***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[HeyBigRhondaq]

Here's my survivors! Two Barnevelders and a Speckled Sussex made it out of the incubator. I love fluffy butts!

 

[Firefly89]

Here's Matthew my sizzle, probably got some Cochin bit definitely has black skin, 5 toes and a bunch of fluff. I just adore him and hope I can find him a perfect home. He's wearing his special collar and tho he tries to pick at it sometimes he's handling it very well

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

Ugh. My late bloomer, a GLW, looks more like an early hatcher. Its yolk sac is still hanging from its vent, alive but weak. I'm watching it carefully, hoping it will just miraculously start acting normal. I gave it some vitamin drops and put food in there, but it's not strong enough to eat yet. Given that I had another egg pip a little early and two more hatch right on time, what could cause this? I'm thinking it can't be temps/humidity, so...Mail order? Heat prior to incubation? Breed? I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm more curious than anything.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Ugh. My late bloomer, a GLW, looks more like an early hatcher. Its yolk sac is still hanging from its vent, alive but weak. I'm watching it carefully, hoping it will just miraculously start acting normal. I gave it some vitamin drops and put food in there, but it's not strong enough to eat yet. Given that I had another egg pip a little early and two more hatch right on time, what could cause this? I'm thinking it can't be temps/humidity, so...Mail order? Heat prior to incubation? Breed? I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm more curious than anything.

Did you help it hatch or did it hatch on it's own?

Often unabsorbed yolk is caused by too high humidity.

It is often accompanied (or maybe caused, I'm not sure) by a yolk sac infection, so if it makes it you might run it on a two week course of a low antibiotic like tetracycline. I was actually doing some research and experienced poultry people recommend do NOT give unabsorbed yolk chicks anything to eat or drink until 2 days or until the yolk is absorbed, as the process of beginning digestion "switched off" the process of absorbing the yolk. I probably would have done as you did though with the vitamins.

Either way I would let him rest for a bit. Most of the time the yolk finishes absorbing without incidence, and occasionally I have a yolk sac that just shrivels up and when it is good and dry it falls off. If it is particularly long or getting pecked at I might snip it off but not too close to the body. If he is acting very weak even after resting for a few hours he probably won't make it. Sorry.

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

Did you help it hatch or did it hatch on it's own?

Often unabsorbed yolk is caused by too high humidity.

It is often accompanied (or maybe caused, I'm not sure) by a yolk sac infection, so if it makes it you might run it on a two week course of a low antibiotic like tetracycline.  I was actually doing some research and experienced poultry people recommend do NOT give unabsorbed yolk chicks anything to eat or drink until 2 days or until the yolk is absorbed, as the process of beginning digestion "switched off" the process of absorbing the yolk.  I probably would have done as you did though with the vitamins.

Either way I would let him rest for a bit.  Most of the time the yolk finishes absorbing without incidence, and occasionally I have a yolk sac that just shrivels up and when it is good and dry it falls off.  If it is particularly long or getting pecked at I might snip it off but not too close to the body.  If he is acting very weak even after resting for a few hours he probably won't make it.  Sorry.

It never had a chance to eat anything, died shortly after I posted.
I'm thinking it must have been an infection of some kind. I had one egg explode on day 7 or 8. Maybe that had something to do with it? Nope, didn't help it. That's why I thought was odd--last to hatch, but seemed sickly. I did a dry hatch until day 18, so I doubt it was humidity. Live and learn, I guess.

I have a Brinsea mini on its way...excited to see how it works.
FYI, all, Brinsea has a scratch and dent section on their website. Fully functional but less than perfect aesthetically--good discount.

 

[ashtree]

It never had a chance to eat anything, died shortly after I posted.
I'm thinking it must have been an infection of some kind. I had one egg explode on day 7 or 8. Maybe that had something to do with it? Nope, didn't help it. That's why I thought was odd--last to hatch, but seemed sickly. I did a dry hatch until day 18, so I doubt it was humidity. Live and learn, I guess.

I have a Brinsea mini on its way...excited to see how it works.
FYI, all, Brinsea has a scratch and dent section on their website. Fully functional but less than perfect aesthetically--good discount.

That's a bummer. So sorry I hope the others remain happy and healthy. Good info on the brinsea incubators. I'm getting sizzle eggs tomorrow for my first try incubating. I was gonna wait but my son discovered his sizzle is a rooster. he needs a sizzle to cheer him up! After this hatch I might get some SFH eggs from cathiesue. I'm so in love with these chicks! Let me know if you want some too!
About dry hatching; I'm planning to do this with mine and I know some people add some amount of water but the humidity has been reading a pretty steady 35% all day without water. Do you think any water is necessary until lockdown?
Edited to add: That's a general question for all you dry hatchers out there. Also I just checked and my humidity jumped to 42 so I opened the vent completely.

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: really? i need a link! i have a mini and i love it-

been trying to merge the younger generation to the main flock, my idea is to gradually shift to bantams, so the white cochin Snowflake is about there, the capon Mr T, after 2 rounds at corals is still a slip i think, but Galahad is ok with that and Mr T escorts Snowflake and my RIR Donna around, Galahad and Donna have never been friends- i guess he prefers blonds- anyway So it seems i have 2 subflocks, Galahad and his girls and Mr T and his girls- he gets the small ones-

 

[MrsDickey]

What do you use in your nest boxes? My girls are about ready to start laying and I went and bought some pine shaving flakes. I just wanted to make sure I got something that won't hurt them before I stick it in their coop.

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

@artsyrobin It's www.brinsea.com

I went with the mini to try and convince my husband that it actually makes a difference. Then I'll ask for a bigger Brinsea for Christmas. Mwahahaha!

@ashtree My basement stays a pretty steady 45-50%, so I'm not sure. I read somewhere that Oklahoma is a good place to try it. I'm still toying with my system to try and figure it all out before I start setting big sets of my own eggs (probably in the late fall/early spring).

 

[lonnyandrinda]

That's a bummer. So sorry

I hope the others remain happy and healthy. Good info on the brinsea incubators. I'm getting sizzle eggs tomorrow for my first try incubating. I was gonna wait but my son discovered his sizzle is a rooster.

he needs a sizzle to cheer him up! After this hatch I might get some SFH eggs from cathiesue. I'm so in love with these chicks! Let me know if you want some too!
About dry hatching; I'm planning to do this with mine and I know some people add some amount of water but the humidity has been reading a pretty steady 35% all day without water. Do you think any water is necessary until lockdown?
Edited to add: That's a general question for all you dry hatchers out there. Also I just checked and my humidity jumped to 42 so I opened the vent completely.

I dry hatch- it doesn't necessarily mean no water, but it can in a humid area like Oklahoma. I fill the water well about once a week, it runs dry about day 4-5. I make sure the night before the hatch is supposed to start that it is full again and I add a "wick" to increase the surface area for the duration of the hatch. In the winter I don't dry hatch though, I keep the wells dry but no wicks until lockdown. My wicks are cut sections of pads meant for a humidifier, caught them on a great clearance at Lowe's once. They are approx 5"x7" and sit on end so they stick up out of the water tray in my cabinet incubator. The wick up the water and increase the humidity by increasing the surface area of wetness.

Going by my multi weather thingy, I'm running about 20-30 percent humidity during the incubation and 45-55 humidity during the hatch. That is WAY lower than recommended for standard hatching but it works GREAT for me with chicken eggs. It did not work with duck eggs though. I think they need higher humidity overall.

What do you use in your nest boxes? My girls are about ready to start laying and I went and bought some pine shaving flakes. I just wanted to make sure I got something that won't hurt them before I stick it in their coop.

Shavings are great. Sometimes I use shavings, sometimes straw, a few of my coops have carpet scraps or pieces of those rubbery kid's floor pads.