- May 27, 2013
- 5
- 0
- 7
I am new to hatching chicks. I put 35 eggs into the incubator, one was an obvious dud when candling on day 14. All week they have been gradually hatching. As of tonight there are 17 chicks hatched. (I read how to sex them - looking at their wing feathers: different length = female, same length = male...is this true? The first 9 were female, then 2 males hatched, then a female and then the rest male...I find it weird how that worked out)....
My main concern tonight was that, yesterday morning I had to help a chick hatch out of its egg that had been obviously struggling to hatch for 24+ (almost 48) hours. I had read somewhere that you shouldnt help them but after 24-48 hours of the chick sitting with just its beak sticking out of the egg and no further shell coming off (it was starting to breath faster and its chirps were getting quieter...I had lost another chick the day before with the same condition that I didnt help), I panicked and I chipped off a bit more of the shell in the attempt to relieve some pressure for the little guy so he could push himself the rest of the way out. The humidity level remained at 65% and when I returned to check on him again just a few hours later it looked like the membrane layer (sorry not sure what its called exactly) was plastered onto him. He had opened the egg up but the membrane was seemingly glued to his head. It wasnt dry and peeled away easy. I let him sit to dry in the incubator yesterday afternoon and all day today. Tonight I thought I could put him in the brooder with his siblings but, where the membrane was previously plastered, it looked like someone had put gel on the side of the chicks face (just behind the ear and the side of its neck actually) and it had dried (for lack of a better way to explain the small hard patch). He wasnt fully dry, the humidity was still 60-65% and he was making this slight clicking noise inside his body. No discharge from the eyes or nose had been seen. It is hard to say if he was acting normal or eating, drinking. My other chicks didnt start eating until they were out of the incubator for 24 hours and they were wobbly and were constantly falling asleep for just as long. I did take a warm damp cloth and wipe out as much goo from the side of its head as I could. I did leave it in the incubator in case it had something contagious though....My other chicks are very healthy and energetic...I do not want to risk their health.
Does anyone have any thoughts/comments about my clicking chick? If it isnt better in the morning, I do work at a veterinary hospital so I will bring it into work with me to see if the doctor has any ideas (unfortunately he doesnt specialize in poultry though)
Anyone else have females hatch and then males or is it just coincidental for me?
My main concern tonight was that, yesterday morning I had to help a chick hatch out of its egg that had been obviously struggling to hatch for 24+ (almost 48) hours. I had read somewhere that you shouldnt help them but after 24-48 hours of the chick sitting with just its beak sticking out of the egg and no further shell coming off (it was starting to breath faster and its chirps were getting quieter...I had lost another chick the day before with the same condition that I didnt help), I panicked and I chipped off a bit more of the shell in the attempt to relieve some pressure for the little guy so he could push himself the rest of the way out. The humidity level remained at 65% and when I returned to check on him again just a few hours later it looked like the membrane layer (sorry not sure what its called exactly) was plastered onto him. He had opened the egg up but the membrane was seemingly glued to his head. It wasnt dry and peeled away easy. I let him sit to dry in the incubator yesterday afternoon and all day today. Tonight I thought I could put him in the brooder with his siblings but, where the membrane was previously plastered, it looked like someone had put gel on the side of the chicks face (just behind the ear and the side of its neck actually) and it had dried (for lack of a better way to explain the small hard patch). He wasnt fully dry, the humidity was still 60-65% and he was making this slight clicking noise inside his body. No discharge from the eyes or nose had been seen. It is hard to say if he was acting normal or eating, drinking. My other chicks didnt start eating until they were out of the incubator for 24 hours and they were wobbly and were constantly falling asleep for just as long. I did take a warm damp cloth and wipe out as much goo from the side of its head as I could. I did leave it in the incubator in case it had something contagious though....My other chicks are very healthy and energetic...I do not want to risk their health.
Does anyone have any thoughts/comments about my clicking chick? If it isnt better in the morning, I do work at a veterinary hospital so I will bring it into work with me to see if the doctor has any ideas (unfortunately he doesnt specialize in poultry though)
Anyone else have females hatch and then males or is it just coincidental for me?
