Ooops, I may have really screwed up.. but I couldnt let them just die.

[newduckie]

I have really made a mess of this hatch. First off, these eggs are ones that the goose ababndoned about two weeks in. I brought them in to the bator. I sort of forgot them and they were in with quail eggs so they didnt get the cool down every day like I did on previous hatches. I really was getting ready to throw them away and they started cheeping. Then after a day the cheeping got really weak. They were trying to get out but since the bator was opened alot with the quail hatch I figured they were shrink wrapped. I looked at the with a flashlight and there was no air sac at all. they were getting weaker and weaker and couldnt even pip the shell. I decided it was better to try to save them... I know, I know, let mather nature take her course.. But, Mother Nature didnt screw this up, I did. Before I went to work today, I took the three weakest ones and took off the top of the shell so that their heads are out. they were bleeding... I left the bodies in the shell just in case the yolk was not absorbed all the way. they were totally shrink wrapped. there was NO WAY they would have gotten out. Just got home, and they are still cheeping but looking really sad. Heads and necks out but bodies still inside the shell. They were so dried out in the shell that they could not even begin to get out. they were glued in. I worked with warm water and loosened them, and the yolk is not all absorbed. so I put them back, with the bodies still in the shell. Hopefully by morning they will be absorbed. Such a tiny bit left out. I am sure the fourth one is dead in the shell. no sounds on it at all. guess I could open it and look but pretty disheartened with what I have now actually. I will re-access in the morning and may have to put them down. Hope not. They are HUGE babies. they are cheeping like crazy if that is any sort of a good sign.. In my defense, I didnt have any idea when they were due to hatch so I couldnt do a lockdown and the humidity was all screwed up with the quail hatch.. i am justifying to myself...lol

 

[LindseyM12]

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Im not going to get mad at you. IM GOING TO CLAP

. You helped them and you didnt just leave them to die. Im happy your sort of hands on in your hatches. Ive been having a similar problem with silkies. They arent shrink wrapped but some are too big to get out so I will help. I had to help a chick just yesterday like that. Kudos to you.

 

[bock]

Best of wishes to you and the babies!

 

[lilchick]

Good for you!

Just remember they can go for a couple days without food or water while absorbing the yolk sac.

Please let us know how they turn out.......

 

[newduckie]

Everything was really starting to smell today with the babies. they wre still in the bator with a bunch of unhatched quail eggs and one goose egg that was really stinking. I just knew it was going to explode. I got them out this moning and they were soooooo nasty and yucky. one was still in the shell halfway. They were just laying mostly but i could tell that one was going to be ok. I got them out and decided that if they were going to die, they were not going this way...lol. I gave them all a bath so they could at least fluff up instead of being all caked up. Doesnt everyone feel better after a bath.???? I then put them under a heat lamp and they seem to be ok. two of them ok anyway. one is still just laying there, but it is hanging in there. They are all fluffy and cute instead of snotty looking little creatures. I gave two of them a drink but they still are mostly just resting. pictures later... The only real concern I have now is that their legs look puffy. Like they are swelled or something. I have hatched several geese this spring and none of their legs were like this. But....... none of the other 22 that I hatched has had this rough of a birth.

 

[Goosehaven]

Sounds like you did a good job with trying to save them. I had one this spring that had a rough time of it too and she pretty much slept for 24 hours after hatching. The morning after she hatched when I went out to the brooder I fully expected she might not have made it but there she was sitting on her belly looking up at me. I'd do exactly as you're doing and keep them warm and let them rest and hopefully you'll have healthy little goslings

 

[lizareny]

Yes, thumbs up to you.

My goodness, he looks a little obscene, hmm

 

[banter]

I think you did great! Mother geese help hatch their young. I've seen it close up three times now with my Sebastopols.. They wait until the egg is pipped, let it rest and then chip away at the egg to make it easy for the gosling to get out. They are very patient (also they have the instinct to know what their doing), and make a clacking with their bill to encourage the baby to come out. I helped to hatch all my incubated gosling eggs this year with no losses. The trick is if you tear the membrane and there's ANY bleeding, stop immediately! The egg sac is NOT absorbed! Wrap the egg in a clean damp paper towel(there will be a little blood-don't worry) and wait-hard as it is. You usually can chip a little off the pipped area and open the air hole safely. Raise the humidity and don't crack the egg yet. It's usually 24-36 hrs from pip to hatch for geese.Using that as a guide, after a reasonable amount of time, I crack a some of the egg at the egg cell end, trying not to tear the membrane. I moisten that end with a little warm water NOT getting any inside the egg. Most babies can get out at that point on their own, you have to use your judgment if you choose to help further. Talking to the baby gives them a burst of energy, and they will peep back at you.
I hope you are enjoying your new babies!

 

[Bleenie]

I took some Muscovy eggs the mommas abandoned and i put them in the bator, they were icy when i found them but thankfully they survived. I just had to help one of the last babies out of its shell & after a days stay in the incubator it went to the brooder. I did end up losing one though, it wasn't shrink wrapped, i think it just got too cold and was a little too weak to pip and hatch, i should have helped it but i was thinking "well maybe it was laid later so it'll hatch later". At least the rest survived though.

good job helping the babies, i think they'll be fine, just keep them moist. as long as theyre being noisy they should be plenty strong enough to make it.