JennieLamb
Chirping
- Aug 28, 2023
- 36
- 67
- 69
We just got started with chickens in late February early March here in PA we're up to 50 birds including two ducks and 12 turkeys! Raising them was no problem but recently we started incubating eggs and I didn't think there was much to it until we got our incubator and I started reading up on humidity and hatching conitions and problems and when to step in. We had 15 eggs in the incubator and unfortunately our first one was dead in the shell and her second one was shrink wrapped and the yolk burst so it didn't make it. Our third one pipped around 5:30 last night and was resting and I adjusted the humidty. At 1:30 this afternoon there was zero progress so i checked to see if it was still alive, by 2:30 I was concerned and had a gut feeling something wasn't right. Soooo lucky us, we have a steam shower, I fired it up, went into our bathroom, got tweezers, and filled the sink up with water just over 100 degrees and went to work after watching about 20 videos. I pulled away a large portion of shell with out damaging the outer membrane, moistened the mebrane and EXTREMELY carefully went to work separating the two. I know this is really risky because the inner membrane contains blood vessels and rupturing even one of them can cause the chick to bleed out very quickly. Somehow I seperated about 80% of the two, and left the rest on leaving what wound up being a cap on its tiny butt. When we got home the inner membrane and dried up and other than the little cap on its but it was completely hatched and 100% fine!!!!! I wanted this little baby to live so desperately and I'm just so thrilled that we could help her into this world! The humidity was a little high around 80% so I've been constantly trying to lower it down to at least 70 and I know I shouldn't open the incubator but I've had you to remove some of the humidity because she wasn't fluffing! Shes fine bow humidty is at 70% and Im shooting for 60% (I think thats correct?) Initially I was assuming that it would be one of our black sex links mixed with our Easter egger rooster, but after seeing the feathered feet.... I believe it's one of our white silkies mixed with our EER! She's pretty energetic a little wobbly and very vocal! But now I'm not sure what to do with this point I know what to do with her tomorrow but she's the first one to hatch so I don't know really how long to leave her in there for when to give her food and water, or what to do since the little baby is alone! And he advises appreciated I am brand new to all of this! We have one black sex link, two white silkies, two Peking ducks, one adopted Easter Egger rooster that's about a year and a half, 18 buff orpingtons five blue australorps, 4 cream leg bars, 4 guineas (they're seriously crazy)11 Bourbon Red turks, and 1 broad breasted bronze turk. 10 of them but the one we have left got sick and I found out it was choking on a piece of plastic and I kept it inside for observation after fixing it and when I came out the next day the rest of the flock had broken a piece of the enclosure and escaped and they never came back so now he is a pet and he gets along great with our dogs. 
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
