International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[TheBajan]

Hows it going with the hatch?

Two babies hatched this morning starting at 2:30am Eastern time (about 4 1/2 hours ago). 8 more have external pips. Keep those fingers crossed!

 

[TheBajan]

So I have good news, bad news, and a question. Let's start with the good news... right now I have 7 hatched and doing fine. 6 more have externally pipped. Here are a couple of pics.

Now for the bad news. I dropped an egg last night and it cracked. It began leaking very watery yolk everywhere. I cleaned it, candled it and put it back but judging by the watery consistency, I think it was already DIS. Either way, it's showing no signs of life.

And now the question.... the egg I've been most concerned about is #3. You can see it in the picture next to the chick at the front. This is my largest egg with an original weight of 76g and only 7% weight loss. Before lock-down I drew the air sac so I could keep an eye on everyone's pipping action. When I candled it today, I could no longer see the air sac at all but I could feel movement. I got concerned that it was going to drown and decided to give it a tiny air vent in the area I had drawn the air sac. You can see that in the picture. Jump ahead to just now. I have a new picture of it's current status. It's clearly not yet ready to hatch but it appears to have completely filled the shell and the membrane is pulling away from the shell (shrink-wrapping). I am able to peak down between the membrane and the side of the shell and I can see the beak so I know it's getting air. My question is, what am I looking at? It's clearly a malpositioned chick and it's clearly being shrink-wrapped. What part of the chick am i seeing in this view? I know it's not ready to hatch so I'm just going to keep the membrane moist and try to keep other chicks from disturbing it but I also know it's going to need my assistance. Thought?

 

[marchick]

So I have good news, bad news, and a question. Let's start with the good news... right now I have 7 hatched and doing fine. 6 more have externally pipped. Here are a couple of pics.
View attachment 2277422View attachment 2277423

Now for the bad news. I dropped an egg last night and it cracked. It began leaking very watery yolk everywhere. I cleaned it, candled it and put it back but judging by the watery consistency, I think it was already DIS. Either way, it's showing no signs of life.

And now the question.... the egg I've been most concerned about is #3. You can see it in the picture next to the chick at the front. This is my largest egg with an original weight of 76g and only 7% weight loss. Before lock-down I drew the air sac so I could keep an eye on everyone's pipping action. When I candled it today, I could no longer see the air sac at all but I could feel movement. I got concerned that it was going to drown and decided to give it a tiny air vent in the area I had drawn the air sac. You can see that in the picture. Jump ahead to just now. I have a new picture of it's current status. It's clearly not yet ready to hatch but it appears to have completely filled the shell and the membrane is pulling away from the shell (shrink-wrapping). I am able to peak down between the membrane and the side of the shell and I can see the beak so I know it's getting air. My question is, what am I looking at? It's clearly a malpositioned chick and it's clearly being shrink-wrapped. What part of the chick am i seeing in this view? I know it's not ready to hatch so I'm just going to keep the membrane moist and try to keep other chicks from disturbing it but I also know it's going to need my assistance. Thought?
View attachment 2277426

It will dry out and isn't ready. If drying I would gently moisten it carefully so it doesn't bleed. I have seen people that have dropped a egg and use scotch tap to mostly cover the hole to keep some of the air out. To keep it from drying while the chick builds strength and absorbs egg yolk and blood vessels. Next time I would not help. I know it's hard but the eggs that hatch show they are healthy. It needs time now.

 

[marchick]

So I have good news, bad news, and a question. Let's start with the good news... right now I have 7 hatched and doing fine. 6 more have externally pipped. Here are a couple of pics.
View attachment 2277422View attachment 2277423

Now for the bad news. I dropped an egg last night and it cracked. It began leaking very watery yolk everywhere. I cleaned it, candled it and put it back but judging by the watery consistency, I think it was already DIS. Either way, it's showing no signs of life.

And now the question.... the egg I've been most concerned about is #3. You can see it in the picture next to the chick at the front. This is my largest egg with an original weight of 76g and only 7% weight loss. Before lock-down I drew the air sac so I could keep an eye on everyone's pipping action. When I candled it today, I could no longer see the air sac at all but I could feel movement. I got concerned that it was going to drown and decided to give it a tiny air vent in the area I had drawn the air sac. You can see that in the picture. Jump ahead to just now. I have a new picture of it's current status. It's clearly not yet ready to hatch but it appears to have completely filled the shell and the membrane is pulling away from the shell (shrink-wrapping). I am able to peak down between the membrane and the side of the shell and I can see the beak so I know it's getting air. My question is, what am I looking at? It's clearly a malpositioned chick and it's clearly being shrink-wrapped. What part of the chick am i seeing in this view? I know it's not ready to hatch so I'm just going to keep the membrane moist and try to keep other chicks from disturbing it but I also know it's going to need my assistance. Thought?
View attachment 2277426

How is the one chick in the egg doing? How is the rest if the hatch going. Look up on BYC helping egg hatch. I think there are videos. Praying it goes well!

 

[TheBajan]

How is the one chick in the egg doing? How is the rest if the hatch going. Look up on BYC helping egg hatch. I think there are videos. Praying it goes well!

Thank you for asking. Right now there are 12 hatched, one more external pip, 3 more I believe are viable but no pipping, and then the one that I'm assisting. It's doing fine. The beak is visible now and it's doing a lot of chirping. It's just filled the entire shell and I'm very slowly peeling back the membrane. It's still not completely absorbed the veins so when I see any bleeding I stop, moisten it with coconut oil and wait again. It's about 1/3 exposed now but not ready yet and I'm removing enough to keep the membrane from sticking to her but not so much that it has enough wiggle room to hatch too soon.
Keep those prayers coming. I really want to save this baby!

 

[marchick]

Thank you for asking. Right now there are 12 hatched, one more external pip, 3 more I believe are viable but no pipping, and then the one that I'm assisting. It's doing fine. The beak is visible now and it's doing a lot of chirping. It's just filled the entire shell and I'm very slowly peeling back the membrane. It's still not completely absorbed the veins so when I see any bleeding I stop, moisten it with coconut oil and wait again. It's about 1/3 exposed now but not ready yet and I'm removing enough to keep the membrane from sticking to her but not so much that it has enough wiggle room to hatch too soon.
Keep those prayers coming. I really want to save this baby!

Prayers going up! Congratulations on the 12 hatched and 3 pipped. That's awsome!

 

[TheBajan]

Hatch is finished. I managed to save the little one that needed assistance. Unfortunatey, the last one that pipped was not so lucky. I could hear chirping and decided to wait rather than assist. It ran out of oxygen and didn't make it. That breaks my heart. To know it was close enough to hatch and I didn't help is just devastating to me. So we have 14 healthy little ones. The one I assisted is still drying off but fully absorbed the yolk. Rough journey for it but she's going to be fine.

 

[Punkybrewster]

I just cant believe you did that well with shipped eggs. Bravo to you!

My last hatch with bcm eggs shipped from 2 hours away only one hatched. My laziness of not driving to get them.

Im from the north where its a bit less humid. Now that i live in the south i think i will have to plan my hatches for fall, winter, spring. Its just constantly humid in south carolina. I cant get the humidity down enough and its killing them all. At least thats my theory...

 

[marchick]

Hatch is finished. I managed to save the little one that needed assistance. Unfortunatey, the last one that pipped was not so lucky. I could hear chirping and decided to wait rather than assist. It ran out of oxygen and didn't make it. That breaks my heart. To know it was close enough to hatch and I didn't help is just devastating to me. So we have 14 healthy little ones. The one I assisted is still drying off but fully absorbed the yolk. Rough journey for it but she's going to be fine.

So sorry you lost the one. I use to help them but chicks that don't hatch there is usually something wrong with them and you definitely don't want to breed that forward. Unless it is from shrink wrapping or something I did to cause them to not be able to hatch.

 

[TheBajan]

So sorry you lost the one. I use to help them but chicks that don't hatch there is usually something wrong with them and you definitely don't want to breed that forward. Unless it is from shrink wrapping or something I did to cause them to not be able to hatch.

I understand that line of thinking. I can't say I'm that person though. I used to breed dogs and I can't tell you how many puppies I have literally brought back to life. Not one of those puppies suffered a life of low quality or was hampered because it survived with assistance. I feel a strong sense of responsibility for these little lives that we choose to [UN-naturally] bring into the world. If we are going to leave it up to nature then so be it. If we are going to intervene [ie artificially incubate] then we have already chosen to take on a responsibility to that life from beginning to end.
The chick I lost is a good example. I had been listening to it chirping so I knew it could breath. At the same time, I was still helping the other chick out of her shell and running on no sleep for the past 30 hours. So once I got the first chick safely hatched, I checked for chirping on the last chick and decided to just take a two hour nap. In the meantime, the chick ran out of air, unable to externally pip due to the fact it was another huge chick with no room to move. That was it's only weakness. When I got up I knew before I even picked it up that it was too late. She was a fully formed, yolk absorbed, properly positioned chick that simply didn't have enough room to zip. I feel terrible for letting her down. My gut instinct had told me to open her up and see where the beak was and I didn't do it. It's that balancing act between being patient and knowing when to step in. I'm still learning.
Thank you so much for your condolences... and for you advice. It's truly much appreciated.