Hatching Ayam Cemani HELP!!

[32rrobison]

When I candle and there is an internal pip most of the time I will see some movement, occasionally I don't though and the chick is just resting but is ok.

Adding a small hole at the top of the air cell (a safety hole) is something I personally would do at this point since your egg is as late as it is (I've seen some who are really against it but I've had luck with it in the past). I'd also tap the egg to see if I could get a response from the chick inside (movement while candling or peeping to try to help confirm it's alive). If you aren't seeing any movement the little one may have run out of air after internally pipping and passed. I hope that is not the case though and you get another little one to hatch!

You were right, she was dead in her shell I wish I’d known about safety holes sooner.. I think that could have saved her. I’m really sad about it. After seeing no indication of movement or sound I decided to open up the egg and the chick was completely normal and looked like she would have been healthy if she hadn’t ran out of air. I’ll attach a picture so you can see. I started with 8 eggs, lost one 10 days in and another after it made the internal pip. This left me with only one chick, who is super small even for bantam sized babies. He seems to be doing okay though! He’s running around just fine and is eating and drinking, too! I ran to the hardware store and picked up two silkies that are about 2 weeks old to keep him company. They’re about twice his size but they were the smallest they had and they seem to be getting along just fine!

1st pic- DIS chick
2nd pic- Successful hatch
3rd pic- AC with two Silkies in brooder

The one who hatched has imprinted on me and peeps every time I leave him. He is seeming a lot happier now that I’ve gotten him a couple friends, but before that he was only happy when being held and liked to curl up in my hand and sleep.. poor baby!

 

[AmyJane725]

I know virtually nothing about hatching chicks, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I don't think you failed to save the one who didn't make it. The yolk sac on it is still decently sized. I don't think it ran out of air. I think it passed a little earlier in the process. (I could be totally wrong and it would have absorbed that much more yolk from the time it internally pipped to hatching, but that seems weird to me)

Either way, congratulations on hatching your first baby, and I'm sorry about the other one.

 

[LynnaePB]

I'm so sorry to hear your second little one didn't make it, sometimes even when you do everything right they don't hatch.

I agree with AmyJane725, I think it's likely the little one didn't die due to lack of air, I think even with a safety hole it probably wouldn't have made it. Back when I first started incubating shipped eggs I had a baby that I am almost positive died due to lack of air and its yolk was completely absorbed (it's the reason I got a lot more hands on during hatching and now I use safety holes in a lot of my shipped eggs or any egg that has been internally pipped for more than 24 hours). I recently had one pass that managed to internally pip and had a safety hole, its yolk was also not completely absorbed just like your baby, it came from a group that had a lot of shipping damage, I think sometimes they just don't make it even when you do everything you can to try to help.

Congratulations again on your surviving baby he/she is such a cutie! I'm glad you were able to find some other babies so the little one has company, he/she sounds like a sweetie! I have silkie chicks and mine do really well with smaller chicks, I've got 5 week olds in with 3 weeks olds right now and they get along wonderfully!

 

[32rrobison]

I'm so sorry to hear your second little one didn't make it, sometimes even when you do everything right they don't hatch.

I agree with AmyJane725, I think it's likely the little one didn't die due to lack of air, I think even with a safety hole it probably wouldn't have made it. Back when I first started incubating shipped eggs I had a baby that I am almost positive died due to lack of air and its yolk was completely absorbed (it's the reason I got a lot more hands on during hatching and now I use safety holes in a lot of my shipped eggs or any egg that has been internally pipped for more than 24 hours). I recently had one pass that managed to internally pip and had a safety hole, its yolk was also not completely absorbed just like your baby, it came from a group that had a lot of shipping damage, I think sometimes they just don't make it even when you do everything you can to try to help.

Congratulations again on your surviving baby he/she is such a cutie! I'm glad you were able to find some other babies so the little one has company, he/she sounds like a sweetie! I have silkie chicks and mine do really well with smaller chicks, I've got 5 week olds in with 3 weeks olds right now and they get along wonderfully!

I’m so glad to hear that the silkies were the right choice of friend! I’m also glad to know that there wasn’t a lot I could have done for the other chick.. I have been feeling so guilty about it and was crying over it last night! This was my first time ever incubating eggs and they were shipped from PA to UT so I’m betting that had a lot to do with the low hatch rate... only 12.5%! Hopefully I can get my hands on a few other Ayam Cemanis in the next year or so and then just incubate my own and not have to worry about shipping issues!

 

[LynnaePB]

I think you are definitely right about the shipping having a big influence on the lower hatch rate, PA to UT is a long way, getting anything to hatch is an accomplishment especially seeing as this is your first time incubating! Local eggs from a healthy flock are so much easier, I bet you'll have much better results when you are able to incubate non-shipped eggs.

Good luck finding some other Ayam Cemanis, and congratulations on successfully incubating for the first time! I'm really sorry you had to deal with the death of a little one, hatching can definitely be an emotional roller coaster!

 

[JadeFarms]

Yes, today one of my incubated eggs died. I don’t know how though. I was very sad. I know how it feels.

 

[32rrobison]

Yes, today one of my incubated eggs died. I don’t know how though. I was very sad. I know how it feels.

It’s so sad