First hatch help

[shortstaque]

I read here on BYC of others splinting the legs to correct splay legs with band aids, somewhere someone posted pics. Good luck!

BLKWDW I'll probably leave it another day just to be on the safe side. Then I'll float the eggs to make sure I don't find any movement before turning of the bator. If I have the guts I plan to open the unhatched eggs to determine if they were fertile and at what point they were terminated. Trying to be a little scientific to improve future hatches.

My sister gave me the incubator as a gift, Little Giant I think it is called. It is still air with an egg turner and according to my records for this first hatch, those eggs in the center were 3 times more likely to hatch than those along the outer edge. I don't have a hygrometer, so I don't know what the humidity was, but I have an inkling that inconsistent humidity and temp account for the ones around the edges having less success. Just a guess.

 

[blkwdw]

any more peepers?

 

[ChickyD]

I have 12 now. Another one with splayed legs and her eyes aren't opened

I checked and their not stuck together all. I took a damp warm cloth and wiped her eyes and they opened a little for a few minutes then she closed them again. She seems to be having a harder time with her legs being bandaged together. Maybe because she can't see? I'm not sure if there was something wrong with incubation or if this is hereditary? Both the chicks are silkie. The other chick is getting around really good but this one just lays there. I have been dipping her beak to give her water and I gave her some yogurt with a Q tip. Not sure what else to do?

 

[shortstaque]

Poor thing. Hope she/he makes headway.

I'm up to 17 hatched now with an 18th zipping and cheeping. I ended up helping the two with dried out membranes that weren't making progress yesterday. After I helped the one zip a bit it finished the job itself. The other one wasn't getting anywhere still 4 hours after I helped it zip, so I started removing the rest of the shell and it was really shrink wrapped, so I helped it move the membrane aside. It was in an awkward position with its head stuck to one side and legs to the other. No wonder it couldn't get out. It dryed out overnight and I moved it to the brooder this morning. I had another one rocking, but I haven't noticed it moving lately. All else looks still. I think I'll open the incubator after the current zipper escapes and float the rest of the eggs and decide from there how to proceed. Its tough not to open the incubator in the meantime and also hard to decide when to turn off the incubator.

 

[ChickyD]

I hope she makes it too.She's put up with a lot from me today

I feel so mean taping her legs , wiping her eyes. I don't have the heart to cull.I have 4 still in the incubator still. One of them is cracked I think it got tossed around too much by the other chicks. It's definitely not a pip tho. I know what you mean about when to turn it off and how much longer to leave these ones? I may try to float the other 3 .

 

[shortstaque]

What are you hatching anyway? Are any your salmon faverolles? I got 2 day old standards last year, sexed females, but they both turned out to be roos. A shame, because I think they are such pretty hens, though the roos were handsome, they don't give any eggs and eventually got sent to freezer camp.

I'm sending good vibes to your chick.

 

[ChickyD]

I have some of my Salmon Favs that hatched out great, a few from my partridge cochins and I got the silkie eggs from my sisters hens to hatch for her. The silkies are the only ones with the problems. I love my Roosters but my neighbors don't.

 

[ChickyD]

I have some of my Salmon Favs that hatched out great, a few from my partridge cochins and I got the silkie eggs from my sisters hens to hatch for her. The silkies are the only ones with the problems. I love my Roosters but my neighbors don't.

 

[cmom]

As soon as my chicks hatch I take them and their shell out of the incubator and put the chicks into my brooder.

 

[ChickyD]

The first few I didn't put them in the brooder right away but then they were knocking the eggs around so I put them in. They also weren't drying off very good so the rest went into the brooder shortly after they hatched. The last little chick still isn't keeping her eyes open for too long. But she is opening them now. She still won't eat or drink on her own yet. Now that I look at her leg better it doesn't look splayed it looks more like a clubbed foot? It's hard to explain but it's not spread far apart like the other chick. I'll try and take a picture and post it to see if anyone can let me know what they think.