Hands on hatching and help

[Laurel Meadows]

Ha! You made me laugh with the nose prints thing. I think I probably have a million too! So we are at day 21.5 here and a lot has gone on since last night. 2 of the shipped BLRWyandottes have hatched!!! WOOOOHOOOO! And they are hilarious. Thinking about calling them "Willy" and "Nilly". I've had a really sad thing happen though. The first little one to pip, pipped at the wrong end. I had such a terrible hatch last time, that I didn't want to open the bator because the other two had also pipped and were working pretty furiously. The upside down one is no longer doing anything and has been still since 3 am. So I am Totally second guessing myself. Should I have gone in and assisted the upside down pipper and risked a no hatch for the other two? Argh. The last hatch when I opened the incubator everything turned into one disaster. So . . . that is 3/10 of the shipped eggs that have pipped. 2/10 made it! Since early this morning I have had 3 more pips from the shipped eggs, but seems to be no progress since then. The two chicks that did hatch seem to have that yellow concretey stuff on them. They are only partly fluffy. Not wet, just like something is on them that won't let their down fluff. Help Please. Any advice appreciated! I have 3 hygrometers in and they are averaging around 69 right now. It had gone up to about 75 after both chicks hatched, but now seems to have settled back down. Should I really try to boost humidity right now to help the pippers? Or am I just being impatient and it may take quite a while for the other 3 pips to start zipping? The membranes from the two hatched chicks in the shells is really looking hard and crusty yellowish. Does that mean that all of the membranes on the ones that have pipped have turned hard now since it's taking a while and they can't get out anymore? BTW< I am hatching in a forced air styro bator.

Hi and sorry it took me so long to reply. My 2 youngest kids have been sick and I ended up getting it too

For your chicks with the dried residue, you can use a washcloth with warm water to remove it. If it's really stuck on, you'll need to get them pretty wet but keep the water plenty warm and get the chick back under heat quickly. Watch the nostrils as you clean the face and head. I actually had one this hatch that the eyes sealed shut! Congrats on your BLRW's!! I hope the others are making progress this morning. If membranes look dried and yellow or brown, you can wet them carefully with water on a q tip or can try applying a bit of triple antibiotic ointment with a q tip to the exposed membrane being VERY careful not to apply water or ointment around the nostrils. This should help keep the membranes from drying out further. Sometimes wrong end pippers hatch just fine on their own. I had 3 last week: 2 chicks hatched with no help needed, 1 needed help. They don't internally pip like a large end pip so when you see them at the wrong end, they seem to take longer to start zipping slower but that chick is actually just starting to breathe air and still needs time to rest and absorb the blood and yolk. Chicks that pip into the air cell normally have started this process before the external pip. I give them 24 hours after pipping (right or wrong end) before I think about intervening. Also, are your hygrometers calibrated? If not, your humidity readings could be off and you may be running lower than you think which might explain some of the drying issues going on.

The new eggs arrived today. A quick look at air cells today didn't show me much but I'll check the tonight when it's darker. From what I can see I didn't have any really horrible ones, but I'll know more later. I got the biggest kick out of the box....

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So, the last 48 hours the incubator has been pretty stable staying between 99.5-100 on both sides. I've kept the humidity up so the air cells on the silkies and Spitz look good and are evening out. The air cells on the greens aren't progressing, so in a couple days I will probably pull them and incubate them under the brooder's heat light for a couple days w/o internal humidity and see if I can get those to increase independantly and then stick them back in. Tonight will be the start of day 9. It appears that one of the Spitz is quitting on me. It's the first one collected, so it's the oldest one and was at day 10 when set. There are very few veins, the egg is more transparent. It still looked as though it was moving, but I don't suspect that it will be viable.

 

[JillZ]

How are they doing this morning?

HI! Doing great. Took 5 out of the incubator and into the brooder. Happily eating and drinking after giving them a bath to remove the "sticky". 4 of those 5 were from the shipped eggs! So that's great.

Started assisting this morning at 7 am for the very first pipper. It had been 36 or so hours at that point, so I made the decision to help. At the same time, took out the 5 hatched chicks, tossed in the sponge and grabbed the shells.

Okay. So would really like advice to make sure I'm giving my one chick the best chance I can give. Removed the egg in a warm, wet washcloth. While in the washcloth and under a heat lamp, started chipping at the shell with tweezers. Basically made almost a full zip. Carefully started peeling membrane until I ran into some very tiny veins that were still very red. So stopped at that point. Opened the pip area a little bit, not much there. Wrapped in a warm/wet paper towel (not covering the pip hole) and put back in the incubator.

He still doesn't seem to be progressing though. Still breathing and every once in awhile chirping, but not really pushing or trying to break the shell. Also, the inner membrane was not shrunk in and was still very moist. Actually even the outer white membrane was not hard or rubbery and not stuck down to the chick.

What would be my next step? And have I gone about this the right way so far?

Have 3 Copper Marans rocking and 1 pipping. I'm thinking that possibly 6/12 of the shipped eggs may be a fairly good result? Also, I feel that for me, having a "dry" hatch and then really boosting humidity on lockdown is probably the best approach. Especially with the fan going and so many ventilation holes. At 68 pct humidity, seems that they were really struggling, but at 80-83 on hatch they popped out pretty well. So weird that everyone's process is So different. Even with the exact same incubator and in the same general area of the country.

Excited!!!!!!!

 

[pipAchick]

Oopsies...upon cleaning out one of the brooders earlier I looked down& Realizied how silly life is at times. The irony,,,
Any idea how old a chick is when it can read?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

HI! Doing great. Took 5 out of the incubator and into the brooder. Happily eating and drinking after giving them a bath to remove the "sticky". 4 of those 5 were from the shipped eggs! So that's great.

Started assisting this morning at 7 am for the very first pipper. It had been 36 or so hours at that point, so I made the decision to help. At the same time, took out the 5 hatched chicks, tossed in the sponge and grabbed the shells.

Okay. So would really like advice to make sure I'm giving my one chick the best chance I can give. Removed the egg in a warm, wet washcloth. While in the washcloth and under a heat lamp, started chipping at the shell with tweezers. Basically made almost a full zip. Carefully started peeling membrane until I ran into some very tiny veins that were still very red. So stopped at that point. Opened the pip area a little bit, not much there. Wrapped in a warm/wet paper towel (not covering the pip hole) and put back in the incubator.

He still doesn't seem to be progressing though. Still breathing and every once in awhile chirping, but not really pushing or trying to break the shell. Also, the inner membrane was not shrunk in and was still very moist. Actually even the outer white membrane was not hard or rubbery and not stuck down to the chick.

What would be my next step? And have I gone about this the right way so far?

Have 3 Copper Marans rocking and 1 pipping. I'm thinking that possibly 6/12 of the shipped eggs may be a fairly good result? Also, I feel that for me, having a "dry" hatch and then really boosting humidity on lockdown is probably the best approach. Especially with the fan going and so many ventilation holes. At 68 pct humidity, seems that they were really struggling, but at 80-83 on hatch they popped out pretty well. So weird that everyone's process is So different. Even with the exact same incubator and in the same general area of the country.

Excited!!!!!!!

That's great news.

Sounds like you are on the right track. I usually give my assists 45 minutes to and hour and if they show no sign of progress I attempt to do a little more and just repeat this.
Every egg is different so, I think that accounts for a lot of the differences plus the hatcher's habits themselves will affect things.
I aim for 75% at hatch and it goes up to 85%+ once they start. It really is about finding what works for you-the hatcher.

 

[JillZ]

That's great news.

Sounds like you are on the right track. I usually give my assists 45 minutes to and hour and if they show no sign of progress I attempt to do a little more and just repeat this.
Every egg is different so, I think that accounts for a lot of the differences plus the hatcher's habits themselves will affect things.
I aim for 75% at hatch and it goes up to 85%+ once they start. It really is about finding what works for you-the hatcher.

He's HATCHING!!!!! Woot!!! So excited.

I'm glad to know that you hatch at a higher humidity. Gives me a little more confidence.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Oopsies...upon cleaning out one of the brooders earlier I looked down& Realizied how silly life is at times. The irony,,,
Any idea how old a chick is when it can read?

Most hatchers recommend against using newspaper in the brooders because it's easier for little feet to slip on newspaper and straddle or pull their tendon. But that is funny.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

He's HATCHING!!!!! Woot!!! So excited.

I'm glad to know that you hatch at a higher humidity. Gives me a little more confidence.

I don't believe that hatch humidity is too high unless there's condensation. From the first pip on, I am more comfortable with higher humidity than lower.

 

[Ravynscroft]

O man, I dunno what to do.  Just candled my Lyon Incubator and found that almost every one of the eggs inside appears to have big, thick blackish veins inside of them.  These are runner ducks and ancona ducks and the eggs are all a lil darker shelled than the first bunch of eggs I candled at this stage.  I took out 4 of the very worst looking ones and cracked the first open, only to find a developed chick kicking inside.  All the veins looked dark or disappeared in this one and I was sure it was a quitter.  I put 2 of the other back inside, even though one had very thick black veins inside at the bottom.  Couldn't find movement in many of them, but they are all 21 or 22 days along so they are pretty dark inside and tough to see movement.  Will healthy veins look really dark in darker shells?

Calm down and take a deep breath... was there any foul smell at all? If not, then I'd say not bacteria contamination... at day 21, they are 3/4 of the way done... they will look dark, and sometimes it looks yucky, but don't worry... if there is movement, then they are alive... I've had many I was sure were quitters that ended up hatching... so if the egg doesn't smell, just leave it in... the only ones that could explode are stinkers, so there's no harm in leaving a quitter in longer...
Oh, and as the 'ling gets bigger, so do the veins to move more blood... they might look off, but I'd just wait it out and see...

I will wait some time to try those then.  I am currently freaked out about all my eggs in my Lyon incubator.  I think I may have a bacteria outbreak.  Could that be from running the humidity too high the last couple days? 

Yeah, I'd wait on trying Calls for a bit... they're much more nerve wracking, lol...

Great job!!
Well said!
Your babies are beautiful!

Thanks! Must be why I keep hatching them!

 

[Sarkchick]

Adorable 'lings!!! 2 middle medium dark ones look blue... do you know what the parents looked like?

Ravyn, Cyndi has blue, chocolate, and fawn/white. They could be a mix of any of those. I now have a final total of 12 out of
21 shipped eggs. I'm very happy.