First Time Hatching Anyone With Me??

[foxygoober]

Kathryn those are awesome pictures! I tried with the pictures. . .mine didn't turn out.

Too much glare off the glass. I have no idea what kind of incubator I'm using. It's a foam box one and I used an electric turner. . .and I opened it A LOT. I also don't have a humidity gauge. However it's always humid here in SC.

One of my silkies will only eat off my fingers. . .it's the only one I've named-Baby. I had to give Baby warm sugar water 3 times cause he just wasn't eating. Then I just put feed into the water and started feeding it that way. Baby does know how to eat out of the plastic lid with water and food, but he wont do it on his own. As soon as he eats he's nice and perky. . .dunno why Baby thinks I have time to get him to eat every couple of hours

I'm worried cause he's smaller than the others and the silkies are just plain small compared to all the other chicks. . .I hope he isn't going to just slowly starve. Hope he's all right.

 

[wthchristi]

Quote:
I ship black copper maran eggs all the time and people have had great hatching rates with them. Sometimes it depends the most on how the post office handles them. Sorry you did not get a good hatch.

(No, these were not my eggs, lol.) I also have blue marans from a breeder friend in now and they are doing awesome and were shippied a couple thousand miles.

Hatching shipped eggs is always a risk.

 

[latebloomer]

need some advice.

i have four happy healthy vigorous chicks
first two hatched sometime last night
two hatched this morning between seven and nine

the first two were sometime around twenty four hours
between pip and hatch


there are five eggs with no signs of progress

here's the question

i have one egg that pipped before nine this morning
it's not doing anything and i'm having the most
miserable time sitting on my hands waiting

but i should just wait shouldn't i?

i don't want to risk the unhatched eggs
just to get the hatched ones into the brooder

i've read on the forum that the just hatched chicks
can be fine without eating for two, even three days
since hatching

is that correct?

it's hard to think my chicks aren't starving to death
the way they're carrying on

but i should just relax and wait, right?

right?

send in the voice of reason, please

 

[wthchristi]

Quote:
Voice of reason- relax and wait. Shipped chicks go 3 days without food and water. A day will not hurt, but it could hurt the baby trying to hatch.

 

[latebloomer]

thank you christi

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
First of all

I also ended up pulling the other chicks out, because the were just torturing the newly hatched chicks. Give those Marans some time. My last chick just finished zipping this morning. More than 48 hours since the first one hatched. To keep the humidity up I used a syringe (without the needle) to drop HOT water through the vent hole onto a sponge. If I hadn't done that my humidity would have been super low.

I also have to admit that I helped one chick that was have trouble zipping. he got it zipped but couldn't get through the rest of the membrane. He was at it for way to long. he is currently alive and doing very well.

Gosh, keep us posted on those eggs!

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
Congrats on those babies!!! And sit on those hands!! My first chick was in the incubator for over 24 hours, he was just fine. Remember that they have just absorbed the yolk and are pretty full the begin with.

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
How long since the silkies have hatched? maybe its just not that hungry yet? Or its just a plot to make be there all the time. Keep an eye on that baby, sounds like you are doing things right. Hows is the temp in your brooder? To hot, to cold? Maybe that could effect the chick being active enough to want to eat on its own.

 

[latebloomer]

thank you kathryn.

i confess, this one is called cinco,
it's the fifth one

what's that saying about counting your chicks?

 

[latebloomer]

i love my chicks

even the ones still in their shells