Hands on hatching and help

[WVduckchick]

Ok....I'm done for the rest of the year. I checked the one and only living egg last night, and saw the baby pecking away, I'm guessing to try and pip internally. I could see the membrane moving with its bill. This morning, I checked on it, and no movement. Temps were at 99 to 100, humidity was at 60 m/l. Soooo, I started opening it up around the air cell, and noticed the membrane was white, and drawn in on the poor little thing, but not too far, he had room to move. A lot of goo around its nares, too.

With a white membrane, and goo around his nose, was it too much, or not enough humidity?

White membrane is what you want to see, if it still have wiggle room.
Goo still inside the egg at that point is either too high humidity, or delayed development.

 

[DKFarms]

Sigh... well at least the membrane was correctly colored. It was just alive and pecking away last night, too. Had to have suffocated, I guess. Sad day.

 

[ronott1]

Sigh... well at least the membrane was correctly colored. It was just alive and pecking away last night, too. Had to have suffocated, I guess. Sad day.

When that happens it is often for the best. There was likely something fatally wrong with the chick--now you will not have to cull

 

[CheekyChicky86]

Hi all,

I have read your amazing article on assisted hatching... i currently have 8 muscovy duck eggs... from what i can see (inexperienced here) some did not grow past a certain stage...

They were all set correctly on their sides turned 2 times each 24hr period AFTER thr first 48hrs. On dry incubation in a multiquip E1.

I weighed them and lettered them and drew around their air sacs.

As time went on i candled at day 8 and reweighed etc they all were veiny and tiny embryos going bar 1.(not fertile)

In their last week day 29 i candled them all some are completely black some are half n half and some of the embryos have stopped growing. And 1 or 2 looked promising..

Today is day 33.. they have been locked down for 2 days with high humidity.

1 of the oned that looked promising pipped internally yesterday... as i took a peek but it could have pipped earlier i have only snuck a quick look in lock down so see if any have progressed

I am planning to make a small hole in the internally pipped one if nothing happens tonight.. or should i wait till tomorrow?

I am not planning to rush and happy to listen to advice

Thanks

Kiz

 

[TheLongRun]

There are definitely precautions and I have my own set of guidelines as to when and what I will do to assist. My biggest philosophy is, "If you are comfortable with what you doing and it is working for you, your hatches are giving you what you want, then don't let anyone tell you that you are wrong or that you should change." Not everyone hatches the same and it's not about that. It's about results and if you are getting the results you want, don't let anyone make you feel bad about how you do it.

Love this thread... great topic, fascinating reading!

 

[TheLongRun]

I use a Hova Bator 1588 and swear by it. I am getting ready to buy a second one because I have become addicted to hatching. I can no longer wait the 21 days it takes for my chicks to hatch before I start a new batch. Haha! I have a bator full right now of BCM and 4 Polish that I threw in to test for fertility (didn't want to waste a fertile egg by cracking it right now cuz my girls are laying only a few a week - too cold!LOL! who can blame them?!).

I too use a "dry"method during incubation - right around 30% and then increase to at least 75% for hatching. Once I did this my hatch rate went from the 30%s to the 90%s. I also help out when needed. I have had many hatches that no one needed help, and then others where 2 or 3 did. I am a Firefighter/Paramedic/RN by trade. One of the first things that I learned as a paramedic was that you can't kill a dead person... what does that mean? If they are already dead, you really can't hurt them. So you do everything that you can to help them. The only place you have to go from there is up. In my opinion, helping a doomed chick is the same thing. If they are not going to be able to hatch on their own and they are going to die anyway, then what's the harm in helping?! Yes I know, maybe the chick was not meant to hatch, maybe it will be a weak bird, maybe it has lots of issues and will have to be culled in the end. Maybe. But maybe not. Sometimes they just get tired. Sometimes they get turned around. When I use to work as an RN I worked labor and delivery. We did C-sections all of the time. Some were scheduled. Some were emergent. Guess what... some of those babies would never have survived a vaginal delivery. And after a C-section, some were fine and some had problems.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if they are going to die anyway, why not give them every opportunity. If they turn out to be a weak bird, don't breed them. If they turn out to be special needs and you are not willing/not able to care for them - cull them later, then they are no worse off than before. But what if, just what if they turned out to be a strong healthy bird? What if they turned out to be your bird with the best personality? What if God put us there with our knowledge at that very minute to help that bird for a reason.

I too do not fault those who take a hands off approach. But I like Amy agree that those of us that CHOOSE TO HELP need a place we can help each other and others that also choose to help!

O-M-G! This is beautiful! Goose pimps! You should run for senator! ;-)

 

[bald Rooster]

Hi all,

I have read your amazing article on assisted hatching... i currently have 8 eggs... from what i can see (inexperienced here) some did not grow past a certain stage...

They were all set correctly on their sides turned 2 times each 24hr period AFTER thr first 48hrs. On dry incubation in a multiquip E1.

I weighed them and lettered them and drew around their air sacs.

As time went on i candled at day 8 and reweighed etc they all were veiny and tiny embryos going bar 1.(not fertile)

In their last week day 29 i candled them all some are completely black some are half n half and some of the embryos have stopped growing. And 1 or 2 looked promising..

Today is day 33.. they have been locked down for 2 days with high humidity.

1 of the oned that looked promising pipped internally yesterday... as i took a peek but it could have pipped earlier i have only snuck a quick look in lock down so see if any have progressed

I am planning to make a small hole in the internally pipped one if nothing happens tonight.. or should i wait till tomorrow?

I am not planning to rush and happy to listen to advice

Thanks

Kiz

What kind of eggs do you have. Chicken eggs hatch at or around day 21 Quail about day 23 Turkeys day 28.
If you have chicken eggs they are long past and most likely shrink wrapped . This is caused by to low of a humidity.

 

[CheekyChicky86]

What kind of eggs do you have. Chicken eggs hatch at or around day 21 Quail about day 23 Turkeys day 28.
If you have chicken eggs they are long past and most likely shrink wrapped . This is caused by to low of a humidity.

Oh silly me i am so sorry haha these are Muscovy ducks so take a while... lol oops probably should have stated that fact hahah

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh silly me i am so sorry haha these are Muscovy ducks so take a while... lol oops probably should have stated that fact hahah

Welcome! Hang in there. Muscovys do take a while! Good luck.
Let us know how it goes

 

[Pyxis]

Hi all,

I have read your amazing article on assisted hatching... i currently have 8 muscovy duck eggs... from what i can see (inexperienced here) some did not grow past a certain stage...

They were all set correctly on their sides turned 2 times each 24hr period AFTER thr first 48hrs. On dry incubation in a multiquip E1.

I weighed them and lettered them and drew around their air sacs.

As time went on i candled at day 8 and reweighed etc they all were veiny and tiny embryos going bar 1.(not fertile)

In their last week day 29 i candled them all some are completely black some are half n half and some of the embryos have stopped growing. And 1 or 2 looked promising..

Today is day 33.. they have been locked down for 2 days with high humidity.

1 of the oned that looked promising pipped internally yesterday... as i took a peek but it could have pipped earlier i have only snuck a quick look in lock down so see if any have progressed

I am planning to make a small hole in the internally pipped one if nothing happens tonight.. or should i wait till tomorrow?

I am not planning to rush and happy to listen to advice

Thanks

Kiz

If the one that internally pipped yesterday hasn't internally pipped by tonight, go ahead and make the safety hole like you planned