter it started zipping and then did not finish, I would have said to moisten it and then open it. It is hard to give good information if you don't know the whole story.

As for the chicks going through the wire in the kennel, I lined the bottom vertical 18" of my run with small mesh chicken wire, and bent the other 6" of wire back horizintal and on the inside of the run so baby chicks cannot get out. The wire was a total of 2' wide and was was pretty inexpensive. You are right. If a chick can get to where Mama cannot protect it, then it is in great danger.

Sometimes two broodies can work together to hatch and raise chicks and sometimes they just don't get along. Hopefully next time you will only have one broody at a time or you can separate them or break one from going broody.

We learn more from out failures than our successes. Unfortunately, I think you got too many lessons on this one. Better luck next time.

 

[Shayna]

I'm very sorry for your loss. Please don't blame yourself. You may have been able to save him, but you may not have been. Had he been left with the mother, it doesn't sound like he'd have had a chance, which you gave him by removing him. Again, very, very sorry to hear he didn't make it. As a result, there may be things you do differently next time, and so it is a lesson learned. I'm a newbie, hoping to get my own eggs to hatch. I was just following along hoping for the best. Maybe this will help me or others if we find ourselves in a similar situation someday.

Thank you for sharing the outcome, even if it wasn't the one hoped for.

 

[mommywoes]

Quote:
My husband said there was something wrong with him. He didn't look right (even for a turken), we could see through his skin completely.... But the good news is the incubator arrived today!