HALLOWEEN HATCH!!! Anyone

[Freckle Face Farm]

more babies

 

[srsmith69]

Second pip. And I thought the waiting for the last 19 days Was bad.

 

[Suechick]

We have a baby! It is crazy active! It hasn't stopped to rest at all in 1/2 an hour.
And 6 pips, one of the pips hasn't progressed in 10 hours and I think I should help it.

 

[neferset]

I think I have the night off. I have 7 eggs left. 4 are on day 21 today. 3 bantams are due on Halloween. No pips tonight.

 

[evonne]

Quote:
Hang in there. Some are early, some are late. Some just refuse to hatch on day 21 like they are supposed to. Don't they read the chicken websites and books?

Two of my baby bantams went to their new home tonight. Their job is to be companions to a baby chick who hatched all alone, then they get to be pets. I am pleased with that. Hey, they are the first chickens to ever leave our farm.

you guys just forgot to hang your eviction notice... i gave mine their notice and they were out kust like they were sposed to be...

 

[mayapooh]

Congrats on the new bebe, Sue!

Congrats on your first babies going out into the world, Nef!

Yeah, I know, no pics yet. Bad me...

My camera's been malfunctioning some of the time, and I can't upload what pics I did get because I need to upgrade my photo account first and I just haven't had a chance yet - been crazy today!

So, I just got my fourth baby - popped out as I watched.

However, I have a baby wrong way 'round that just pipped. I opened up the pip a little bit so she can breathe, but I don't think she'll be able to do it by herself - it's pretty close to the small end of the egg. I gotta prep my area a bit and then ....

Any words of advice before I go? I have successfully helped out one baby before, but it's still nervewracking, and I haven't exactly had the calmest couple of days with the little ones...

evonne - LOL @ eviction. Too cute.

 

[neferset]

Quote:
Oh, hey, look at that. Famous last words or some such.

I have a pip. Right through the eye of the little ghosty I drew in pencil on his shell.

Edit: This is a Halloween egg that I set on the 10th. One of the actual 3 Halloween eggs. He doesn't have a calendar either.

 

[neferset]

Quote:
Our puppy, Loki, was out there with me when they went away. He seemed slightly down and very quiet. It took me a minute to realize what was wrong. I took him to the brooder and held him up so he could see the rest of the chicks. He's better now. I guess they're his chicks???

Quote:
If I'm not too late, what I did with Murphy...

I took a pair of blunt tweezers and chipped just the egg shell slowly from the pip hole to the air cell, then I carefully uncovered the air cell. I did this more quickly than is recommended but taking a lot of care to only chip shell and not membrane. (If you nick the membrane, it will bleed at this point, most likely.) Carefully wet the membrane as I went also.

Then I widened the pip in the membrane a little more (minding the blood vessels) and set him back into the incubator. I am incubating in egg cartons, but rather than putting him big end up, I carefully set him on his side with the uncovered strip pointing up.

I checked him every hour to see if the blood vessels had stopped. Once they did, I chipped away the whole side of the shell near his beak and slowly peeled back the membrane (keeping it wet to keep it from sticking to him). He was huge and had no yolk left, but he still had a connection to the egg shell. I avoided it that connection totally while revealing him. Then I carefully untucked his head from under his wing.

Then I put him back in the incubator (still on the half shell

) to rest. This morning when I got up, he was fluffy and bouncing around the incubator.

 

[mayapooh]

Thanks for replying.

The pip is about two thirds of the way down the long axis of the shell from the big end, so I'm thinking if I just zip around the shell and widen the opening, she might be able to pop out herself. I haven't done much yet - started a small (about 3/8"long) zip and put her back in the 'bator to warm. My room is a bit chilly, so I'm doing my work on a heating pad. I'm using needle nosed jeweler's pliers (couldn't find my tweezies), and they are working surprisingly well. I'm open to suggestions, though - I'm afraid of going too fast or too wrong and messing this up.

While I had the 'bator open earlier, I quickly candled the remaining eggs - saw little bits of movement in a couple aircells, and one was peeping.

Edit: Awww... forgot to mention how sweet of Loki to notice. My cats, once they realized that they aren't going to get to play with this batch of chicks either, are pretty much ignoring the proceedings.

 

[Suechick]

Good luck mayapooh