Ground Hog's Day Hatch

[TinaK]

I have some horrible news.

The power went out at my house yesterday at about 1:30pm. It will not be turned back on until later this afternoon... which means my incubator has been without heat & a fan for more than 24 hours. My poor little duck babies will all be dead

such a sad way for my first hatch to end.

 

[Dingo]

Anyway you could rig up a heat lamp for a temporary incubator? worth a shot..

 

[kellyn]

Quote: I am in the same situation!!! Mine has made very little progress all day and the others have hatched ... I might have to help it if I get home and it hasn't progressed!!!

A lot of y'all seem to have problems with chicks not gettin out. Over the years, I've help like A LOT of chicks out. Some live, some die. I have grown to notice the signs of an egg that needs help and is ready to come out. Good sighns: Chick has started zipping but has stopped and is stuck. It's usually ALWAYS ready to hatch. Chick makes what I call 'happy noises' when you talk to it, tap, or hold the egg. Like when you pick up a healthy chick from the brooder. Those sounds. Chick has DRY feathers sticking out nesr the hole and tries to struggle out. Egg has been piped over 12 hours. Peel a bit of shell of toward the bottom of the egg and poke several little holes into the membrane, if it bleeds quite a bit, leave it for 2 hours and come back to it later. Bad sighns: If the chick screams like it's in pain and doesn't make many sounds(no good sounds anyways) leave it. If there is a LOT of blood and the membrane is reeeeally squishy and doesn't look a bit dry, leave it and wait a few hours. If the chick sems really weak, leave it, it'll probably die. I can think up a few more sighns, because I've helped more often than not and I admittedly hve killed some, but I have saved many more that would've died anyways. It's always a gamble with helping chicks out of their eggs, but if u leave them it's an 80-90% chance they'll die. And also, if the chick doesn't absorb all of its yolk, 70% chance of death. If it lives long enough to dry off then put it in a secluded brooder and wait a few days. I had several(3) quail in december do that. About 15% of the yolk wasn't absorbed. They all lived. And I also had to help out a few too, bc my humidty was low and there was only a couple eggs in the bator so I could pay attention to what happened. 'Nother quick tip: if you have more than 12 eggs left in the bator, lay off unless you can constantly monitor it. You must always think what's best: the single bird, or the whole hatch? And as far as you know, he chick may not be stuck... it could be resting. hope I helped someone with this bit of info, for I have defied my grandmas tips on stay outta the bator. Only ONCE in my life have I done a 100% lockdown and it was for 2 days. I go by the win win, loose loose thing... or is it the ... no pain, no gain? Definately the second~! I apologize for the horrid spelling mistakes, bit I'm dead tired and have algebra homework... that I may or may not do... P.s! I've lost more NOT helping them than I have helping them. Whadda ya think momma hen does? The help their babes by steping on eggs and eating the shell off(I'm weird, I've seen a couple do it). P.s.s! If your a newb and can't tell the tell-tale signs, learn from practice and others' mistakes bc I had no one to tell me anything at all about incubation. My very first hatch I had 1 male duck hatch outta a double-stacked incubator in my closet. And I sat for 3 hours helping HIM out good-luck, and if anyone has issues there's 100,000 other byc-ers at your hand and foot~ use them!

 

[kellyn]

Anyway you could rig up a heat lamp for a temporary incubator? worth a shot..

That would work! I did it when I was 10 or 11 and hatched out 2 chicks! I used it full term, and durring the summer at that! TinaK, do NOT give up! Go read the valentines day hatch thread by RareBreedFancier and see what happened to her eggs. They got soaked, kicked around in the mud, and abandoned all within the span of like 2 days. She took em into her incubator and says that all 8 are good and a 'waving'. it's cool what eggs can handle~ and duck eggs are quite sturdy. But 24 hrs may be stretching it... So, I say don't give up...!

 

[HereInOz]

Really sorry to hear about your ducklings TinaK

I thought about stocking up on those 72-hour heat packs just in case we have the same thing happen here, seems our power goes out a lot in our neighborhood...but I never remember to pick any up when I'm out. Not sure they would be as warm as the incubator but seems worth a try.

Still no pips here, but I did catch an egg wobbling earlier. They'll probably wait till after I go to bed IF they hatch at all.

 

[kellyn]

Siiince everyone's eggs are just about done hatchin, would anyone care to join me for a Leap-Years hatch? Well, LY's eve? I'll be setting for my class project on Tuesday the 7th. Probably about 10:30 AM eastern coast time.

 

[kellyn]

Siiince everyone's eggs are just about done hatchin, would anyone care to join me for a Leap-Years hatch? Well, LY's eve? I'll be setting for my class project on Tuesday the 7th. Probably about 10:30 AM eastern coast time.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I have some horrible news.

The power went out at my house yesterday at about 1:30pm. It will not be turned back on until later this afternoon... which means my incubator has been without heat & a fan for more than 24 hours. My poor little duck babies will all be dead 

such a sad way for my first hatch to end.

Do not give up! Read about my eggies!

By rights these eggs should be dead but they are wriggling around in there like normal chicks. Your ducks will most likely be late but they could still be alive. Good luck!

 

[wolftracks]

I have a FBCM egg that has an external pip, but not an internal pip.

 

[wolftracks]

He's out. Makes him my birthday chick.