Eyelids sealed shut

[swtangel321]

Quote:
Sorry to ask again, just interested to know... Did the chick hatch on its own or did you help?

 

[DulcyDoll]

Are they on paper towels or on wood chips already?

I waited until last week to move them to wood chips, it was easier for her to find food on the paper towels(and easier for me to see wether she was eating or not), in the large brooder i moved them into i have a cardboard flat that their food is in, i will be trying next week to put it into a actual feed trough to see if she can eat out of that.

 

[dsyd]

The chick was assisted. I would not normally assist, but I have had 2 perfectly healthy chicks die from suffocation/improper egg size, so thought it was worth giving it a shot. (They are Seramas and they don't always have the strength to hatch for themselves and sometimes grow too big to fit in the tiny eggs.)

The litter that they are on is a thin layer of hay. I haven't tried paper towels. I have a feed trough made out of a small cardboard box which it can feed off directly.

 

[Bandana]

That's interesting. Have you hatched a lot of Serama?

 

[dsyd]

I have incubated a few Serama eggs (16 Serama and 9 Silkie Serama) in 2 different homemade incubators, but my success rates have been quite low.

The first incubator was not much of a success (it was a cardboard box with a light and fan, it didn't have a thermostat and relied on being monitored frequently) and only one of the 5 or so fertile Silkie Serama eggs survived to the pipping stage. That chick was too big fit in the egg so it couldn't move to get past the pipping stage. After 2 days of waiting I assisted by removing some shell but it was still unable to get out of the egg and soon died.

After having little success with the Silkie Seramas I have just been hatching Seramas instead, as the chicks are slightly smaller though the eggs are the same size. I also built a new incubator out of a polystyrene chest which has a semi-automatic turner, thermostat and fan (cost about $25). I have had 4 chicks hatch, including this one special needs chick, from a total of 7 fertile Serama eggs.

Of the 3 that died, one was (I believe) due to me forgetting to turn the eggs, one from an unfortunate accident (ornament fell off my shelf while the incubator was open) and the other due to the chick pipping the air sac too far down.

 

[Bandana]

Wow. You've really had a tough time with them. Thanks for the info. I'm going to attempt to hatch some Seramas here soon. Time will tell if it's brave or just dumb for a person to try that on their first hatch. I've got a factory made incubator with fan and turner, though. That should help some. Good luck with the special needs chick.

 

[dsyd]

Yup, I spent twice as much on eggs as I did on the incubator. I think I would have had more luck if I got eggs from a local source rather than through the post, but I really wanted Seramas. (They are smaller, so I can have more...) I don't think I will be hatching any more for a while though as we don't have the space. Too much disturbed sleep turning the eggs in the middle of the night, too...

 

[dsyd]

Update - at 5 days old, the chick took a turn for the worse, and as we were considering putting it to rest, it died. It was kind of a relief - I don't think its quality of life would have been great. The other two seem grateful for the extra space, anyway...

Thanks again for the help.