Who is with me?

[chickie_mama]

Good luck with the newest babies!!!!!

 

[walkswithdog]

Well my little backwards late egg is slowly hatching. LOL with help. Teach him to be backwards in a PULLET egg, no room in the inn to turn around after you make the first wrong turn then grow.

At least over time I can see on final candle when one is backwards, or when it's likely and watch for stuckedness.

Nothing from the turkeys yet......... sitting on hands. At least they appear to be right way round.

 

[chickie_mama]

Stuckedness??????

Let us know how he turns out.

Still waiting for the turkeys!

 

[walkswithdog]

Stuckedness just somehow fits better than just plain old stuck, especially in a pullet egg.

Little bugger is slowly kicking his way out of his egg half and press-n-seal sleeping bag. Beginning to peep with more energy now he's not so squished.

 

[countrybum]

Stuckedness is cute.

Fingers crossed for the little one.

I would love a happy ending for one backward baby. Mine never seem to do well even after they are out of the egg.

My little ones are sipping around. Do not know if I will be able to sleep tonight. Temp and Humidity is all good and I have been checking it every few hours.

Next due are my Red Golden Pheasant, sure hope I have not screwed them up. I have 11 fertile and growing. On the 9th I have 5 Guinea and I think a duck or 2, will know more when I check again, waiting for everyone to hatch before I open the bator for to long.

Have to go roll the others. Good night everyone.

 

[walkswithdog]

Good morning - Stucky made it! And that's what he's stuck with for a name. So there. Making me work that hard.

When I do help I've learned to do it really slowly, in tiny steps, giving them an opportunity to catch up and do it themselves along the way. Sometimes just a pip, a tiny portion of zip and some membrane damping and they flip around and get it done. So I let it take 12-14 hours. I have found the longer I let it take, usually the better they do.

Kicking out of the press-n-seal sleeping bag also really seems to get them that extra push. Before I used it, I think they were cooling too much in damp towels/paper towels. Since I've used it instead of evaporative material to contain heat and moisture I've had better results.

If I didn't hatch atypical eggs I wouldn't have as many that need help but I do so I take that responsibility. I have been banding those I've helped out differently. So far no differences. Including poults so ... guess it's working for me. The oldest group of helped poults is 8 weeks, there are seven in the group - three were helped out. They're doing well, no differences visible, in fact Brit, who was helped out first is one of the toughest biggest poults. And Marin, also helped, is the idiot that flew out of the six foot high pen the other day and survived the night in the damp alone.

Ponder is... 24 weeks, the oldest of this flock that I helped, healthy, laying, foraging on free range. Don't know what else can be expected of a bird. In my first flock, that I had to give up, I had three and four year old birds without problems who'd been helped so I don't know what "consequences" people are talking about.

Hmmm I ramble... more

I might have mentioned I hatched something rather than sleep. LOL. If I were a broody I'd die of sleep deprivation.

 

[countrybum]

Congrats to Stuck. You seem to be better with helping than I am, I guess I need to take lessons from you. Are you available weekends, I only live in Missouri.

Over night my 2 ducks hatched and 5 Guineas.
While I was in town I had 2 more Guineas hatch and the last is on the way.

7 Guineas are brown and black while 1 Guinea is silver, I guess that one came from the mailman.

I know my friends Guineas all look the same, so I have no clue. I tried calling her to see if she had silver, but she is not home, so I wait.

I will post pictures as soon is the last one is out, waiting to see if it is silver also.

UPDATE:

The last one is just about out and I think this one is from the mailman also. Will know more when it dries.

Last Guinea is out, so there are 6 brown and black and 2 silver, along with my 2 ducks. Will post picture as soon as I get a chance.

Next to come are the Red Golden Pheasants and the group of 5 Guineas. RGP are due around the 7th and the Guineas around the 9th.

 

[chickie_mama]

Yay for Stucky!!!

I am with CB when it comes to helping! I get in too big of a hurry!

My lone little guinea is chipmunk colored. Maybe your silver ones will either be white or lavendar.

I still haven't found anyone close by me that has guinea eggs for sale. The closest I've found was about 2 1/2 hours away. I'll keep looking!

Still looking for Blue Slates.....

Butter and Buzz went out into the teenage coop today. Oh how they grow!

 

[countrybum]

I looked them up at the Cackle Hatchery website and I have 6 Pearl and 2 Lavendar. Never expected the Lavendar form all Pearl Guineas, but the gene must be in there somewhere. Could have gave me a couple whites also.

UPDATE:

My worse fear has came true. My Red Golden Pheasant are being shrink wrapped in their eggs. They were in the incubator at the time I was having a lot of complications and the others were getting shrink wrapped, but part of them are fine. So my friend Heidi thinks the eggs were just older than the others.

So a couple questions for my hatching mates: NEED HELP QUICK.

I have 7 days before the babies are 23 days along. I will candle again in 4 days to make sure everyone is still alive.

When would you do an emergency hatch?
1) When one of the good eggs pip
2) Or when you see a beak in the air sac of an egg

I am going to try WWD's way and just peel and keep moist, so WWD, tell me exactly what you did please.

I just cannot believe this. Heidi thinks he sent older F2 eggs and that is why they are like that, because the others air sac is fine. I am determined to make this work, so we will see how it goes.

 

[walkswithdog]

Hey CB. I candle to check the air sac - usually if they're too dry it's huge. Be careful it may look empty but that is often quite shallow. So I check. I'm very careful about dates and never fiddle with an unpipped egg before the end of day 21 for chicks and 28 for turkeys.

Then I pip it and get it big enough to shine a light in. You can see breathing that way and if there's a tear in the membrane. Depending on how dry it looks, often there will be a tiny tear but the chick is gaping and soundless. Be careful but use a q-tip moistened with hot water and just wipe the interior membrane. Always use a clean q tip since this process can take hours. Dont soak in there - you don't want to drown anyone.

Then I make a "sleeping bag" of pressnseal leaving enough room for air to get in and put it back. Every few hours I check, dampen, sometimes I'll stretch the membrane a little with the q-tip. If the chick has a chance, usually as things loosen up they begin to move more and begin to peep. The hardest part is just dampening and putting back.

Rush and you'll tear a membrane that's not ready or pop out a chick with everything not absorbed. Little bits, like the chick would. Carefully moving more tiny bits of egg and outer shell, see more membrane - dampen that.

Sometimes just a few rounds of damp and you get better peeping, movement and kicking and that little sucker goes on to hatch itself.

I stopped liking the damp cloth methods because evaporation might dampen but it also cools and the last thing a weak chick needs is to cool off. So I shifted to press n seal sticky side out as a sleeping bag. Keeps moisture IN, prevents heat loss.

The two I am worried about are doing slightly better.