First timer UPDATE w/PICS! Two successful - pics in post #26

[Gypsylion]

Thanks SO much for that feedback... I gave him a small bit of water earlier but he didn't seem to like that at all. I'll see what I can do at this point. I suppose it's better for them to get some food, but they have enough yolk to sustain them for the first 36-48 hrs, yes?

 

[lilcrow]

Quote:
Yes, it's just nice if you can get them to start eating so they can begin to bulk up ASAP. Be aware there are chicks that just aren't going to make it, no matter what you do. It's not anything you did wrong, or anything like that, it's just the way things go. The fact that the chick isn't interested in drinking or eating is not a good sign, so I'm just trying to prepare you for what I fear is the inevitable. I'll send positive thoughts your way.

 

[Gypsylion]

Thanks!

He's doing ok today... still pretty weak, but standing on his own and even attempted to peck at some food when he saw his siblings doing that. The pecking action made him fall over most of the time tho. It's pitiful, and also adorable. I'm going to make a mash of some food and water right now and see if I can get him to eat some of that. Thanks for the encouragement!

In the meantime, still nothing from the rest of the eggs. 16 of them were definitely doing well when they went into lockdown, so I'm pretty bummed that something went awry during lockdown that kept them from hatching. :-/

 

[kathyinmo]

Remember they are absorbing the yolk the first 2 - 3 days for nutrition. Because of that, I wouldn't worry about trying to get him to eat. The first couple days they sleep alot; they are tired from all that hard work hatching! I worry more about getting them to drink, than eat. Honestly though, I don't even worry the first couple days, about nutrition.

Good luck!

 

[Gypsylion]

Little One is doing ok... about as strong today as my other 2 were by the end of their first day, so that's something. I've started to get him to eat a little, and drink a bit (though he gapes for a while after eating/drinking anything... maybe he just doesn't know how to swallow food yet?).

Thanks!

 

[Gypsylion]

Update: The little weak one didn't make it... I think he had some breathing issues, maybe resulting from inhaling fluids while stuck in the egg? Every time he would try to drink water or eat he would gasp for air for a while after.

In other news, the last egg that my gals had been incubating and kicked out of the nest is still alive! It was pretty dehydrated, so I've had to help it out of shell and membrane, but it's looking promising. Check this thread for details w/pics.

Thanks for the support everyone. The two fully successful hatches (so far) are both doing VERY well and they're adorable.

Silver and gold (self blue d'Uccle, hatched 15 May and americauna/d'Uccle mutt from my own flock, hatched 14 May):

And the 4 "Araucana" pullets (from Mt. Healthy - prob a mix of easter eggers) I got from the feed store when I went to get chick food in anticipation of my hatch. Who could resist? In hindsight I'm *really* glad I got them, if only to keep my other new babies company!

 

[Scifisarah]

What kind of chicken eggs did you get from Covered Bridge on ebay, and how many of them hatched? I am thinking about ordering some bantam cochin eggs from them.

 

[Cattitude]

Congratz on your new babies!

 

[Gypsylion]

Quote:
I got their bantam cochins as well. None of them hatched, though I only had 3/43 eggs hatch out of the first batch so I doubt it was an issue with their eggs... here was my breakdown:

Out of the first batch of 12 eggs I put in the incubator:
4 had no development at all
8 had some development... out of those, 7 made it to day 12, 5 to day 18, and 1 made it to hatching, sort of. It was the weak one I mentioned earlier in this thread that hatched with problems and eventually died.

Out of my 2nd batch I ordered from them (currently under some broodies) I also tossed 4 eggs that had no development after 7 days.

Note that they sent exactly 12 eggs each time.

Another thing to note from them is that while they have some good looking birds and great types to choose from, they may only have a single pair of each type so they won't have more than a few eggs of any one type ready to ship in a reasonable time frame. I requested birchen, barred, and brown-red, with gold-laced or buff columbian as backups and in the first shipment I received 3 birchen, 1 brown-red, 1-2 barred, 1 gold laced, and a few other types as filler. I don't have notes on the 2nd shipment, but I think I got 1-2 of each of the 3 of the types I wanted, with others as filler. That would be totally fine if hatching rates were 100% so you'd know that one egg was going to hatch, but with 50% on shipped eggs being the most you can reasonably hope for it really lowers the chances of getting even one chick from any of the types you want (It seems like they may have more lavenders, b/c those are the eggs they filled my 12 with both times). If I only wanted one type from them I might be upset to get no more than 1-2 of that type with a bunch of others, you know?

They're also hard to get a response from if you contact them... After my message with my color requests, I tried to ask how many I could get of each type and didn't get a response until after they had shipped my eggs.

So, yes they have gorgeous birds, and yes the fertility was decent (~60%), and yes they shipped them well and in a timely manner, and yes they're nice folks, but I feel like they need to be more clear about what they have to offer and esp because of that they need to be more on top of their communications with buyers.

How's that for a review?

 

[Gypsylion]

Quote:
Thanks!