- Jul 14, 2010
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(Here's a duplicate of what I just clicked post on in the September Hatch thread.)
Right now I have 3 coturnix babies hatched & two pipped. That's out of 12 eggs, 3 of which I'm pretty sure didn't develop (all eggs from the same mother).
The one that I glued is alive and well!!!!!!
I really didn't expect that baby to make it. I "munched" the egg with the edge of the incubator lid on day 9 or 10. I pulled it out and glued it with Elmers. Then, I put two or three more layers on it later. It was a BIG munched area. You can see it in the picture below.
This morning I got up to two hatched babies. This one had pipped near the bottom side of the egg. After two hours of trying, he couldn't extend the pip enough to do much. I realize that normally we don't interfere for a LOT longer, but the glue line was pretty extensive and RIGHT around the area he would have zipped based on where he had pipped. Since the humidity had risen to 80% (from 50%) from the first two hatching, and since the Brinsea recovers very easily with both humidity and temp, I decided to chip away some of the glue. I pulled him out and used the nail cleaner from a finger nail cleaner and a pair of sharp tweezers to remove pieces of shell along the zip line. I don't have a spray bottle in the house that I trust to be sanitary enough to spray on a newly hatched chick, so I kept breathing moist warm air onto the membrane (how's that for creative?). I also extended the membrane tear a bit for him.
He really wanted out. He was cheeping and hollering the WHOLE TIME. That baby was LOUD.
I didn't tear the whole membrane for him but did extend the open area for a good portion of the zip line, since it was clear there was no blood. Once I had it around about 2/3 of the way, I popped the incubator lid off, added a bit of moisture to the well in case of humidity loss, and put baby back in. He was very nearly out by this time. A few minutes later and out he popped! A half hour later and he's still a noisy little guy. The third little guy to hatch -- the one still partway in the shell in the pictures -- is the miracle baby.
Right now I have 3 coturnix babies hatched & two pipped. That's out of 12 eggs, 3 of which I'm pretty sure didn't develop (all eggs from the same mother).
The one that I glued is alive and well!!!!!!
I really didn't expect that baby to make it. I "munched" the egg with the edge of the incubator lid on day 9 or 10. I pulled it out and glued it with Elmers. Then, I put two or three more layers on it later. It was a BIG munched area. You can see it in the picture below.
This morning I got up to two hatched babies. This one had pipped near the bottom side of the egg. After two hours of trying, he couldn't extend the pip enough to do much. I realize that normally we don't interfere for a LOT longer, but the glue line was pretty extensive and RIGHT around the area he would have zipped based on where he had pipped. Since the humidity had risen to 80% (from 50%) from the first two hatching, and since the Brinsea recovers very easily with both humidity and temp, I decided to chip away some of the glue. I pulled him out and used the nail cleaner from a finger nail cleaner and a pair of sharp tweezers to remove pieces of shell along the zip line. I don't have a spray bottle in the house that I trust to be sanitary enough to spray on a newly hatched chick, so I kept breathing moist warm air onto the membrane (how's that for creative?). I also extended the membrane tear a bit for him.
He really wanted out. He was cheeping and hollering the WHOLE TIME. That baby was LOUD.
I didn't tear the whole membrane for him but did extend the open area for a good portion of the zip line, since it was clear there was no blood. Once I had it around about 2/3 of the way, I popped the incubator lid off, added a bit of moisture to the well in case of humidity loss, and put baby back in. He was very nearly out by this time. A few minutes later and out he popped! A half hour later and he's still a noisy little guy. The third little guy to hatch -- the one still partway in the shell in the pictures -- is the miracle baby.
