November Hatch-A-Long (2014)

[Dcat]

Thank you everyone for the condolences, I knew his time was coming and I knew his poor old body was keeping him around but I don't believe he was very happy and he was getting worse quickly. I don't have any guilt but I do miss him already, even though he was sleeping 20 hours a day. He is in a much happier place now so I'm ok.

4 out of 5 eggs have hatched. The 5th one is malpositioned (sp?) but it did pip and it's still moving around here and there. I'm terrified to help it and I'm trying hard to leave it alone till tomorrow which is day 21. I wont to help it so bad but my daughters have threatened bodily harm to myself if I don't wait. I'm going to go read up on these guys that can't figure out the right side of the egg to pip on before I intervene. I am so happy with this hatch! The waiting was the hardest after they pipped and then just sat there for hours! UGH I'll get decent pics after they fluff up. This has been so much fun.

 

[ochochicas]

Out of 20 eggs I have 10 pipping in the incubator. No one seems to be zipping yet, and two of them pipped on the small end of the egg. The first one that pipped about 10 hours ago pipped at the wrong end and seems to be trying to pip the long way instead of around the end of the egg. Not much progress has been made over the last couple of hours and I think the chick is stuck.

 

[Happy Feathers]

I kinda think I'm OOL this time. (Out of luck) Only gave 4 eggs to my broody, one got broken, one disappeared and another got broken, leaving one. The other hens have been a little inconsiderate, stomping all over the broody and stealing her nest on her infrequent breaks. Her lone egg has been left to cool a couple of times, but she is still sitting on it. I'm not too unhappy since all are pullets and this is the first one to go broody, AND it is getting really cold. I love all the stories and photos, there is so much to learn from others.

Dcat, I'm so sorry for your loss. I had to go through the same thing earlier this year with my aged boxer, Lew.

 

[Antiquity]

Thank you everyone for the condolences, I knew his time was coming and I knew his poor old body was keeping him around but I don't believe he was very happy and he was getting worse quickly. I don't have any guilt but I do miss him already, even though he was sleeping 20 hours a day. He is in a much happier place now so I'm ok.

4 out of 5 eggs have hatched. The 5th one is malpositioned (sp?) but it did pip and it's still moving around here and there. I'm terrified to help it and I'm trying hard to leave it alone till tomorrow which is day 21. I wont to help it so bad but my daughters have threatened bodily harm to myself if I don't wait. I'm going to go read up on these guys that can't figure out the right side of the egg to pip on before I intervene. I am so happy with this hatch! The waiting was the hardest after they pipped and then just sat there for hours! UGH I'll get decent pics after they fluff up. This has been so much fun.

a hug for you and your doggy friend. I'm still thinking about him.

Grats on your eggs. I don't know how long the little guy has been pipped but once you feel like it's been a goodly long time enough for him to have tried on his own, don't be afraid to go in after him. I used this post to help me along in both of my assisted hatches:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

I followed the general guideline of 12 hours after pipping and after a spot of courage-by-text from @AmyLynn2374 dove right in. It helped that her chick had pipped close to when mine did and she assisted hers first, lol! Once I could see clearly that the veins were gone and the yolk was completely absorbed I eased her membrane open and she came right out, no trouble, no bleeding. Just go slowly at first and make sure the veins have been retracted before you get too crazy. Just remember there's really no such thing as too much time as long as it can breathe. Good luck and I hope your last little guy makes it out without any more complications.

Out of 20 eggs I have 10 pipping in the incubator. No one seems to be zipping yet, and two of them pipped on the small end of the egg. The first one that pipped about 10 hours ago pipped at the wrong end and seems to be trying to pip the long way instead of around the end of the egg. Not much progress has been made over the last couple of hours and I think the chick is stuck.

The one I had that pipped today also seemed to start out going longways around the egg instead of around the end. Once he set his mind to escaping the shell, though, he quickly sorted himself out and started going the customary way. Also he sat in the same position for nine hours before he decided to move his lazy butt and even make a second peck at it, so stay calm. Just keep track of the time and use your best judgement, you can do this.

As for the rest of you, GO TEAM!

 

[Rainier]

SO CUTE!!! I love Anconas so much!

My Anconas are due to hatch in 10 days... I can't wait to see what colors they will be. In my last hatch I got one that was mostly/all yellow.... his feathers are coming in Lilac!!

DD got them from @AuroraSprings , a member here. I asked DD what color they are and she doesn't know. I'm pretty sure one of them is black and white and hope the other one is too. I know she has black and white, chocolate, not sure about other colors.
Right now they are settled down and sleeping after hanging out in my jacket pocket

I'll have to take better pictures and post them later.

 

[Dcat]

OK, it's has been like 17 hours so I went in and picked some shell off, pulled the membrane and saw a touch of red so put it back and jacked the humidity back up to 70-75. Chick is strong just not quite ready. Although now I will be up until this little thing hatches. I think the reason for pipping the wrong end is the egg is more roundish than oblong, at least if I go by reading I did. Now I am back to staring in a box. sigh

 

[ochochicas]

Thanks Antiguity. The chick seemed to be gasping inside the egg, so I took it out and quickly/carefully removed some of the membrane and a bit of the egg shell. There is a nice big hole there now and the chick can get its beak out to breath. I have to say I cannot imagine how it is going to get itself out of the shell with the position it is in.

When I started incubating I made the decision to give the chicks ample time to get themselves out. Time for me to get some sleep and hopefully in the morning the little chick has figured things out. Humidity in the incubator is good so I think they are set for the night.

 

[Antiquity]

Good luck to both of you. I couldn't keep my hands off either and opened the two eggs that pipped internally this morning. I guess we're in this together, for better or worse. I'll be up late, too Dcat, if you need any support.

I'm also going to be testing various things to hydrate the internal membrane to see what works best. Luckily my husband works for a phamecutical company and we have tons and tons of samples of different type of eye drops and lubricants I can test. There's got to be some use for the darn things, right?

 

[Dcat]

Well I do think I took off too much shell, everything looked clear until I saw that little bit of red and don't want to trust trying any more. I don't have any neosporin or bacitracin without the pain killer but what about A and D ointment? Too thick? I'm jut worried about the area I removed shell. I love pharmecutical samples, especially over the counter stuff. That way you don't have to spend a bunch of money to buy something you only use once cuz it didn't work well for you. Hate that!
I had a feeling I should have left her alone, hopefully she'll hatch on her own before the kids wake up so they don't smack me around for interfering, her pip was so tiny though and I hadn't seen her move in hours! Makes me want to cuss. more. OK, I cuss like a sailor so I'd have to get into the ear bleeding stuff for myself. LOL

 

[Antiquity]

Well I do think I took off too much shell, everything looked clear until I saw that little bit of red and don't want to trust trying any more. I don't have any neosporin or bacitracin without the pain killer but what about A and D ointment? Too thick? I'm jut worried about the area I removed shell. I love pharmecutical samples, especially over the counter stuff. That way you don't have to spend a bunch of money to buy something you only use once cuz it didn't work well for you. Hate that!
I had a feeling I should have left her alone, hopefully she'll hatch on her own before the kids wake up so they don't smack me around for interfering, her pip was so tiny though and I hadn't seen her move in hours! Makes me want to cuss. more. OK, I cuss like a sailor so I'd have to get into the ear bleeding stuff for myself. LOL

I cuss a lot too. It's something I have to work very hard to avoid when I'm in strange company.

Anyway, I really have no idea about the ointment. They're your eggs, obviously and you're free to try it. I only decided on trying these eye drops after researching the main ingredient and finding that it's a common food additive, and used in dozens of other pharmaceutical applications.

When I intervened on the first hatch I made a "membrane bandage" to keep the egg moist. I used a small square of moist toilet paper and laid it over the exposed membrane. then I wrapped the hole with plastic wrap, leaving a decent sized breathing space. Then I wrapped a warm wet cloth on the outside, again with a breathing hole. I set my computer to wake me every hour to check on it. I really think I could have gotten by with just one waking period to check, as about halfway through the night I started setting the alarm for every two hours instead.

I'm sorry that your decision to intervene is making you uncomfortable. The best we can do it our best, though, right? Use your best judgement and good luck again. Ground the kids for something silly. Maybe they little procrastinator will make an appearance before they discover the hole.