Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye that sounds like a humidity problem to me. Recently when I discovered my auto waterer wasn't working I had several eggs that ended up that way. Makes you very sad to see a perfect little chick that just didn't make it. Other than that it could have been any kind of problem that occured while it was developing. I had a terrible time hatching silkie chicks. Then I just started leaving them for the hen to hatch and she didn't hatch any.
I haven't even tried recently to hatch any. They kind of fall into that category of problems with bantams. There is just something about them that makes them a little weaker and it doesn't take much to mess them up.
I worked my rear off today. I'll write about it later. Now I'm just going to go put the ole feet up!.

 

[HEChicken]

Hawkeye, I have a theory about your chick. I'm wondering if it had pecked a hole through the membrane and then while turning to zip, it blocked that hole with its own body, which caused it to suffocate? It doesn't sound like it was humidity if the chick just slid out. A sticky chick, the membrane will stick to it like glue and be really hard to get off.

 

[chicken danz]

Tweety those pictures are amazing. I have a fairly expensive camera but something is wrong with it and it won't come off a 2 -second delay setting so it's a pain and the shots never turn out right. I can't hold still for 2 seconds!!!

 

[tweetysvoice]

Tweety those pictures are amazing. I have a fairly expensive camera but something is wrong with it and it won't come off a 2 -second delay setting so it's a pain and the shots never turn out right. I can't hold still for 2 seconds!!!

Thank you - funny thing.. that is the exact reason that I wanted a new camera! I had to wait a couple seconds for it to click as well. I'd take 100 pictures just to get a couple that weren't blurry or out of focus.

 

[rvroman]

Do hens crow, ppl are telling me they doubt Leroy is a boy, but all he does is crow these days, apparently that isnt proof enough.

Please help me!

 

[JosieChick]

I JUST saw that on the facebook swap! They are crazy, if he is crowing he is a roo. I have heard silkie hens make a loud call that maybe could be mistaken for a crow to the untrained ear but I have never heard a hen crow and that boy has some serious red comb going on. I don't know what they all are thinking....

 

[chicken danz]

Aw come on! People seriously think a hen could crow??? Nope if he is crowing he's a boy and there's no doubt about it.

 

[rvroman]

Ok, new question, if they start with what appears to be a buttercup comb can it grow into a single comb? Leroy had a perfect cup shaped comb when he was younger, but now that he is older it just looks like 2 rows of single comb really close to each other. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, have you sent Chooks a PM? She seems to be the expert on Silkies, so maybe she can give you some advice on the hatching. I just have had no experience with that breed, but it sounds like they're so much more fragile than others. I hope your subsequent hatches go better. Is the chick you hatched before doing all right now?

KarenS, good luck with your lavender Orpington eggs. I have some really expensive eggs coming Friday, so I will be really nervous with those. I have dexterity problems with my arthritis, so it always makes me nervous to handle eggs anyway, let alone an expensive dozen like these are. The gal was supposed to ship them twice now, but some got ruined the first time & then she said she wanted to wait till tomorrow so she could send me extras. I don't mind the extras if she will get them to me in good shape, she's shipping them overnight, so hopefully they won't go through too much trauma.

I have another little Ameraucana egg pipping tonight, it's early. IVY, does it seem like the Ameraucanas hatch a lot of times early? That seems to be what has happened with a lot of mine that have hatched, they're sometimes two days early. Of course this one may not actually hatch until tomorrow, which would make it only one day early. It has seemed like the ones I had hatch early have done better than the two I had hatch late. I read on BYC on the Ameraucana thread that someone else had observed that too.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye, I have a theory about your chick. I'm wondering if it had pecked a hole through the membrane and then while turning to zip, it blocked that hole with its own body, which caused it to suffocate? It doesn't sound like it was humidity if the chick just slid out. A sticky chick, the membrane will stick to it like glue and be really hard to get off.

Thank you all.

HeChicken, you described it perfectly. That is what I was trying to say, very poorly. It turned around so it's back was to the zip. It was nearly zipped out. Then I'm just positive it suffocated in there. The membrane wasn't sticky--the chick just slid out and it was wet--no blood, no nothing sticking to it. When I got the chick out easily, then I started to rub it, and the chick felt tacky to the touch. But nothing stuck to it. Except for where the zip was on it's back-- it's like it just sealed down behind it. But I wonder if it could still be a combined humidity problem BECAUSE if the humidity was high enough-- wouldn't that membrane not seal up behind the chick on it's back after it had already broke it open? I don't know. I'm just going to kick myself for whatever happened. I have another one supposed to hatch tomorrow. Hopefully I don't kill it either.

Josie, this chick also had a vaulted skull. I don't know why every single one of my chicks is vaulted-- must be mama hen's genetics really kicking in. Maybe that is a theory.

Danz, thanks, I think you are party right too... in which case, maybe they will just be hard to hatch and I didn't do anything wrong? I don't know. Could be a lot of things. Sigh.

Tweety-- great pictures of your birds. I LOVE your black duckie-- gorgeous!

Trish, yeah the chick I hatched 3 days ago today is doing fine. Running around at top speed now. But he was wobbly up until this morning. I wasn't so sure about him. He just seemed really clumsy and kind of weak. I have him taking electrolytes.