Dewlap Exhibition Toulouse-Incubation Diary with Pics! Hatch Day!!!

[gofasterstripe]

Quote:
Mine havent eaten much feed but they have eaten 3 bowls of greens so far today and even kicked up a noise when the bowl was empty...mama went running to fill it again

 

[star2525]

I never thought of trying to give them any greens, are you just giving them some grass or what exactly are you using for greens?

Pete, I saw where you said you had all the vents open, should I open up more vents on my Incubator too to also try and get the aircells enlarged?

I know I mentioned about the one egg that was pipped at the floor, and then turned it right side up, so for me that was putting that hole facing the sky, I saw where you said something about turning it to the right, I think, not sure I totally understand that, I am guessing as I am at the small end of the egg and looking towards the big end of the egg that you meant for me to angle that pipped area so that it was facing the right when I was looking from the small end to the big end? Hope you can explain that one again, not 100 percent sure I totally understood that, even though I did move the egg so that the pipped area was up and then set it so that the cracked open area was slightly right and not straight up and down, hope that made sense. Thanks so much, I am learning.

Victoria

 

[gofasterstripe]

The have had 2 bowls of lettuce and they are now chowing down to a bowl of mushed up peas in water. Yes granted most of it is slung all over the brooder but they are eating it and drinking at the same time. OMG!!! Geese are sooo much cleaner than ducks..not half the poop and they chew their food unlike ducklings who shovel it down their throats like there is no tomorrow and then choke coz they cant get it down fast enough. Tommorrow they are goin gout on the grass for a few hours to see how they do, they will also be getting a bath tomorrow too.

 

[gofasterstripe]

Quote:
If you put the round end pointing you the pip should be just on the right side, the will zip anticlock ways

 

[star2525]

Well I did that wrong then, so the big end of the egg is what faces you, and the pipped area is to the right, then they zip out counter clockwise?

Glad I asked again about that, so is the aircell at that point up to the sky? or sort of to the right also?

I have these 2 eggs in the incubator with the biggest part of the aircells toward the sky resting so they are at that angle, hope I've got that right, just elevated at the big end of the egg.

How old are yours? I didn't bathe my goslings until they was about 3 to 4 weeks old, was afraid, the first time I did was in the Bath Tub in warm water, Audrey looked like a Submarine zipping all over the tub underwater from one end to the other as fast as she could go, was hillarious to watch. I've just started here lately giving the adults Lettuce since I have them penned up, never gave it a thought to give lettuce to the day old goslings. I kept mine inside taking the temperature down 5 degrees weekly like I did chicks, and didn't put them outside for any length of time until they was about 5 weeks old, I had 3 totes going with towels in all of them, when I got up in the morning before I went to work, I'd take them out of the one tote they spent the night in and then they'd follow me to the next tote I had ready for them and I'd put them in that one for the day while I was at work, before I left for work I'd take the towel and the tote and clean the tote out, shake the towel out and throw it in the washer and wash it, then when I got home I'd take them out of the tote they spent the day in and they'd follow me again to the other tote I had ready for them, then I'd take the towel out of that one and wash it, put the first towel in the dryer to dry, clean the other tote out and set them up with towels and food for the same routine the next day, did that for about 5 weeks, I took them outside for a little while when they was about 3 to 4 weeks old and was acclimated to the temperatures outside at that point it was close to 75 degrees most days, right now here it was 60 degrees today during the daytime, and I have a lamp on them currently with a towel covering the top 1/2 of the tote to help keep a little more heat in for them, lamped area is open, and I have that held by a clip on the side of the tote, then I have that whole affair inside of a huge cage with a chain suspended to the lamp to hold it up if the clip would come loose, so that it won't fall on the goslings or into the tote. I have Cats and they are good with my chicks, just didn't want to take a chance if a cat would get curious, so secured the whole tote inside of a Great Dane sized Dog Cage, I just couldn't go to sleep until I did this, and was up until 2 AM last night figuring out how I was going to set this up and then getting it all in place, definately made me sleep alot better.

Victoria

 

[gofasterstripe]

Yes Ma'am, the air cell should be pointing to the sky in that position. I usually have my ducklings in the bath by day 2 to get rid of all the baby fuzz. Mine were only born over the weekend, so they will have a few inches of water for a few minutes to wash it all off and out they will come to go back in the brooder under the heat lamp.

 

[star2525]

Mine got quite used to being handled daily and even though Pistol is playing Sentry for his Geese he tends to only hiss at me and not come after me, the Saddleback Gander is extremely aggressive at this point, he spots you 200 feet away and starts hissing and threating before you even look like you're going to head his direction. Do you have any pictures of your Geese? I have a few, I'll try to post them here, don't know if I remember how it's been so long since I've posted a picture, this one I call Me and My Geese

This one I call Flurry of Feathers

These are the Parents of the Goslings I'm hatching, except for the Grey Goose and a White Goose I got this past summer, so have 8 total.

And really do Love my Geese! Hope the pictures show up!

Victoria

 

[pete55]

Hello from a sunny Spring morning in the UK

I'll not be checking the goslings until tonight but hope to see some air cell enlargement and shadows in the air cell. I only hope they've lost sufficent moisure and the dont quit at this late stage. The grey Dewlap eggs are at 14 days now so it'll be interesting to compare their air cell development as I've washed their eggs (removing the mucous coat) and then cooled daily from Day 4 for 15 minutes and run at 37.2C with all vents full open. Their relative humidity has been slightly lower at 20-25%.

Nicky - its good to hear that you've managed to switch your role from anxious parent in waiting to being a full time Mom to the goslings

Im like you and like to get them outside in a secure pen within a few days. I think the fresh air and sunshine is so benificial. We feed Waterfowl Starter crumbs as their staple diet and supplement with dandelions and Romaine lettuce. It looks more torpedo in shape and I avoid the looser leafed varieties and iceberg due to their relatively low calcium content.

Victoria - I love your pictures of your geese, the top picture is my favourite as you look so happy with them

Now to positioning of the eggs as they approach hatching. As the chicks approach hatching they manouvre their heads from between their legs. They finally pull the head up next to the air cell membrane and tucked under their right wing so they're facing towards the right (as viewed from the air cell). This positional change results in the air cell angling downwards and shadows emerging in the air cell as the chick pushes against the inner membrane of the air cell.

If you place the egg on a smooth table it will always roll back to one postion (where the side with the greatest amount of air cell is uppermost). Mark the egg with a cross and then you know which position it should now be in. As external pipping arrives the first pip is often in the area of the upper right quadrant (if your cross was marked on the top). This is when viewed with the sharp end nearest to you and the air cell end facing away. When the chick zips (or rotates) it does so in an anticlockwise direction if you were viewing from the air cell end.

Hope that helps

Pete

 

[animaladdictions]

. Hi there Pete, Nicky, and Victoria! Seems like its pretty much just us four left on this thread. Sorry its been a couple days since my last post. I'm having to do all this with my phone and its been giving me headaches lately.

My computer would have been fixed by now, but SOMEBODY spends all the extra money on eggs! That's ok, my babies bring me more joy and entertainment than a computer ever could!

Pete your in the homestretch and I hope and pray everything goes as smooth as its been going! I can't wait to see your new babies!

Nicki- I'm assuming everything went well with your hatch? CONGRATS ON THE NEW BABIES! WOOHOO! What breed did you say you were hatching again? Pics soon I hope?

Victoria- Your Sebbies are GORGEOUS! Sounds and looks like you take excellent care of them! If you ever want to sell some of their eggs, please consider me. I bought 8 sebbie eggs off ebay and after 12 days in the bator I found that only four are viable. I guess that's pretty good for shipped eggs, but disappointing nonetheless. I've wanted sebbies for years but with me a stay at home mom and my hubby the only one working, they've always been just out of reach for me. I just pray the four eggs I have in there now make it! Keep them fingers crossed for me!

As for my new dewlap baby... We named her Glenda after my grandma who just passed away two weeks ago. The two older babies are Guss and Girdie.

Being the only baby, she has imprinted on me HARDCORE! She (I'm calling her a she because that's what I want her to be) is so stinkin cute. Now that she's hatched I'm getting a firsthand look at just how fast these geese grow! Its CRAZY how big the other two are compared to her and they're only a couple weeks older!

Gotta go for now. Hubby is going to work soon and this is his phone. I promise I will try my best to post a couple pics tonight.

Talk to you all soon. Have a blessed day!

Lisa

 

[pete55]

Hi All

Lisa, nice to see your still here and that Glenda the gosling is doing so well

If you're interested in Sebastopols then I suggest you contact Cottage Rose. She's very helpful and Im sure she'll point you in the right direction for some quality hatching eggs. The problem is the USA is so vast compared to the UK so some locations are just not practical to visit. Send CottageRose a PM and explain your circumstances. Mention that I recommended that you contact her

Victoria - hope the description of the position of the gosling made sense. To help you further I've posted some pictures below

Hatching sequence of a Blue & Gold Macaw. Starting from the area of the external pip the chick rotates rapidly in an anti-clockwise direction. Using the beak as a lever and its legs pushing against the eggshell the chick rotates about 80% of the way around the egg. At this point the top acts as a hinge and the chick pushes free from the shell. Note the safety hole I had made right at the top of the egg after internal pipping. I do this if I am in any doubt that the chick is weak. The humidity is raised and it does not appear to prevent a normal hatch occuring.

A Rhea chick again with its beak pointing slightly down and to the right. It would have rotated anti-clockwise but required assistance to internally pip and hatch.

A Greenwing Macaw showing direction of zipping. This chick was in the normal position but had lost only 11% moisture weight and needed to be assisted to hatch.


Hope that all helps