Silkies & Dark Brahmas - 3 HATCHED. Happy Ending :)

[MichiganWoods]

Thanks!!

I was able to get a series of photographs of this guy from pip, to zip, to hatch. I'll work on editing them for the web.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

has anyone else pipped?

My incubator is peeping too! 4 of Tuffoldhen's bbs orps all blue and 2 of Mrs.AK Bird Brain's white silkies!

 

[MichiganWoods]

No, no other pips yet. But I can hear one of the Silkie eggs peeping, so I know it's alive. However, DB there is doing his best to give all of the eggs the dryer treatment (tumble*tumble*tumble). I wonder/worry about the unhatched chicks with all of that.

Good luck with your guys!!

 

[MichiganWoods]

The second Dark Brahma egg has pipped!

C'mon Silkies!

 

[MichiganWoods]

1st Silkie egg to pip!!!!!

 

[vfem]

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

So where did the silkie obsession start first? The silkie chick or in her egg?!

 

[MichiganWoods]

Ooooh, the obsession started before I even ordered the eggs.

I've been marveling at them for a while and finally decided my kids would go nuts to have a few of them in our flock.

 

[MichiganWoods]

Well... I may have my first hatching casualty.

The second little dark brahma hatched on his own, but he's got a bloody lump of organs hanging out of his rear. And he's struggling. I had to do an emergency intervention. Dark brahma #1 was picking at #2, and he (#1) needed to go into the brooder anyway. So I removed him quick and set him up with food and water, then went back to the Silkie egg that was pipped. Despite my humidity being 60%-75% (all trays in the HovaBator were filled with water), he was stuck in the shell. And I think he has been since before I opened up the incubator. So I got a wad of warm, wet paper towels and swaddled it up, then carefully picked the shell away. This is the first baby that I have assisted (as I know you are not supposed to), but I'll be darned if I was going to let my only silkie not make it to hatch. This baby has absorbed all of his organs out of his yolk and his butt is clear, but there was a little yellow goop leftover from the yolk smeared on him. We'll see how he does. The other two remaining silkie eggs were quitters around Day 15-16. Both blues.

I'm debating on what to do with dark brahma #2. Should I let him go for a little while to see if he absorbs those organs, or do I cull him?

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Quote:
Dark Brahma - put him in the brooder. I hatched a buff orpington from hinkjc last week and the same thing happened. It now looks like a small red bubble on her backside. It keeps shrinking and she seems to be fine otherwise. Hopefully someone else who has had this happen can give us both direction.

Silkie - what color is she? I hate to hear that she is the only one. But she will dry and fluff up in about 2 days and should be fine.

 

[MichiganWoods]

Really with the way my P.O. handles some of our packages it's a wonder I get any shipped eggs to hatch. (Won't stop me from trying, though!)

I'm afraid #2's organs might dry out in the brooder, but I will move him to the brooder in a few hours after he's (hopefully) got himself a little more strength. Only because #1 is just so... active. I mean, I've never had a chick that hyper and peppy.

The Silkie is either black or blue. I can't quite tell yet since it's still so wet. -- Silkie won't be lonely.

If it turns out to be a hen, I'll let it stay with the Araucanas. I'll be able to tell which eggs are which easily enough.