We had one chick hatch, with assistance, out of three eggs that went into lockdown. My humidity dropped to around 55 and upon opening the two that didn't hatch, I saw one had their yolk absorbed and the other one did not. They didn't even have an internal pip that I could see.
The chick that hatched, did so on day 22 but I could see that it needed help breaking through the membrane. So I made a large enough hole that it could stick its beak out of. I also noticed that the chick seemed a little sticky once it did hatch. I guess I should mention I did the dry incubation this time around and the egg carton. Out of four eggs that were fertilized, three made it to lockdown! I'm doing this again but I need to find a better way at keeping my humidity up. I should have used wet paper towels or sponges. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The hatched chick looks just like its blue silkie daddy. While the two that didn't make it, were yellow and looked like their red sexlink mom :-( I'm so sad that we lost the two but I'm going to learn from their loss and correct whatever problem there was.
Also, I feel bad for keeping the chick that did hatch without any other chick. I put a small stuffed animal in the brooder with it and it seems to be snuggling up with it.
Questions:
Why would the two chicks die so late in the game?
I noticed that the two chicks didn't have much liquid in the egg with them. One had the membrane hardened on it. Would this be due to low humidity or loosing to much liquid during incubation?
Pictures of our little fluffy butt coming soon
Should I find another chick for our newly hatched chick? Or will it be okay until we introduce it to the flock when old enough?
silkies :
