JUNE - JULY HATCH-ALONG!!!!!!!

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

When it’s not zipped all around but yet I can see the bird and hear it chirp, I just want to help SO bad!! I can’t guarentee that I won’t help create a full zip.

Looks good! Patience...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

This is day 27 for the guinea nest eggs. No sign yet of keets, though Concord, the hen that is usually closest to the camera, as in today’s pic, insisted on joining the much more dominant girls at the oldest part of the nest. She got pecked for her troubles (guinea cam!) but persisted. So, I’m wondering if she heard peeps from internal pips and wants to be near the action? Or maybe she is just sick of my camera! A little blue light comes on when I access it (why didn’t I cover that up?), and all of the guineas stare fixedly at it, even in the middle of the night! I could see today that an egg broke on the nest and stained other eggs with yolk. One of the guineas actually picked broken egg pieces up in her beak and flew out of the nest, taking it about 50 ft away and dropping it in tall weeds! Wish I could clean in there!!!

Did a final candle of incubator guinea eggs. I’m thinking now that the eggs are of different stages of development. We are on Day 22 of incubation, but several look quite different, with no liquid and with large air cells that look like they’ve drawn down and are oddly saddle shaped (odd because these weren’t shipped), like #1&2. The others have more liquid and sonseem younger, like #3-5, but #5 looks like the beak may be protruding into the air cell! Also weird to have the eggs in this upright turner all of this time, and now to lay them on their sides!

 

[Rockporters]

Well, things aren’t off to a good start here. 6 or 7 hours after pipping externally, the egg looked like it zipped internally, but not through the exterior shell. The chick sounded distressed and had quit. Despite swearing off helping...

Long story short... it seems to have been ready to hatch. Veins were good. Yolk sack was good. I helped the chick out most of the way. It was really weak and still can’t hold its head up for long. I gave it nutridrench and now it’s resting. It’s doing a lot better, and it does try often to get up.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Well, things aren’t off to a good start here. 6 or 7 hours after pipping externally, the egg looked like it zipped internally, but not through the exterior shell. The chick sounded distressed and had quit. Despite swearing off helping...

Long story short... it seems to have been ready to hatch. Veins were good. Yolk sack was good. I helped the chick out most of the way. It was really weak and still can’t hold its head up for long. I gave it nutridrench and now it’s resting. It’s doing a lot better, and it does try often to get up.

View attachment 1837396

Awww, poor little one! Good thing that you were up to save it!!!

 

[AquaDuck]

Well, things aren’t off to a good start here. 6 or 7 hours after pipping externally, the egg looked like it zipped internally, but not through the exterior shell. The chick sounded distressed and had quit. Despite swearing off helping...

Long story short... it seems to have been ready to hatch. Veins were good. Yolk sack was good. I helped the chick out most of the way. It was really weak and still can’t hold its head up for long. I gave it nutridrench and now it’s resting. It’s doing a lot better, and it does try often to get up.

View attachment 1837396

Did you check to see how it was sitting in the egg before it got out? It was probably malpositioned in such a way that he couldn't get enough thrust behind his head movements to break through the shell properly. Malpositions occurs more often in incubators than in nature, as a result of the artificial environment (too hot, too cold, too moist, too dry, not enough turning etc etc. So many factors can play in.) Meaning that the chick is healthy and good, just a little unfortunate. You did the right thing by helping.

Hope the little guy gets over his exhausting ordeal!

 

[Enigmius]

Hatched last night. I was patient and didn’t help.
I tried to place it a little while ago into the brooder with its other siblings, but they seemed to be kind of mean to it. Maybe because it can’t walk well yet? I put it back into the lockdown incubator until it can walk a bit better.

Ps I replaced the sponge with a new one. That one was looking nasty.

 

[Rockporters]

Did you check to see how it was sitting in the egg before it got out? It was probably malpositioned in such a way that he couldn't get enough thrust behind his head movements to break through the shell properly. Malpositions occurs more often in incubators than in nature, as a result of the artificial environment (too hot, too cold, too moist, too dry, not enough turning etc etc. So many factors can play in.) Meaning that the chick is healthy and good, just a little unfortunate. You did the right thing by helping.

Hope the little guy gets over his exhausting ordeal!

Yes, he was positioned badly in the shell. He couldn’t lift his head once out, but he did try to move. He got exhausted quickly. I let him rest for quite a while, but eventually, he quit trying to move. So, I started giving him nutri-drench water via dropper.

The big mistake I made is leaving him in the incubator as long as I did. I tried to raise the humidity before or during opening, but I am concerned about the other eggs. I eventually put him in the brooder, protected from the other chicks. I gave nutri-drench water every hour or two. This morning he ate a little watery mash too.

On the bright side, he’s doing MUCH better this morning. He is still wobbly, but he can hold up his head. He’s back in the incubator to cheer on the others and is doing well.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hatched last night. I was patient and didn’t help.
I tried to place it a little while ago into the brooder with its other siblings, but they seemed to be kind of mean to it. Maybe because it can’t walk well yet? I put it back into the lockdown incubator until it can walk a bit better.

Ps I replaced the sponge with a new one. That one was looking nasty.

Yeah, they are really coming along! You are having a great hatch!!! The Hatcher does get pretty gross, especially over a long time like this.... How many are left? Can you clean before setting more in the Hatcher?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Yes, he was positioned badly in the shell. He couldn’t lift his head once out, but he did try to move. He got exhausted quickly. I let him rest for quite a while, but eventually, he quit trying to move. So, I started giving him nutri-drench water via dropper.

The big mistake I made is leaving him in the incubator as long as I did. I tried to raise the humidity before or during opening, but I am concerned about the other eggs. I eventually put him in the brooder, protected from the other chicks. I gave nutri-drench water every hour or two. This morning he ate a little watery mash too.

On the bright side, he’s doing MUCH better this morning. He is still wobbly, but he can hold up his head. He’s back in the incubator to cheer on the others and is doing well.

Awesome that your chick is doing better!!!

 

[Enigmius]

Yeah, they are really coming along! You are having a great hatch!!! The Hatcher does get pretty gross, especially over a long time like this.... How many are left? Can you clean before setting more in the Hatcher?

With the live bird currently in the lockdown incubator I have four eggs. One dated 6/11/19 is externally zipping as we speak. One dated 6/12/19 is internally pipped. The other two dated 6/7/19 I think are quitters as they should of hatched somewhere around 7/5/19.. I really don't know when to pull those out.

In the regular incubator I have two more that are still kicking inside. They are dated 6/13/19 and 6/17/19.