My Barnevelder chicks are hatching!!!

[CedarCluck]

Looks like a great hatch, how many did you end up hatching?

Don't worry too much about helping some hatch, everyone does things differently. I usually can't help myself either but I still get yelled at by my wife. I spent last year hatching out a few thousand button quail and out of each set of 400 or so eggs a few would need help. After about 2K eggs or so you know when to hold them and when to fold them. The quail eggs are so tiny you just kinda crunch them between your fingers to get them out. Larger fowl eggs are a lot easier to judge when you can help, and more importantly, when you should leave them alone. I think a lot of people help too soon, dooming the chick by breaking a blood vessel. If you wait till the membrane turns white without drying out, you can basically peel the egg off the little guys. A little distilled water goes a long way of increasing a chick chances of hatching. BUT......It is important to remember that 80% of the time a chick that needed help hatching has issues and should never have been hatched. Sad but true.

Anyway, I ordered some eggs from TLS too, they'll get set tomorrow.

C.J.

Well the chick that I had helped definitely is having issues. Is it possible for a chick to be special needs? lol. Yesterday she couldn't even move her head so I gave her water manually but she hasn't started eating yet so I am thinking of mixing some feed with water to give to her a little later, but she seems to be doing better today. She is able to move around somewhat and even came running towards me (well ran then flopped lol) when I opened the brooder. It was cute. Two of the ones that I didn't help hatch but were the last two both have splayed leg. I am treating them for it, and one of them is doing remarkably well and can already walk with the legs taped. The other one though is frustrating me because it wants to skip walking and go straight to running so it just like flings itself and then has the hardest time getting up lol. five of them went to their new home just a few minutes ago. Makes me sad because they were my babies but I did promise them to someone when I ordered the eggs so I knew it was coming.

 

[cvandermerwe]

Well the chick that I had helped definitely is having issues. Is it possible for a chick to be special needs? lol. Yesterday she couldn't even move her head so I gave her water manually but she hasn't started eating yet so I am thinking of mixing some feed with water to give to her a little later, but she seems to be doing better today. She is able to move around somewhat and even came running towards me (well ran then flopped lol) when I opened the brooder. It was cute. Two of the ones that I didn't help hatch but were the last two both have splayed leg. I am treating them for it, and one of them is doing remarkably well and can already walk with the legs taped. The other one though is frustrating me because it wants to skip walking and go straight to running so it just like flings itself and then has the hardest time getting up lol. five of them went to their new home just a few minutes ago. Makes me sad because they were my babies but I did promise them to someone when I ordered the eggs so I knew it was coming.

Yes, there is a good chance that a chick that couldn't complete the hatching on it's own may indeed have "special needs". That's a nice way of saying that you take a chance when you help them, a lot of times it doesn't work out the way you would want it to. Again, I'm not bashing you for helping, I do it lots of times, just can't help myself.

As far as splayed legs go, I can tell you what works for me (I know you didn't ask, but here goes). I have not "taped" a fowl's legs before, sounds like a PIA. Put your chicks on 1/4" hardware cloth, problem solves itself fairly quickly. An easy brooder setup is a clear plastic storage tote with the bottom cut out set on a 1/4" hardware cloth covered frame. Put the feeder on a paper towel on one side and scatter food for 2 to 3 days. Put the water on the other side. The chicks who have trouble with their legs will hang out on the wire, allowing them to get traction. The ones that can be fixed are usually fixed in a couple of days. Having the water over wire keeps it from soaking the paper towel. Put hardware cloth over the top and set your heat lamp on one half the tote. I have raised A LOT of chicks that way.

Hope that helps some...

C.J.