On day 20 of first hatching - have several questions

[gambelqueen]

What works extremely well for me is if you put a bowl of water and a sponge in the water near the eggs it raised my humidity to 60 from 23!!!!!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It's not theory, there is plenty of evidence. The blood vessels recede from the air cell down to the bottom, and finally up to the "umbilical cord".

The other part to this is that the "umbilical cord" is attached to the "navel", and just behind that are the intestines and yolk that were just pulled inside the abdomen. So rushing hatch or a naval injury is nearly always fatal, whether the chick rushes in first or accident or intervention moves things ahead of schedule.

The quote encapsulated terms are not biologically correct. They are just references to names we all know and the corresponding mammalian counterparts.

See...I knew what I was seeing. It was a theory to me because I hadn't yet done the research to confirm my suspicions....lol I do the same thing with "cord" and "navel" simply because even though I know the difference in mammal terminology, it's the easiest and most understood way to make the connection for those that do not. And it really gets my goat, (especially when I use quotes) when someone has to clarify that is not the proper use. Like duh...that's why it's in quotes.

 

[eblevens]

He just hatched on his own! It looks like he has a very small (pea sized) bit of the yolk sack still attached. Can he continue to absorb it outside of his shell? Do I need to do anything?

 

[WalnutHill]

My foray into incubating started out with a fifth grade Science Fair experiment back in the unenlightened mid '70s. I incubated eggs in a borrowed yellow and clear plastic spaceship shaped incubator that was heated with a light bulb. It only held three, and of course they had to be hand turned. Humidity? Thermometer? No way to measure, and no guidelines. But I gathered eggs from our RIRs (at great peril to my hands) and incubated them and broke them out each day.




Set 1, days 1, 2 and 3.
Set 2, days 4, 5, 6.
Set 3, days 7, 8, 9.
Set 4, days 10, 11, 12.
Set 5, days 13, 14, 15.
Set 6, days 16, 17, 18.
Set 7, days 19, 20, 21.
And one more set to cover days that had infertiles.

So that is a total of 84 days of incubation plus whatever it took for the extras, and 20 sacrificed chicks to be. For a fifth grader, that was a huge commitment, but the project was my idea.

Each egg was chilled, cracked out, albumen siphoned off, and yolk and embryo preserved in formaldehyde in small jars. Those were the days when you could buy formaldehyde over the pharmacy counter, and we had mercury balls in the science room. I drew little illustrations with text describing what was visible at that stage of incubation. It was very clinical, pure science, and very fascinating.

By the 20th egg, my compassion started to override my quest for knowledge. The chick was still alive and moving. I had to watch it die. But I am still VERY glad I did the experiment. It tempered me for some harder things in life.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

He just hatched on his own! It looks like he has a very small (pea sized) bit of the yolk sack still attached. Can he continue to absorb it outside of his shell? Do I need to do anything?

He can, as long as it doesn't rupture. I'd put a damp papertowel in the bottom of a mug and set him in it until it finishes absorbing. (Must be why he hadn't hatched yet...he knew he wasn't ready...lol

 

[WalnutHill]

He just hatched on his own! It looks like he has a very small (pea sized) bit of the yolk sack still attached. Can he continue to absorb it outside of his shell? Do I need to do anything?

Awesome! You shouldn't have to do a thing. He should be ready to take on the world!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

My foray into incubating started out with a fifth grade Science Fair experiment back in the unenlightened mid '70s. I incubated eggs in a borrowed yellow and clear plastic spaceship shaped incubator that was heated with a light bulb. It only held three, and of course they had to be hand turned. Humidity? Thermometer? No way to measure, and no guidelines. But I gathered eggs from our RIRs (at great peril to my hands) and incubated them and broke them out each day.

Set 1, days 1, 2 and 3.
Set 2, days 4, 5, 6.
Set 3, days 7, 8, 9.
Set 4, days 10, 11, 12.
Set 5, days 13, 14, 15.
Set 6, days 16, 17, 18.
Set 7, days 19, 20, 21.
And one more set to cover days that had infertiles.

So that is a total of 84 days of incubation plus whatever it took for the extras, and about 24 sacrificed chicks to be. For a fifth grader, that was a huge commitment, but the project was my idea.

Each egg was chilled, cracked out, albumen siphoned off, and yolk and embryo preserved in formaldehyde in small jars. Those were the days when you could buy formaldehyde over the pharmacy counter, and we had mercury balls in the science room. I drew little illustrations with text describing what was visible at that stage of incubation. It was very clinical, pure science, and very fascinating.

By the 20th egg, my compassion started to override my quest for knowledge. The chick was still alive and moving. I had to watch it die. But I am still VERY glad I did the experiment. It tempered me for some harder things in life.

That is...morbidly interesting. lol

 

[WalnutHill]

I really wanted to be a veterinarian. But instead I took a different path. Animals found me again.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This was my chick with the small unabsobed yolk sac. I put her in a coffee mug with a wet paper towel in the bottom, and she/he did manage to finish absobing the yolk, leaving a bit of dried membrane/cord that dried up and eventually came off.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I really wanted to be a veterinarian. But instead I took a different path. Animals found me again.

I did too, but I had sever allergies in my youth and the dr said I should find something else. Between that and my mother pointing out that you can't save them all and sometimes you'd have to put them down, I changed my mind.....lol