Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Totalcolour]

Not sure if it's a fail or a win...
Last night i candled the last duck egg no movement. This morning candled again before doing eggtopsy NO movement. Cracked the egg on the side of the table (hard) opening it up still no movement. I get the shell off the whole head of the duckling and it gasps taking a huge breath and comes to life. It's drying off in the incubator now, it's deformed (bill doesn't line up right).
So much for me saying I don't help them out of their shell. I jumped when it gasped because I really thought it was already dead.

We had a Muscovy duckling that hatched early somehow banged his beak. It was really crooked for a while so we named him "Tweak". It straightened up by the time he was an adolescent.

 

[Totalcolour]

Some breeds DO hatch sooner than others, but I do nnot think any hatch naturally on day 19 !
I have Ams that routinely burst forth on day 20...right on schedule !

The JGs, on the other hand, have been known to take a little while longer.
Some varieties of Marans can take a little longer as well.
If they are all hatching early, I would suspect your temp is too high, I have to calibrate my thermometers every so many weeks..I've no idea how they can become so 'off' but they do !
Gremlins do it, I guess.

Himself says the temp is a tad high - must be re-calibrated. Today is day 20 and we have 8 out, and another 7 pipped big time. 2 Hamburgs were first, then 2 BLRW then one Am/Aus then the Marans and finally the JG'S. It's all I can do from going and taking yet another look!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Meanwhile DH is famous for bringing his antivirus disks to parties and making the hosts computers healthy and happy.

Which I am not right now. Diamond Dave, the splash AM rooster, is right poorly; he has had a poopy butt off and on since I got him in April, and once before when the temperature dropped after a warm spell he was weak for a day or so; I increased his wind protection and cleaned up the water and feed pans and he got better immediately. This morning (it was 45 two nights in a row, with no wind) he's in a ball and weak to death- not paralysed, he can stand up when he's feeling offended, and walk a step or two- but otherwise Not Healthy, and his crop is completely empty.


I gave him yoghurt and wrapped him up, but I am unhappy, and pessimistic- and Bluebelle is frantic, although in perfect health.


The woman I got him from had treated him with both Eprinex and Valbizen the week before I brought him home, which I thought at the time was an overkill. He's been fertile (is the pappy of the 8 chicks down with Malvina, who are all running around and growing fast) and other than being easily startled and prone to flying into the roof (maybe he's had vision problems? Is that possible?) has been a regular old rooster except for his problems with the cold.

Julia, when we worm, as with mammals as well, we worm once, then waite a week and worm again, as the first time you usually do not kill the worm's ova.
Within a week, the ova can hatch in the bird (or mammal) and start a whole new generation of worms.
Sometimes I even worm 1 X a week, for 3 weeks.
Maybe you need to worm him again ?

No, he's quite absolutely dead now. He'd been wormed twice with both Valbizen and Eprinex when I got him in April. I don't know about chickens, but in cattle Valbizen isn't supposed to be used simultaneously with other wormers.There's been no sign of worms in his stool, and th hen in that pen is perfectly healthy.

 

[Totalcolour]

Julia,

we have one little AM/AUS out now, it's hard to tell if blue or splash since it's still wet, but he/she is very light. I'm so excited, I'm getting blues (or splash).

The Hamburg from yesterday wss dead this morning. Not sure what happened, but I think maybe it just hatched too early. The others seem fine (so far).

 

[Totalcolour]

CL,

Marans and JG's are pipped and zipped. I'm going to make bread in a minute, just to keep from going down to the cellar again to check the 'bator. (Again!)

 

[Totalcolour]

Well, maybe I'll just pop down one more time before I make the bread.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

We had a Muscovy duckling that hatched early somehow banged his beak. It was really crooked for a while so we named him "Tweak". It straightened up by the time he was an adolescent.

this one didn't hatch on it's own. I thought it was dead. I know over time it can straighten. Though i think it's also safe to say in here (as it's not in all threads) these ducklings are being raised as food. So being messed up wont matter to much as long as it thrives.
the win or fail was more on my eggtopsy. I mean i was in shock. I banged that egg on the desk to open it cause i just knew it was dead.
Fount that it has shell stuck to it on it's head and back where it was stuck to it inside the egg. That is likely why it failed to hatch. it couldn't zip the egg.
This was proof to always follow your instinct. Mine said open the egg. I was hesitant to do so cause thought maybe there is a chance it's alive and thought about leaving it another day. Following my instinct left me with 18 ducklings instead of 17

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I'd be a lot more entranced with how cute Hamburg chicks are if it weren't for the fact that I have ten of them in the hall bathroom, and one just crowed.


I need to finish my cheese and crackers and go retrieve the cage-part I broke while putting it together (pilot holes are not optional) now that the glue has dried, and pick up eggs/check feed and water/pull grass for the rest of the chickens/ catch the roving sheep/ feed said sheep/turn off sprinklers/ take my underwear off the line/ et'c and so on and hope that nothing else has broken, escaped, gotten sick, or hatched early, since Cheery's kids are also due Tuesday. Them, I want: I'm hoping for at least one cockerel who can be bred to a Porcelain hen and come up with Porcelain chicks.

Julia don't forget Andrea !
She is still struggling to get Hammies and more than likely would take any extras you've got !

Do you think she could just go pick them up from Kate before Wednesday? I really am buried right now- just sent two Hamburg cockerels off to be yard ornaments/ flock protectors, have four more to get off the place, and have pen building problems with the pullets and the bantams. And a wedding two weeks from today.

 

[Totalcolour]

I got some more!


Splash Am/AUS cross perhaps! (From Julia's now dead Cock bird)

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I got some more! Splash Am/AUS cross perhaps! (From Julia's now dead Cock bird)

Splash- big chicks to start and they just keep getting bigger; I was just feeding them and although they're bigger than the 9 week old bantams they still have fuzzy baby heads and butts.