Red Partridge Orpington informational hatch thread

[K0k0shka]

UPDATE: There was one last remaining egg from my friend's batch in the incubator and it just hatched, all on its own. Green egg, chipmunk baby. It hatched later than mine did, and yet it didn't have the dry membrane issues that required assisting. Which is interesting. Either my theory for the dry membrane as a result of "overcooking" being a hatching obstacle is incorrect, or something about shipped eggs makes them more prone to this kind of problem, or maybe it's genetic...? Or maybe it's random chance, though that seems unlikely, given that the last 3 of mine to hatch all had this problem, and none of hers did, including this last egg. I don't know what to make of it.

I candled my remaining 3 partridge eggs. Two were definitely dead. I opened them. They were both SO close! Absorbed all the yolk and everything. One was perfectly positioned, too, with the beak clearly visible in the right place. It just never pipped - not even internally. I have no idea why. The second one was clearly malpositioned - is beak was between its legs, down by the vent. I can see faint pulsing movements in the third egg, so I think it's alive, but just barely. Unlike the other two, the third is still showing a lot of veins, so I'm afraid to open it, but it's a race against time before it suffocates. I can't see if it has pipped internally or not. I'm also afraid to make a safety hole, since these eggs clearly have a problem with drying out too much. So I really don't know what to do. Saving it is not crucial, as I already have 6 chicks, but if I could, then why not? Especially since one of my 6 chicks - the last one I had to help out - appears to have wry neck So I wouldn't mind a back up chick if I could save that one...

Here's my barely alive last egg:

Any ideas on what I should do?

 

[aart]

Any ideas on what I should do?

That's a toughy....looks underdeveloped, should be more chick filling the egg.

 

[K0k0shka]

That's a toughy....looks underdeveloped, should be more chick filling the egg.

That was my first reaction, too. And too many blood vessels in what looks like too much yolk. I’m giving it the rest of today, then I’ll open it. Some of my other eggs looked like they weren’t filling the egg enough, too. Some hatched and the chicks seem fine, just smaller. Others were among the dead I opened last night. Lots of empty space, but the chick was fully developed with no yolk left.

 

[K0k0shka]

Now that everybody is out and dried up, I noticed that 2 of my 6 partridges are defective One has a weird slant to its left eye, which so far looks cosmetic only (the eyeball seems fine, just the opening isn’t horizontal). It can see and it’s acting normal. The other chick, however - the last one to hatch - has wry neck And it’s pretty serious - its head is flopped up onto its back and it falls backwards a lot. It wasn’t this bad last night after hatching. I thought it was just uncoordinated because it just hatched. Today the others are running around climbing things, and this one is looking worse. My first thought was to get the kitchen shears, but I went with my second thought and ordered vitamin E + selenium combo gel caps, arriving tomorrow, so I’ll try to help it first. I have invested enough in this hatch already, I want to maximize my results. I’ll be giving it NutriDrench until the medicine arrives, and continue after that if the chick is unable to eat. I left it in the incubator with a feather duster so the other chicks don’t trample it. If my last remaining egg isn’t viable, I’ll throw it out, lower the incubator temperature some and use it as an isolation brooder for poor little crooky.

Maybe it’s all a bunch of bad luck, but so far I’m very disappointed by Papa’s red partridge orpington stock. Last year, 1 out of 6 hatched, and he died young. This year the hatch rate is better - 6 out of 12 - but half needed assisting, and 1/3 are defective. This was a sentimental hatch, and I really hope at least one of the good ones is female, but even if none are, I think we’re gonna let go and just move on. I’m definitely not ordering any more.

 

[aart]

Aaaggh!
Wonders about 'breeders' more interested in selling than actually breeding good birds,
but I am a jaded skeptic

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Frickin adorable is what they'll look like

I stayed up until 4am last night... I set a 15 minute timer on my phone and went to sleep in the guest room, got up to check on progress, set another 15 minutes, and so on for several hours. The chick that had trouble zipping did eventually start working around the egg, and by 4am had its back where the beak was initially, so I concluded that it must be able to turn after all, so I went to sleep in my bed. The kids woke me up around 7 to announce that there were 3 partridges in the incubator and a 4th that looked stuck... Sure enough, that same one was still having trouble. It hadn’t progressed since I left it 3 hours earlier, and was struggling with the shell. I didn’t want to lose it so close to the finish line and got worried it would dry out, get stuck and rip its skin off pulling. So I helped it the rest of the way out. The membrane had dried and was REALLY stuck all over its body, but I moistened it with warm water and it eventually peeled off without any damage. The baby is doing well now, drying off in the incubator with its buddy from this morning. The two from last night are running around the brooder pecking at toes right now.

Current count so far: 5 from my friend’s eggs and 4 from mine, a 5th from mine is starting to zip. The partridges all look different... The first is very red, the second very yellow, the third has a lot of brown/black on it, and the 4th is still quite wet so I can’t tell. This is a project breed and he’s still working on it, which would explain the color inconsistency. Makes it easier for me to tell the chicks apart, but I wonder what they’ll grow up to look like!

View attachment 2622963View attachment 2622965View attachment 2622964

 

[K0k0shka]

Aaaggh!
Wonders about 'breeders' more interested in selling than actually breeding good birds,
but I am a jaded skeptic

This guy is an amateur breeder. Somebody gave him chickens, he fell in love and started breeding them. Now he has a farm and employs people. Says he has learned a lot and is trying to breed healthy birds... But it’s hard to assess breeders and their knowledge and know who to trust. It’s not like you need a degree to be good at it, or as proof of quality. Hobbyists can be good, and, likewise, larger operations can produce low quality birds just to make a profit... My other chickens from last year that I got from him seem to be doing fine, so maybe something happened with this line in particular

 

[rayrose]

It's also a long way to ship eggs. Too long for me. I've
thought about ordering from him, but decided against it.

 

[K0k0shka]

Dinner party! They like to all eat together. I only showed the first couple to food and water, the rest learned from their buddies.

One of my prettier partridge babies They don’t all have the chipmunk stripes, interestingly.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's also a long way to ship eggs. Too long for me. I've
thought about ordering from him, but decided against it.

I ordered eggs from him last year, too, and aside from the red partridges, the rest did great. Better than expected hatch rate and all were healthy. The lemon cuckoos had a 100% hatch rate, which was impressive for shipped eggs! The partridges were a problem last year, and are a problem again this year, which makes me think it’s genetics rather than shipping...