Tis Time for a March 2020 Hatch-a-long!

[Mylied]

I’ll try to take better pictures tomorrow honestly this poor baby I have no idea what’s going on this is my first hatch. I feel like I should’ve helped it sooner but everyone says the Main beginners mistake is helping too early.
So is it sleeping in the cup or no?
It can’t army crawl it can only flop and roll in the position it is in in those photos really. I wish I could send a video but people do like YouTube links on here and idk how to figure that out. So it’s in a sock in a cup with it’s one curled foot wrapped and it’s legs wrapped at the top and the vet wrap leg trick for splay leg with weird food and water stands around it that I hope it can reach but not really. I don’t know if I should let it sleep like that?
Every now and then I see it nibbling the food I tried to dip the beak in water but it doesn’t seem to want that.

I don't think it would hurt to keep her like that overnight and reassess in the morning. I'd take away the water for the night so there's no accidents.

 

[julskinka]

I’ll try to take better pictures tomorrow honestly this poor baby I have no idea what’s going on this is my first hatch. I feel like I should’ve helped it sooner but everyone says the Main beginners mistake is helping too early.
So is it sleeping in the cup or no?
It can’t army crawl it can only flop and roll in the position it is in in those photos really. I wish I could send a video but people do like YouTube links on here and idk how to figure that out. So it’s in a sock in a cup with it’s one curled foot wrapped and it’s legs wrapped at the top and the vet wrap leg trick for splay leg with weird food and water stands around it that I hope it can reach but not really. I don’t know if I should let it sleep like that?
Every now and then I see it nibbling the food I tried to dip the beak in water but it doesn’t seem to want that.

1) If it just hatched today, it doesn't necessarily need the food or water yet, so don't worry about that.
2) Considering the degree of the problem, I seriously doubt that not assisting for a couple of hours was what caused it. I would guess it's either genetic or due to having been in a weird malposition. Had you tried to assist, there's a good chance it would have been too early, and then you'd be dealing with unabsorbed yolk or potential blood loss on top of the legs.
3) It looks cozy and happy in its little sock-cup!
TLDR: I think you did ok!

 

[Phillyndilly]

@Mylied @julskinka
Ok sounds good I hope you are right because I’m blaming myself and thinking if I would’ve helped before I left to go on my errands this wouldn’t have happened. I’ll send photos in the morning of exactly how the feet look.
Thank you so much I’m really panicking my heart is breaking. This is 4 out of the 6. Last two didn’t make it when I candled looked odd inside and no movement at all.

 

[julskinka]

She should be ok through the night and maybe reevaluate in the morning. She still has some yolk sac to live off of anyway. I would be really careful that she doesn't get overheated under that light especially in the container because she won't be able to get away from the heat. Hope she's doing better in the morning!

Good catch on the heat! I use a mama brooder heating pad so that never occurs to me.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Good catch on the heat! I use a mama brooder heating pad so that never occurs to me.

I use a heat plate, love it! I'll never go back, I actually gave away my heat lamp, lol.

 

[Jules929]

I have had one chick with splayed leg. I used a 2 inch band aid, cut longways in half. I wrapped one half around one leg with the pad around the leg and pressed the sticky ends together, making a "tab." I did the same on the other leg, but stuck the ends to the tab from the first leg. The distance between legs was perfect, and the chick did well.

Edited: I used the flex type band aid, not the regular type.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Ok sounds good I hope you are right because I’m blaming myself and thinking if I would’ve helped before I left to go on my errands this wouldn’t have happened. I’ll send photos in the morning of exactly how the feet look

Please don't do that! It may have something to do with timeframe but there are so many possible factors and one of the hardest parts about assisting is timing. Sometimes no matter how much experience we have or how perfectly everything is done, they still have an underlying issue and that's completely out of your control.

 

[julskinka]

Ok sounds good I hope you are right because I’m blaming myself and thinking if I would’ve helped before I left to go on my errands this wouldn’t have happened. I’ll send photos in the morning of exactly how the feet look

Honestly, in hatching the only scenario in which you can be SURE a death is your fault is when you assist too early, and it bleeds out or gets a ruptured yolk sac or something. Not being able to prevent something isn't exactly the same as causing the thing, so in hatching, unless you've done a botched too-early assist, you really, really can't blame yourself. There will be losses, and babies that hatch with problems, and you can't prevent it, and shouldn't beat yourself up about it. You just do the best with what you're handed, which is what you've done.

 

[Phillyndilly]

I don't think it would hurt to keep her like that overnight and reassess in the morning. I'd take away the water for the night so there's no accidents.

Please don't do that! It may have something to do with timeframe but there are so many possible factors and one of the hardest parts about assisting is timing. Sometimes no matter how much experience we have or how perfectly everything is done, they still have an underlying issue and that's completely out of your control.

Honestly, in hatching the only scenario in which you can be SURE a death is your fault is when you assist too early, and it bleeds out or gets a ruptured yolk sac or something. Not being able to prevent something isn't exactly the same as causing the thing, so in hatching, unless you've done a botched too-early assist, you really, really can't blame yourself. There will be losses, and babies that hatch with problems, and you can't prevent it, and shouldn't beat yourself up about it. You just do the best with what you're handed, which is what you've done.

Thank you so much I really appreciate you both saying that. I’ve been very upset. If it’s disabled I would be totally okay with keeping and caring for it ( I hatched the chicks with intentions of selling) as long as the chick has a good quality of life I can’t watch it suffer. We had a disabled goose that I took care of he could not walk due to an unknown accident before we got him. I watched him decline and develop cancer my fiancé didn’t want to put him to sleep but I made the decision. It just gives me flashbacks. I don’t want this little baby to be in pain. I am going to try everything I possibly can. I’ll keep updating.

 

[Mylied]

So the chick looked ready to hatch and I opened the membrane. It's peeping but seems to have no motivation to push out. The yolk is absorbed so I just left it in its little half shell in the incubator. I think something's wrong with it. The head looks puffy. Not like the fluidy neck part that helps them hatch, the head. We'll see how it's doing in the morning.