Not going as planned

[suchafunkymonkey]

Hi all.

This is my first hatch and its not going according to the book...

I put three eggs in the home-made incubator on 23rd August at 2pm. I've religiously turned them twice a day and the temperature is digitally controlled to be 38.1C. At Day 18 I stopped turning them and candled them for the very last time. 1 egg had a very energetic peep inside and the other two were too difficult to tell (had seen something on earlier days).

Day 21 came and went with nothing.
Day 22 and two of the eggs moved a bit when I talked to them

and one of the started to roll around a bit, this lasted for an hour and then nothing.
Day 23 now and no pips or movement. I thought I'd lost them all so I gently cracked the shell of the 3rd egg, which never moved or rolled on Day 22 and the peep inside is still alive, appears to be fully formed and is responding to gentle movement. So I left them all in the incubator. Have I doomed the 3rd chick?

I thought that after day 22 had past the chicks didn't stand much chance? On the 3rd chick I think I can see some of the yolk still alongside the chick - how much of that should still be visible?

How long should I leave them for?

 

[SkyWarrior]

Eggs will hatch out anywhere from early to 5 days later than 21 days. 21 is more guidelines than an actual rule. The temps might have been lower or you just may have a late hatch.

As for the chick: Hmm, I guess it depends. Depends how much you cracked the egg. It takes a while for the yolk to be absorbed into the chick while it is hatching. The yolk gets absorbed in the last day so the chick has nourishment when out of the shell for a few days. At this point, the damage is done and you're not going to fix it, so just wait and see. The main issue is shrink wrapping, so keep the humidity up.

Good luck.

 

[suchafunkymonkey]

Well 10 hours later and the chick is still with us. The membrane around it doesn't seem to be shrinking and its fairly active (moving its head etc). I've increased the humidity in the incubator.

No movement at all today from the other two. Is it normal to have loads of movement for about an hour one day and then nothing at all the next day?

 

[CluckCluck18]

I just wanted to say hang in there. I just completed my first hatch and it is so stressful and from what I gather rarely goes as planned. I started with 34 eggs.....many were duds, several exploded, thankfully out of the bator and I accidentally killed a perfectly viable chick with a teeny, tiny heartbeat on day 10! Only wound up hatching 4 and two of those died. It's a challenge but also a miracle of nature.....so keep trying. I'll pray for your little chickie.

 

[pete55]

Have you recovered the hole in the egg to preserve moisture. before hatching all of the yolk and blood vessels must be receeded into the abdomen before hatching. Have you left the membrane intact over the top of the chick or peeled it back?

Pete

 

[pete55]

I'll wait for your reply but in the meantime show you some examples of what to look for;

1. When the chick is ready to hatch you can moisten the membrane with warm (previously boiled) water - use a cotton bud. If you see active blood vessels its not ready to hatch. Tape the hole or 'cap' the egg to preserve moisture and recheck in 4-6 hours. The picture below shows a taped egg not ready to hatch and the second shows it a few hours later and all the vessels have gone. Intervention probably safe but apply 2nd check below before easing the membrane back.

2. When an egg is hatching or ready to hatch all the yolk and blood vessels will have receeded into the abdomen. If you shine a pen torch into the air cell end then it will illuminate the contents. This parrot egg is in the process of rotation - unzipping. It shows a hollow appearence and no blood vessels - it would be safe to intervene.

 

[suchafunkymonkey]

I've covered the whole egg with a damp piece of cloth (boiled and cooled water) from a first aid kit. I didn't pierce the membrane at all. Quite a large amount of shell was removed and then the white layer peeled back - that was when the chick moved and I realised it was still alive and I'd had no signs up until this point.

The blood vessels and yolk are still outside of the abdomen, but judging by the size it can't be much longer for this to happen as there wouldn't be any room left in the egg for it to grow.

How long does it take the yolk etc to be drawn up in to the abdomen?

I only started with 4 eggs. 1 Was a dud, 2 have gone quiet on me and I've done all the damage to the other one

 

[pete55]

It usually takes about 36 hours as it starts to withdraw from internal pipping. By the sounds of it the chick has access to oxygen and you must wait until the yolk absorbs. If it gets too dry the yolk will fail to be fully withdrawn so keep the egg taped as above to preserve some moisture.

Good luck

Pete

 

[suchafunkymonkey]

I've took the cloth off as it was starting to dry out and the chick has enough problems without a dry cloth getting stuck to it.

There's too much shell gone to cover up a hole with tape. It's made it this far, hopefully it can make it all the way.

 

[suchafunkymonkey]

The chick with the cracked egg died at some point during the night.

The other 2 eggs still haven't moved since Wednesday night and no sounds or sign of pipping yet and its Day 24.