First time hatching shipped eggs and I'm panicking

[dc3085]

Well, it's morning. I couldn't sleep properly and checked on them every couple of hours through the night. At about midnight, 2 chicks hatched within minutes of each other. By this morning another 3 are out. I opened the bator to rewet the sponges and had a quick look at what's happening with the others. Eight pips, but one was dead. No sign of movement or pipping from the other seven. But we'll see. I have to work today so I won't be able to hover over them.

It can take as much as 30 hours from pip to hatch so there is still plenty of hope.

 

[Lyrika]

Got home to 7 fluffy chicks, so they've gone into the brooder. 2 more have hatched since I got home. 6 are pipped, little beaks sticking out. I've put some damp paper towel under a couple of them as the membrane looked like it was drying out. 5 eggs still no pipping/movement.

I'll have to take some pictures of the fluffies. One of them is dark on top with a yellow tummy, would that be tuxedo?

 

[Lyrika]

Some pictures!





Tuxedo??

Another dark-coloured one has hatched now, and it looks like one more will be joining it soon.

 

[Lyrika]

5 more chicks into the brooder this morning, and 2 still drying off in the bator. The remaining pipped egg had died - I opened up the eggshell and it's little beak was deformed, so it wasn't able to pip/zip properly. The five remaining eggs I candled last night and they looked like they had died a few days ago - there was a dark lump on one side of the egg, no movement. I opened one to check and the chick wasn't developed fully.

So, final results
21 eggs into lockdown
14 hatched
2 died during hatch
5 died pre-hatch

Not too bad I think?

 

[ggschulz]

Not bad at all. I had Tibetan (British Range) chicks that came out with less yellow than that on the chest that have turned out to be Tuxedo, so I would say yes.

 

[Lyrika]

Awesome. Another one hatched out very similar. There's also a darker brown striped one, the normal yellow striped ones, and the plain yellow ones. Can't wait to see how they grow!

 

[LeenaB]

Were they shipped eggs? If so that seems like a good hatch rate.

Congrats on the new babies.

 

[Lyrika]

Yes they were. Originally I had 36, but 15 didn't make it to lockdown. Some were cracked from shipping, others were clear, some died during development - we had one day here where it got really hot and I wasn't home to keep an eye on things, so I think a few got fried. But considering everything they want through, including my inexperience, I am very happy with 14.

The chicks are doing well. One started to develop spraddle leg but I followed the instructions to make bandaid hobbles and he is doing better now. I am giving him another day bandaid-ed but I think he'll be fine. They are eating so much! I put them in with my other three chicks, who are just over a week older. The bigger ones are teaching the little ones how to do fun things like scratch food everywhere and flap wings. A cricket fell into the brooder last night and they all went crazy chasing it around trying to catch it - the biggest one eventually grabbed it and strutted around showing off his prize.

We also discovered some turtle eggs we have been incubating hatched yesterday. Lots of babies in our nursery now!