Set eggs 9/27/10 - anyone care to join?

[Jen4]

Alright I had to upload and post some pics. too, lol

1st to hatch

2nd to hatch

Hangin out in the bator together

Still waiting on #3

 

[trishmk]

Cute little things, aren't they? Thanks - love to see the pics!

 

[Jen4]

Thanks, Me too. Be glad when they dry out and are all fluffy.

 

[The Lisser]

Congratulations, trishmk and Jen4!!!! Adorable!!!

I also have a chick - a black silkie.

Little cutie hatched at 8:30 last night - the one that pipped "normally". I also had another pip last night, but that one and the one that pipped the wrong end haven't made more progress - of course the little baby has been knocking all the other eggs around like bowling pins, so now I have no idea what egg has pipped, etc.! Hope more will hatch.

 

[Jen4]

Congratulations The Lisser... cute.

My little hatch is over... the last egg just hatched

Cute fluffy butt pics. later...

 

[The Lisser]

Quote:
Congratulations on all your chicks hatching!! that's great!

 

[The Lisser]

Here's an update on my hatch - I have four chicks out now - the last two hatched while I made myself go outside and work around the farm! I have two more pipped.

I probably did something dumb, but hopefully there will be no ill effects from it - it had been almost 18 hours since the one chick pipped the wrong end of the egg. I could see it move every once in a while, but it had made no progress. Having lost 4 full-term chicks during my last hatch, I was very anxious for this chick. I went ahead and hatched it - I was a bit too early because the blood in the membrane hadn't fully absorbed yet, but the yolk was fully absorbed. I don't know if the chick would have hatched on it's own. It's been about 3 hours since I hatched it out and it is still alive and peeping, so hopefully it will make it! I normally believe in letting nature take it's course, and probably the next time I incubate I won't intervene.

 

[trishmk]

That's great!

I've got three hatched that look great - they each took well over 24 hours from first pip to hatch and each hatch was almost exactly 12 hours apart (agonizing!)

I've maybe made a bit of a mistake myself... One pipped at the dead center of the egg- with no progress over 36 hours. When I took the first two fluffed up guys out to the brooder I took some tweezers and gently started to zip from his pip site. First of all - WOW - the membrane is really thick stuff. Had a tiny bit of blood about an inch into it so I put a warm paper towel around it (not his beak, of course) and placed it back in the bator. I swore I would not get involved but couldn't help myself. I can see that it is breathing but no peeping or movement - and it really seems jammed in there at a weird angle - not sure if it will make it out on its own.

I'm a bit perplexed by the hatch - today is day 22 and I've still got 8 with no signs of pips and the one I gave a bit of help to in the bator. Temp and humidity have been well within range the entire incubation period and all 12 were showing movement when they went into lock down.

Not sure how I want to proceed - I hate to even open it up to candle. And then again - maybe they are just late? Have you ever read of a hatch staggered over more than 2 days?

 

[The Lisser]

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I have heard of hatches that are staggered two or three days . . . however my limited experience has been that the ones that survived hatched within 2 days. The breeder that I got my first silkie eggs from told me to hatch the eggs myself 24 hours after the last chick of that set had hatched - I found that the remaining two eggs had died. One had died prior to lockdown and apparently the other died during lockdown - yolk wasn't fully absorbed. I guess those two just weren't meant to be.

My last hatch - I had 5 eggs make it to lockdown and only one baby hatched. I opened the remaining eggs on day 23 (I think it was) - two had pipped into the air cell and two had not. At least two had not absorbed the yolk. I had a temp spike with that incubation, so I don't know if that is the cause - I've read it can be.

Did you read the sticky in this topic about when and how to help a hatch? Also what is your lockdown humidity? The breeder I bought my first eggs from said that he uses 75% humidity at lockdown for silkies - I'm a bit more conservative at around 70%. If you do pull an egg or two out, I think you could put in a warm wet sponge to help replenish the humidity.

Good luck! I've got three more with pips that aren't doing anything and 3 more with no pips. I am going to wait until I get home tomorrow from work before I revisit the idea of helping any more hatch!

Keep us posted.

 

[trishmk]

Thank you for the advice. Humidity is steady at 70%. I have been reading the sticky and I think I'll just wait it out. I've already begun with the one and will see how it's doing in the morning. The others haven't even pipped so I'll just wait, like you, until I get home from work tomorrow afternoon and see what's happening. I think I'm likely to make things worse than better by getting involved but will probably open them up and see if I can tell what happened after it's all said and done.

Enjoying the three that are out, at least. Amazed at how fast they fluff up and get up and go.

Good luck with the rest of yours - hopefully you'll wake up in the morning and they'll all be there to greet you!

Yours are all silkies, as well, correct? What color? The three of mine that hatched were marked PN, HTW and B/S - Partridge, ?looks creamy colored and Splash?