This is a photo of my newborn Buckeye chicks and 3 day old Guinea keets.
I just incubated chicks for the first time. My success rate is not very good but I know what I did wrong. (Humidity too low at Lock down) Five chicks out of 23 eggs hatched. One chick broke the shell but not the membrane and died.
One chick broke the shell and membrane but was shrink wrapped and could do no more.
I removed him from the incubator, broke the shell into small pieces and put him back in on a damp cloth.
An hour later, he was still folded up, I could see his beak but little more, so I gently removed as much of the membrane as I could without pulling feathers, put him back in and went to work.
Came home from work and he was literally stuck to the pad on the bottom of the incubator, ON HIS BACK.
Tupperware bowl of warm water,dipping and cheesecloth rubs, I removed the rest of his shell pieces and more membrane. Back in on a clean damp cloth.
Next morning, almost all his feathers were flat to his skin, his vent (?) rear was invisible and he had a feather - not sure whose because another chick hatched overnight - so we repeated the warm water and cheesecloth with swishing him around up to his neck this time. I got all the membrane off him and made sure his eyes, nostrils and vent were clear. I used wet a finger to clean his eyes. Back in the incubator for two hours.
When he was dry and the other chick was fluffy they went in the brooder. Surprisingly he was accepted and did not seem worse for wear. I did hive them all probiotics and electrolytes for stress.
We could tell him apart for the first 4 days because he had that bad boy slicked back look,
Now, one week later, I can no longer tell him apart from the rest. I will post a photo of the group, at one week, following this post.
Was it worth it? Would I do it again? YEP but I hope I never have to.
Paula
