Eggs are looking Good

[kuntrygirl]

Congrats everyone !!!!!!

 

[MinxFox]

Well three of the six I can see cracks in them. One has a bit of the shell missing but all of the cracked eggs are cracking in the center and not near the bottom of the egg...I thought that wasn't what they were supposed to do? The one with a bit of the shell missing reminds me of what happened to Peep where he was hatching the wrong way....I have had the eggs on their side all this time, stopped turning them within a few days before hatch, etc. I don't know why they all seem to be hatching funny... Like if you are looking at the egg on it's side, they are making holes about right center of the egg. I don't know if that is okay or not...The one that has a bit of the shell gone I don't see it's beak sticking out, I don't know what that is but it might be part of it's wing like what I saw with Peep last year.

I hope they can hatch out on their own....I need to figure out why all my chicks are hatching out funny...Could I have turned the eggs too much? I don't know... Maybe they are fine....

 

[kuntrygirl]

Well three of the six I can see cracks in them. One has a bit of the shell missing but all of the cracked eggs are cracking in the center and not near the bottom of the egg...I thought that wasn't what they were supposed to do? The one with a bit of the shell missing reminds me of what happened to Peep where he was hatching the wrong way....I have had the eggs on their side all this time, stopped turning them within a few days before hatch, etc. I don't know why they all seem to be hatching funny... Like if you are looking at the egg on it's side, they are making holes about right center of the egg. I don't know if that is okay or not...The one that has a bit of the shell gone I don't see it's beak sticking out, I don't know what that is but it might be part of it's wing like what I saw with Peep last year.

I hope they can hatch out on their own....I need to figure out why all my chicks are hatching out funny...Could I have turned the eggs too much? I don't know... Maybe they are fine....

Sending good vibes your way. I hope that you have a successful hatch. I"m sure everything will be just fine. Keep us posted.

 

[poultryfan73]

BEST OF LUCK MINXFOX!

 

[MinxFox]

Okay so they started hatching yesterday and I just happened to be sick yesterday so I was not feeling well and taking care of peachicks so that was not really very exciting like it would be when I am feeling good. Luckily I was still able to give them some care. Two hatched out yesterday and some hatched out really early this morning like around 2 AM. My mom was the one who descovered the peachicks that hatched at 2 and because I was so tired I looked at them and then just went back to bed. What I didn't know was that I should have stayed up a little while to work on their feet....Normally with peachicks I mess with their feet just a bit with my hands to get them uncurled...I wasn't able to do that with these two that hatched out when I was sleeping. I figured they would straighten on their own but NO they have horrible feet now!

I made little shoes for them and one peachick had a foot that totally fixed itself with the shoe, and it's other foot has one crooked toe that will not go away. It is hard to work on it now that the foot has hardened and the shoe fell off a lot. It is standing really well so we might have to leave it the way it is. It seems okay.

The other peachick makes me feel so bad when I see it. I don't know what to do with this poor thing...When I got to it this morning its feet had almost fully hardened so it was harder to fix its feet. The foot that really bothers me is totally crooked. The chick just isn't walking on it right and it looks horrible..The toes are a bit close together and crooked and the foot is just not straight at all. I don't know if shoes can save it....Even with the shoe on it wouldn't hold its foot at the right angle and we couldn't modify the shoe to make it hold its foot the right way.

It is very horrible to see two perfectly footed peachicks running around then to see one peachick with a crooked toe and the other with a very bad foot...Oh and the one with the angled foot also has a toe that is tilted the wrong way and it looks almost flatened.

What did I do wrong? For the floor of the baby pen I keep them in I am using a towel. That should be enough traction right? Last year I said I wasn't going to hatch out eggs from the incubator again and I should have stayed with that idea. I don't think hatching is for me...I would much rather have my peahens do it! Plus the main reason I incubate is I see the eggs some of the peahens don't sit on and I just have to do SOMETHING with them so I incubate them...What I should do is sell the eggs the peahens don't sit on. That would be good...

I don't get it how do peahens not have problems with peachicks with messed up feet? Do they just kill any messed up chicks?

Oh and yeah I had six eggs...So one peachick died trying to hatch...It kinda looked like it tried to hatch too early because I noticed it poked a hole in the shell and then just didn't do anything else or move and I pulled off a tiny piece of shell and it looked bloody. Then the other egg has no breaks in it but I could have sworn I saw it wiggle and I am hearing tapping...So it might hatch later....

This is crazy I love the hand raised peas and all but I mean all this foot stuff is making me crazy...Also another problem is their feathers....When mine get all dried off their head feathers are still all stuck together...Is that normal or should they be all fluffy by the first day? They are drinking well but they haven't eaten much...I am not sure if they are even that hungry yet. I keep showing them the food and tapping at it but they take one peck at it and go away.

I don't know I feel like I really messed up. :/

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello Minxfox,
Many congratulations on the chicks!

As you know from my previous posts, I am certainly not a pea expert.
But from what I have seen on here, it seems as though you may be worrying too soon.
It seems as though these foot things sometimes take a bit of time to sort themselves out.
I can understand that you may feel concerned and like you might have done something differently, but you are clearly a superior peamom!
I look forward to the chick updates.

 

[MinxFox]

Well the two are still really doing well. The one with just one crooked toe is walking very well but still has a crooked toe... The one with the very messed up foot that is sideways and kinda curled up is walking but it doesn't walk for long before it just lies down and stays there while the others run around. I am trying to get them to eat more right now...The first peachick that hatched was drinking in only a few minutes. The marbles really help get them to drink and it was drinking in no time and so are the others. The food is just harder to get them to take. I was wetting it to make it tastier as I remember Peep and the whites prefered the food wet over the dry food. They wouldn't peck at it much and if I put it on my finger they would peck at my other finger instead. So I am now trying the food without water and they have been pecking at it a little more but they aren't really eating like crazy. I haven't seen them take in a lot of food so I hope they will get to eating better. I am already seeing them flap a bit so I pick one up at a time and move my hand up and down so that the chick flaps a little. I am just getting them used to using their wings. When Peep was little I would grab him and throw him up into the air and he would fly down. I only did that when I knew he could fly of course.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Alea,,get some clear shipping tape,or some heavy scotch tape,,have someone else hold the chick with the crooked toe.You will only need apiece of tape about 1/2" long,but to make wrapping easier use a longer piece and then cut off the excess.Extend the toe straight and flat on top of the sticky side of the piece of tape.Once it's sticking to the bottom of the toes,then wrap the tape over the top of the toe and back around the bottom.It's best to make one more wrap so it's tape against tape.Cut off the extra,and then trim the ecxess just beyond the toenail.His toe will resemble a wrapped tube,,other chicks may show interest for awhile but will leave it alone once they see it's not a food source or a threat.You can do the same with the chick with the curled foot,but for this I would recommend shipping tape,,it's clear and is about 2" wide,,you will need to cut a piece about 2" long,,have someone hold the chick while you place the foot flat on the sticky side of the tape,,extend the toes outward so they look correct,,it's important that they are spread apart (toes),then take the tape and flip it over the top of the foot,and make sure to press the tape between the the toes so it's tape sticking to tape.Trim off the excess past the toenails again,,and let the chick wear this boot for several days,,if the chick can't hold that leg under it's body,get a small 4" zip tie and tie both legs together just above the toes,,it will be hobbled so to speak,and not be able to walk,,it may look cruel to see a peachick laying down not being able to walk with it's legs behind it,,but whats worse,,this cure,or the chick always having trouble being mobile? The trick is to get both legs under the body of the chick so the upper leg bone and muscles are in the correct position long enough that it will stay that way without the zip tie.It may take several days to fix this,compared to a crooked toe.If you sprinkle food on the towel in your brooder box the chick still can eat,,you will need to help it drink by holding it and possibly dipping it's beak to get it to drink,maybe 5-6 times a day,,,
I've had maybe 8-10 peachicks that hatched with crooked toes,splayed legs,ect,,and today you can not tell which ones they were,,,but you have to act now.Get those toes straight,and keep them that way with tape.If you don't address this in the next day or so it maybe too late.The chick won't be in any pain,,and the inconvenience it has for a day or two is necessary so it's not crippled for life.

 

[MinxFox]

frenchblackcopper- Thank you sooooooooooooooo much!

The shoes we were making with thin cardboard and tape was not working...The peachicks were slidding out of them and it was getting frustrating. I have one question though...Is it easy to get the tape off of the peachicks? The one with the very bad messed up foot that it was turning sideways was even holding its foot much better after the all tape shoe (We went with the clear packing tape). It was slipping around a bit with the tape shoe so we added a felt sticker to the bottom of the tape so it can get some traction. We found out that if you hold the peachick on its back, it calms down and stops squirrming so we did that and spread out its foot from the bottom which was easier to do then working from the top so it worked very well and I feel better now. The other peachick had one of its small toes crooked so we where able to straighten that one. We used less tape for that one and made a half shoe. I think they will be able to actually keep these on for a few days and not wiggle out of them. Thank you sooooo much! Our idea was just not working at all and your way is much easier too. Getting them to hold their foot on the cardboard was frustrating. Well hopefully their toes will straighten and that one peachick will hold its foot the correct way. Luckily nobody has splayed leg.

Thanks!!!!

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello Minxfox,
Very exciting to hear about the peachick foot improvements already!
Thank goodness we have people like frenchblackcopper on this forum who take the time and trouble to share their advice and experiences.

When will we be seeing some pictures of your new kids?