Who is with me?

[PrinceFarm]

Hey Bum,
Now I am scared. They are still chirping but none have broke free or even piped. I check them at least every minute but it just makes me more nervous. These guys were put in the bator on 4-25, which should make this day 19 but they are wiggling the egg all around and chirping loudly every once in a while. I am so scared........ this is my first hatch....................... I dont want any dead chicks.
Being that they are chirping, do you think they are coming today.............
I have my humidity at around 60 percent.

OK, everyone meditatate/ pray/ do you your witchdoctor fertility dance or whatever, just send all of these new babies some positive energy.

give me direction

 

[LadyLovesBirds]

The biggest problem with shipped eggs is the handling. They have to be extremely careful with the shipping.
An egg that has been "Shook-up" will not hatch, or may hatch a deformed chick. In fact, that is how the "old farmers" controlled their flocks, by shaking the eggs.

I bought shipped eggs once, only 1/3 hatched and all the chickens had deformed feet and the gosling had a deformed face/no eye. They are all still alive (2 years later) and the goose is now a mother of 3... we named her "cyclops" for her deformity. The hens lay eggs, but we don't hatch their eggs.
I have since bought "day old chicks", which I think are cruelly shipped as well... but I have a healthy flock from which I sell the eggs... either for eating or for hatching. My biggest problem is the number of roosters I have. I don't like killing them, and I can't hatch only hens.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what to do with the roosters? I have bantams, Pheonix, white rock, barred rock, RI reds.

 

[LadyLovesBirds]

Day 19 is early. 21 is normal. Your temp might have been too high and caused an early hatch. It should have been between 97-100 degrees at all times. Too high or too low will affect the chick development.

Your chicks in the eggs are making so much noise... Chicks can "peep" for 2 days before they hatch (that is what the "air hole" in the egg is for). If it lasts more than that, or if they seem weaker, ask yourself this:
Is there any crack or hole in the eggs that they are getting more air through?
The egg shells might be too thick and the chick is having problems. Or, they may not have been turned regularly while developing and their head is not in the right position to crack the eggs. I have seen this a number of times. The chick should crack the egg somewhere between 3/4 and towards the large end of the egg... if it is half way or closer to the small end of the egg, the chick may be in trouble.
If you see a crack or hole, you can try this:

First, make the crack or hole bigger by taking a pair of tweezers and CAREFULLY peeling back the shell. DO NOT tip the shell up so that the back side punctures the inner blood vessels. Try to lift it straight up! DO NOT initiate the hole or crack... if the chick has not started it from the inside, it is NOT ready or not healthy enough to hatch.

There are two inner layers... the white one needs to be peeled back just enough so the air gets in. The red/yellow layer is the blood vessel layer. Do not break this layer. If you see blood oozing out, you may have broke the inner layer. If this happens, you have to do an emergency hatch-out because the blood could suffocate the chick. To do this, follow these directions quickly but calmly....

If the chick does not hatch after the initial "air hole" or appears weaker - give it a few hours to try - or if you accidently broke the blood vessels... then take a hard blunt object (I use the back side of the tweezers) and calmly "Peck" at the large end of the egg, such as the chick would have from the inside but you are doing it from the outside.
Gently lift off the egg shell on the large end. Find the hole the chick made and gently peel first the white layer, then the blood layer away from his face, Use a blunt object (such as the back of the tweezers) to do this... you want to "push" the blood layer away, not break the layer. You can break/peel the white layer. Keep working on it until his head is free and then let him push the bottom half of his body out (this may take minutes or hours). I explain why later...

If you break the blood vessels, you have to put pressure on it and try to stop the bleeding. If you cannot do this while it is still in the egg, then gently pull the chick out. If you see a yellow bulge OUTSIDE his belly, then he was hatched too soon.... The chick 'Pulls in" his belly/intestines just before hatching. If only a little bulges out, you can put pressure on his belly and help push the little bit that is left. Do not push too hard, just gently pressure... you may have to wrap him and allow a paper towel to keep the pressure on it, as it may take a few hours for it to pull the rest of the way in. But if there is more "out" than "in", it is almost a sure thing he won't survive more than 2 days and he hatched too soon. If you have followed the rule of not helping him out before he cracked the egg, then there was nothing you could have done to help this chick.

After you have done this emergency hatch, keep the chick wrapped in a clean paper towel. You may have to change the towel a few times if the chick was bleeding. Wrap him tightly with only his head sticking out, like he is still in the egg. Put the whole thing back into the incubator, or at least under a heat lamp where you regulate that the temperature stays between 80-100 degrees. Leave him until he has gotten himself free from the paper towel and is fluffy and running around. The reason for this is that the chick needs to "fight" to get out of his egg/paper towel. The "fighting/pushing/stretching" is what makes the chick strong and will help him stand.

I have done this hundreds of times when my hatch does not work right. I usually save more than I lose by this procedure. When they are not hatching on their own, intervention is sometimes the only hope they have. But DO THIS ONLY AS A LAST RESORT.

Let me know how things work out.

 

[countrybum]

Quote:
Have patience,

if this is only day 19, you have 2 days to go.

 

[PrinceFarm]

Quote:
I have come to the realization that in order to be in this chicken raising hobby one must try to desensitize themselves to the killing/culling. If you have this attitude from the begining that you will only breed the best of the best and the others are food, it will be easier. The first time was the hardest, but now I am Ok with it. Dont get me wrong, I care about my chickens but they are not pets. They are beautiful and friendly livestock. There is no way I could raise 100 chickens as pets.

As far as what to do with the extra roosters..... You can try to give them away, or make chicken for dinner.

It almost seems sacreligous to be speaking this this way on a thread with all these adorable babies being hatched out but this is my point. If you are going to be able to cull your flock later, without feeling awful about it, you must accept this fact from the very begining.

 

[PrinceFarm]

Hey guys/ gals, I put up a video of the eggs chirping if anyone is interested.

 

[amysue2012]

I finially have a pip its day 21...

out of 16 shipped eggs on day 18, 6 looked very good and developed, 3 were questionable and others never seemed to do anything. I tried to be optimistic through the whole thing and never took any out. Hopefully we get a few more pips. I dont want one to end up by its self.

 

[chickie_mama]

I got off work early today cause after all, I had a pip this morning, so how could I be expected to work ALL day!?!

Anyway, I come home expecting to find a cute little fluffy, fuzzy butt. NOPE!!!!! Still just a pip. I can see the little guy in there and he's breathing and chirping.

Why oh Why do these little guys take freakin' forever to come out and see the world????

 

[countrybum]

Well, my dark JG did not make it was decease a bit ago when I checked on him/her. The other one with the soft feeling head is still hanging on, but I do not think it will make it.

Well here are my rescued babies, 5 mixed, 1 JG and 1 BA, all seem to be doing well, or should I say, So far, so good.

 

[chickie_mama]

I am so sorry your JG did not make it!!!!!