HELP BCM chick peeped too low...not moving or peeping now

[Chicky Tocks]

Chickiemomma! Here's my little BCM so far. The other isn't zipping yet, only pipped. My frizzle came out finally and what a loud peeper she is! I'm waiting for her to dry so my little BCM can have some company. Little BCM has been so good in spite of the fact that it's the only chick in the brooder for the moment. LOL this little stinker is no doubt a cockeral. So...do you have any blue/green egg layers? If you only get one, you can always breed for olive eggers.

 

[chickiemomma4]

Quote:
Hey! .....good job. I have the twin to your little BCM. I feel so sorry for her being by herself, but she is doing good. It doesn't look like the other 2 are going to hatch. We still have tomorrow.(day 23). I wonder why the tiny egg hatched and the hugh ones didn't/ Maybe she could turn in the egg better being so small. I do have 4 EE hens and a Roo. So if you cross them you get olive layers? COOL. I hope my Dorking hatch ok. Today is day 18 for them. I forgot the trick with the sponge in a bowl for humidity. I have been able to keep the humidity so much for controled. Before it was swinging wildly. Live and learn.

 

[Chef]

I have also had a couple of dud batches of picked up eggs from her. I ended up just buying some chicks and getting a couple good ones. It becomes much easier when you hatch your own eggs. Hatch rates jump WAY up.

Cracking up... why didnt you buy chicks since you were driving out here? Would have been a forsure thing. I have a golden cuckoo roo and a feather legged cuckoo hen from her too. Nice looking birds. Gonna start hatching eggs from them soon.

To tell you the truth when I hatch eggs from my own birds I dont do anything to the humidity the whole time. It ranges from 30 to 40 percent the and i get 80 to 100% hatch rates. It can just vary so much from place to place so its hard to say what causes the poor hatches. I can say for myself I dont expect any shipped eggs to hatch due to the handling during the trip. If they do your lucky

Chef

 

[cracking up]

Chef,

She didn't have any chicks available when I was there but I had seen on her auction site that she'll hatch for an extra $25.00. As I was leaving I got the feeling that was the way I should have gone. Lost so much sleep on these eggs and it sure would have been worth it to have her do it for me.

It's one of those 'live and learn' things and one of the reasons I love the people on this board. I've learned things that seem to make so much sense to me now but never would have thought of them on my own - or it would have taken years.

For now I still only have two very noisy little BCM's. Going to take them to the brooder soon, but not giving up on the others.
Thanks.

 

[chickiemomma4]

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Hey Cracked Up!

Thanks so much for the update. We may be on to something here. Seems interesting that the tiny eggs hatched and not the huge ones. Well I don't feel as bad now that I know you drove and got a low hatch. What is your thinking on why the tiny eggs hatched. Do you think maybe the shell is not a thick. I understand how you feel about the price. It looks like right now I have $75 chickie. Maybe we should do some investigation about the tiny ones hatching. Maybe that's a better way to get shipped or hatching eggs. So, do you think the tiny ones are from her pullets? I take it you live in California.

 

[cracking up]

Chickiemomma,
I'm just north of San Diego. Takes about an hour and a half. I figured it would be worth the drive to not have them stressed by shipping. She threw in the little eggs at the last minute, said they were pullet eggs, but fertile so they should hatch. Maybe the roo likes the young ones better. That doesn't really add up either since one of your big ones almost made it. I'm going to wait a couple more days to open mine up to see what went wrong. I don't have any more pips or anything. We'll see maybe they'll surprise us.

 

[chickiemomma4]

Quote:
Hey Cracked Up!

I am holding out with hope. One of the two I have left that were developing when I candled them is small. I am on day 23 now. What day are you on? I started a new post titled
"Survey.......All BCM hatching experts ........Show us what you've got" or something like that. I haven't had any comments yet. I told of my experience and yours about the tiny eggs (pullet eggs) being the ones that hatched and asked if anyone else had experienced that as well. Let's see if we can get the post going and see if others have the same experience. If so, I will be asking for the pullet eggs. There has to be something to it!

 

[cracking up]

Chickiemomma - I'm going to email you.

 

[Chef]

Quote:
That is very true. It is one of those live and learn things. I had chicks chirping in the eggs as well and they just never pipped. It is very frustrating listening and waiting to see a pip and it never happens

. This site REALLY does help with the chciken learning curve. I would pop a hole in the tops of the other eggs and see if there is any live ones left. I didnt do it with the eggs from her but I have done it with my own and was able to salvage a few more chicks. If you are gonna be out the money and eggs I think its worth a try. It really isn't that crazy once you have helped out a few babies. Just keep a small dish of warm water and q-tips and if you see blood use the q-tip to obsorb it. Slowly peel the shell from around the chick as if you were zipping for it and then moisten the membrane. It is just something that you need to do a few times then you will understand much like anything else.

As far as the pullet eggs I really dont think it has to do with the roo's liking them more or the shell being thinner. It is just a case of the eggs being viable. It could be that some of the eggs that she sold you were just sitting there for to long, and the pullet egg was the freshest one

The bigger the eggs the better. When you hatch pullet eggs your birds will most likely be on the small side.

If you need a couple more chicks from nice big eggs I may be able to help you out. I may have some eggs too. Just PM.

Chef

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Well...chickiemomma...it happened to me too. I had a baby pip in the small end of the egg and I lost it.

Last night right before bed DH and I were watching an egg literally popping around in the carton that I hatch them from. DH was concerned, but I told him that it was just the chick getting ready to hatch...moving into the air cell position to pip. First thing this morning he gets up and he's worried about this egg because it's not moving anymore. Finally I gave in to him and decided that I would pip it and I reached in the bator to get the egg. When I picked it up, I saw that the baby had pipped on the bottom of the egg and it was gone.

I still have four BCM eggs in the bator and I'm afraid that they're not going to hatch. I tapped each of them and no peeping. I candled them and there's no movement. I put them back and I'll hope for the best, but expect the worst.

So I have two beautiful BCM babies and one of the cutest, most sweetest faced frizzles I've ever seen. They're all a hoot and very friendly. I just wish I would have hatched more.