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

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ASteelman said:
Is DIS dead in shell, or something else?

@BluebirdHomestead sorry about your bad luck. I have hatched eggs from GypsyHen twice, both times I drove to pick them up instead of shipping. I still had a very low hatch rate. The ones that did hatch were great quality though. These days I only buy chicks or adult birds from other people and hatch my own eggs.
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You're your guess is correct. DIS is Dead In Shell.
 
I don't know when to help these ducklings. There are 8. I put holes in their shell basically where they externally pipped to see if they were alive. All are... They've all been externally pipped for 2 days. I don't want to lose any.
 
CluckNDoodle said:
Well I had a ton of broody hens last year so I really shouldn't complain but it is what convinced me it was time to take a break from hatching. I lost count of how many broody hens I allowed to raise chicks last year because a couple of them went broody twice but it was somewhere between 6-8 broody hens. I tried several methods and most went well. I had broody hens that raised chicks in a broody pen that was next to the main run for a few days before I allowed them to integrate, I had co-brooding hens (adorable!), I had hens that hatched and raised their chicks in the main coop with the rest of the flock, and I also gave newly hatched chicks to broody hens. All of it went great until my last broody hen of the year.

I can't be 100% sure what happened when I wasn't watching. I gave the hen 1 egg to hatch. When I found the chick hatched it had been seriously wounded, I think it was by another hen in the flock but the broody didn't protect the chick properly either way so I ended up bringing the chick inside (and I eventually rehomed the hen with someone that didn't want hens for brooding). It was touch and go for a while and I wasn't sure it was even going to survive at first...it was floppy and seemingly lifeless for a while. Once it started to come around I then I started caring for the slipped tendon. I was unsuccessful in repairing the tendon. The chick survived and you could say he even thrived with one functioning leg, we named him Peg Leg Pete, he's with a special needs boy now that absolutely adores him. You could even say everything happens for a reason and it was a happy ending but it was at least a month of ups and downs for me caring for him and teaching him how to chicken, then integrating with the flock.
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Sounds like you did a very good job taking care of Peg Leg Pete. It's so hard to know what a hen will do once the eggs hatch. And every hatch is different even with the same hen. I'm glad you were able to help him.
 
FortCluck said:
Yeah I've done several assists but not on ducks. I just want them to be ready before I try to get them out.
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It's pretty much the same when assisting waterfowl, just longer periods of waiting. So if you felt they were at a point where assistance were required then you start by opening the air cell carefully and applying coconut oil, or warm water on the interior membrane with a q-tip to see if they're still absorbing blood. The chewing motion is much easier to see in waterfowl when they're still working on absorbing the yolk sac to help you determine if it's even time to check the membrane.
 

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