well it is day 23 and last night four more baby cochins hatched in the new incubator. I lost the one i tried to help and then one was just broke through the egg, just the beak sticking out, seemed ok at first but then started a gasping type of breathing. I kept my hands to myself, but it did not get its shell broken any further. It seemed to have a sticky substance on its beak and it was so tight in the shell , It was a smaller egg so maybe that was the problem. Another just hatched making a total eight alive and well. There are 10 more eggs, and one is pipping. So I guess so far that is not so bad. My cochins are standard size. I have12 adults of which 10 are hens and 2 roosters. I have white , buff , blue, and black with white on them, forget what their coloring is called. Do you believe i now have 5 hens sitting on eggs, but usually dont have much luck as something usually happens to them. Right now i have 6 cats that my dear neighbor left when they moved, all fixed and shots, but am afraid they will be buggers on any babies the moms may hatch. I am so tired of irresponsible pet owners. I havent been able to find the cats homes and the next step would be the spca or humane league. Really hate to take that on. thinking about trying to find her and tell her she needs to take them. We have many feral cats also. amish dont take advantage of some of the spay neuter programs and i seem to get them here also. with help from a wonderful lady that traps and takes them to fixed we hope there will be no kittens at my house. Does anyone else have cochin chickens? I just love them as they are so sweet and like to be with you when you are out and around. Guess if my babies make it through the next couple days they will do okay. I never had any luck with the incubators but this time i invested in an egg turner which may be why i have had a little luck this time. By the way have any of you heard of a problem called shrink wrap which it appears to fit the description of the peep i lost.
