Set 3/9/12 HATCH ALONG!

[Domestic_goddess]

My hatching is over! The final total that hatched is 9, two of which are struggling and I fear won't make it...they look premature or something. But the good news is that I have 7 healthy beautiful chicks. I started with 34 and ended up with 20 fertile eggs. Eleven of the chicks were fully formed, but never hatched...I did eggtopsy on them and I was so sad...I don't know what happened! But with this being my very first hatch, I am happy that I know that I can do this! I've been such a reck the past few days, little sleep...Now hopefully I can rest know it's over!

 

[adrian]

In total I have 11 chicks. One popped out with a little bit of bloody gunk at her navel, but it quickly cleared up. Think it was a little too soon, but although she was a late hatcher, she was insistent. The second to last hatched a few hours before her. They're still in the incubator. The other 9 are in the brooder. They sleep quite a lot, is that still normal at around 24 hours old? They have moments where they all wake up and go peck at the food, perhaps the water, but then it's back to sleep. It's about 90-95 in there, they don't seem overly hot but if it gets cooler they tend to huddle together too closely, trying to push their way under each other. So I think they prefer it this way.

I had 12 eggs go into lockdown, one died before external pipping as I mentioned elsewhere... He had some membrane between his beak and was a little malpositioned but other than that, looked fine, even his yolk sac was absorbed. Too bad, but 11 is not bad.

Also, my little cochin seems a little bit sleepier than the others. She was a little clumsier to begin with, too, and took longer to get her footing. However, in spite of that, she does get up, wander about, peck at things. Took a few bites of food. I haven't seen her drink but gave her some sugar water from a syringe. They're all pretty sleepy right now, though. Just hope they're okay. I worry constantly, of course.

 

[bobbi-j]

My hatching is over! The final total that hatched is 9, . I started with 34 and ended up with 20 fertile eggs. Eleven of the chicks were fully formed, but never hatched...I did eggtopsy on them and I was so sad...I don't know what happened! But with this being my very first hatch, I am happy that I know that I can do this! I've been such a reck the past few days, little sleep...Now hopefully I can rest know it's over!

DG - That's close to a 50% hatch of your fertile eggs. I've always thought of that as a good rate for an incubator. Sometimes, they just aren't strong enough to hatch out. Enjoy the ones that did.

They sleep quite a lot, is that still normal at around 24 hours old?
Yes, that's normal. They're tired after all that work hatching. They'll perk up in a few days.

It's about 90-95 in there, they don't seem overly hot but if it gets cooler they tend to huddle together too closely, trying to push their way under each other. So I think they prefer it this way.
It's easy to tell if they're comfortable, and you don't even need a thermometer. Just watch the chicks. If they huddle under the light, it's too cool. If they're trying to get away from the light, they're too hot. If they're just scattered about and making contended peeps (you can tell those from the distressed ones), it's just right.

I had 12 eggs go into lockdown, Too bad, but 11 is not bad.
That's an awesome hatch!

LOL- My DH is nearly jealous of my "chicken obsession"!

He'll say things like, "I don't want you getting anymore eggs" or "You have enough chickens!" But, every time we have new babies, they sort of soften him up-hehe!

This is a picture of one of my first hatchlings (in a different batch) waiting for others to hatch. She climbed over and plopped herself right in the middle of this group of eggs. They DO like to crawl over the late bloomers, don't they?


She doesn't look like it in her first picture here, but MistyBlue is turning into one of the prettiest blue silkies. I'm hoping to show her. Here's a more recent photo @ 5 weeks. Can't wait to see her @ 5 months:

Funny how those little fuzzballs can soften up those tough guys, isn't it?

 

[bobbi-j]

Forgot to mention - I have 7 in the brooder box, 8 in the bator. A few more with small pips, humidity still way up there. I'm going to pull the 8 out, and see what's there in the morning. I'll probably give them all till Mon. and then shut it down.

Update - I now have 15 in the brooder box, one just hatched in the incubator, and about 1/2 a dozen with pips. One I know is dead - it hasn't changed since yesterday morning. A couple more have shown no progress since this afternoon, but I'm not giving up yet. Here are the ones in the brooder:

 

[bobbi-j]

The thread has been pretty quiet today - is everyone out enjoying their new babies? My hatch so far is 23/36 with one more pipped. The rest have no pips or anything. I was going to give them till tomorrow night, but have decided to try the float test tonight instead. I may help the one that is pipped, just because I figure it certainly can't hurt. I don't think it's made any progress all day. When I picked it up to discard it, it peeped so I put it back in the 'bator for now. It was fun hatching with you all!

 

[Domestic_goddess]

The thread has been pretty quiet today - is everyone out enjoying their new babies? My hatch so far is 23/36 with one more pipped. The rest have no pips or anything. I was going to give them till tomorrow night, but have decided to try the float test tonight instead. I may help the one that is pipped, just because I figure it certainly can't hurt. I don't think it's made any progress all day. When I picked it up to discard it, it peeped so I put it back in the 'bator for now. It was fun hatching with you all!

It's been fun hatching with you as well! My little chicks are doing great, my 2 that were struggling yesterday...are doing great today! So I have 9 happy healthy little fluffy butts! I had to help my last 2 as well....they peeped, but just didn't go any further for a long time. I just opened a little to see how they were doing, then let them get out of the rest of the egg themselves, I also wrapped a warm wet paper towel around the egg...to keep them moist.

 

[bobbi-j]

I did finally cave in and tried to help my last one. Just opened the shell a bit, but hit a blood vessel so I put it back in the incubator, on a damp washcloth (hoping to keep him moist enough). We're leaving in a few minutes and will be gone the rest of the evening. I figure one of two things will have happened - it will hatch, or it will die. Natural selection. All the rest are in the brooder so it won't get knocked around if it does hatch. Will float test the rest tonight or tomorrow...

It's been fun hatching with you as well! My little chicks are doing great, my 2 that were struggling yesterday...are doing great today! So I have 9 happy healthy little fluffy butts! I had to help my last 2 as well....they peeped, but just didn't go any further for a long time. I just opened a little to see how they were doing, then let them get out of the rest of the egg themselves, I also wrapped a warm wet paper towel around the egg...to keep them moist.

 

[CALI CHICK]

It has been a joy hatching with all of you. Maybe we'll bump into each other on another hatch! I've actually got 13 more eggs that go into lockdown on Tuesday and should hatch next Friday...I call them round 2!

May all your babies grow strong and healthy.

Take care, Cali!

 

[Hazelrah]

Ended up with 3 chicks out of 11 eggs, sadly one of the chicks hatched late yesterday afternoon has spraddle leg. Its leg was caught in the egg during hatch and it struggled for a long time to get it free, looking back I probably should have helped it along but was afraid to open the incubator during lockdown. When I woke up this morning it was moving around but like a seal moves with both legs dragging behind. I did quite a bit of searching archives for information on how to help the chick and found a nice link on how to attach a hobble using a bandaid. Chickie has been in hobbles for about 3 hours now and is standing, I am now reading up on chick physical therapy. I am going to try everything I can to save this chick.

Happy to have you all as hatch buddies and congrats on all the cute chicks!

 

[CALI CHICK]

Ended up with 3 chicks out of 11 eggs, sadly one of the chicks hatched late yesterday afternoon has spraddle leg. Its leg was caught in the egg during hatch and it struggled for a long time to get it free, looking back I probably should have helped it along but was afraid to open the incubator during lockdown. When I woke up this morning it was moving around but like a seal moves with both legs dragging behind. I did quite a bit of searching archives for information on how to help the chick and found a nice link on how to attach a hobble using a bandaid. Chickie has been in hobbles for about 3 hours now and is standing, I am now reading up on chick physical therapy. I am going to try everything I can to save this chick.

Happy to have you all as hatch buddies and congrats on all the cute chicks!

I had to use band-aid splints on 3 chicks in one hatch. It should be fine. They roll around and lose their balance alot at first, but once they get the hang of it, they start walking fine. Just to be safe, I kept them on for several days. Hope it gains strength fast. Good luck with your babies.