How very very exciting! I am looking forward to pictures!!
You might want to check that knee and see if it is a slipped tendon. If it is not caught early it will not be able to stay in place. Vet Wrap works if that is what it is. You sort of have to extend the leg and *cast* the leg with the tendon in place.
Please tell us what you did to get such a good hatch..what incubator did you use..humidity and temps. Lock down procedures. Did you check weights or air cell development.
Hey Delisha! I vet wrapped the chicks leg at the knee joint. It is pretty straight - so it is having a lot of difficulty moving around. I did feel a bit of a snap (in a good way) when I straightened the leg - so I figured this was the tendon moving into place? I haven't been able to find a good picture of how to do this and I am a totally visual person! Should the bad leg be taped to the good one like for spraddle leg? I am so grateful for your knowledge and help!
Ok, here is what I did with incubation. I have never had this kind of hatch rate, but wow, it worked this time! I am a relatively dry hatcher. I do keep some water just in a small container in the incubator and kept humidity between 30 and 40 percent (mostly on the 30% end). On lockdown, I fill the bottom of the incubator (my kind works that way) and brings humidity to 58 to 60%. I don't have an auto turner , so I turned 3x a day for the first 5 days, then moved to 5x a day until lockdown. Temp held steady at 100 degrees (except for the day I had a spike of 104 for a very short time). I candle at 7 days (threw out 5 clears, 1 blood ring) and day 14 an day 17. I visually watched aircells to make sure they were indeed growing but did not weigh eggs.
Here is a link to my incubator:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chicken-Egg...707?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4171c67cbb
I did wash and sanitize my hands before handling! I think a big part is also the quality of eggs I received and the fact I had no detached aircells!