Who is with me?

[riqui1]

OH! I never thought of it being the outer membrane! And it does flex right with him...whenever he pushes against it, I can clearly see the outline of his little beak.

When I did the water, I used just a tiny little bit and I made sure it was at a time when he wasn't pushing against it. I realize that I still don't know where his beak is, but it was the only thing I could think of, as I am still very intimidated by this!!

Gonna try taking a dink here in a minute. Why would the membrane have gotten like that before he got through it, if he got the egg cracked?

 

[riqui1]

Okay, what would YOU use to dink that membrane? I have a pair of tweezers that have a good pointy end, but I am afraid to poke him!! He is right there wiggling around... I am such a chicken!!

 

[riqui1]

Okay, did it...made a little tiny hole and he shoved his beak right through it. WHEW! I stuck him back in the incubator, but should I do anything else for him - wrap him or anything or should he be good to go on his own now?

 

[riqui1]

My husband woke me up this morning by asking me how many chicks were in the incubator last night. When I told him none, his response was "Well, you have a sh$% load of them in there now!" lol

So far, there are nine little ones in there. At least, that's what I have counted. Here is a pic of the ones I could get.

As for the egg that was starting last night, I found out from my son, who actually did the honors of dink that membrane, that there was already a hole there. He just found it and pulled it back a little. For some reason, that little guy is still in his egg this morning and it looks as if he has turned away from the hole. My intentions are to pull him out every so often and see if I can help him a little at a time. If anyone thinks that this is a bad idea, let me know. I did see one of this little things backing itself out of its shell when I woke up this morning. I thought that it was interesting that it was coming out butt first.

Now, if humidity was what caused all of my other eggs (14 of 16) to be shrink wrapped, what happened here? Why did, apparently, none of these have that issue? They were in the same bator and for a longer period of time! I would love some ideas on that...

I will let you know the outcome of this one...

 

[chickie_mama]

OMG!!!! What cute babies!!!! I love 'em! Good Job!!!

 

[walkswithdog]

Why the difference in hatch when in the same bator? Eggs differ from hen to hen and species to species in porousity. Guineas are in general exceedingly vigorous hatchers in any case.

Sometimes a chick can flex out the outer membrane without tearing it and break loose the shell like that, seen it several times here. As if t hey push to hard with their head or back and shatter the exterior instead of tearing/pipping with the beak.

I use pointy end tweezers to open membranes - a little pinch isn't going to do more than make it sqwack. Sorry I was AFK but leaving town and a spitload of work to do.

If he's still in the egg, it's time to get him out and not very slowly even. He's stuck. If he's turned around you might be looking at a leg problem. Or something out of place so he can't stretch and push now. Luck, let me know if he makes it.

 

[riqui1]

I had been working at helping him all morning - opening the shell some, peeling back the membrane some. There never seemed to be a problem. He was looking at me the whole time and would peep every once in a while. There was never any blood or any indication of a problem. He just didn't seem to want out. As soon as I got him out of his shell and into the incubator, he stretched out as big as he could...and then just quit breathing. I just had two of them do the exact same thing. It makes me wonder if there wasn't something that wasn't just right with them and they just weren't meant to be hatched. They both got to know what it felt like to stretch out before they went though, so I guess that makes me feel a little better.

I will get better pics of them on here for you guys soon.

 

[walkswithdog]

He wasn't well then, it's the internal stuff you can't see that makes some of them not go. At least he had your company and got to stretch out. If you hadnt done that much he'd never have had any kind of caring contact. This was better. They DO know you are working with them. Some of them just aren't primed to go once the stresses of living on their own are there. Whatever is going on internally that is weak, just wins. At least you fought, you know you tried, you gave him a shot at it. Hugs

 

[riqui1]

I found another egg that hadn't hatched yet. As soon as I picked it up, I could hear the faint but persistent peeping. I found the small crack in the egg and worked it for him. He had the same situation...he wasn't making any progress at all, but he was alive and wanted out. He is lying in the incubator now. He doesn't look as bad as the others did - they were soaked, slimy and tiny

My son noticed, when he came out, that there weren't very many feathers on his chest. I just now noticed that I can see through his skin on his chest...literally. I wish I hadn't helped him, as now I have to figure out how to cull him, apparently.

I also have another chick that is smaller than the rest, can't seem to find his balance, has a bad foot (turned sideways) AND he has a bulge of some sort on his behind. It almost looks like a bubble.

Any thoughts on how to handle these two? What could be wrong with the one that is up and hobbling around - if there is something I can do for him or not.

 

[riqui1]

I had to cull the one with the bubble on his behind. It kept getting larger and larger. I had posted over on the emergency board and was told that there was a good chance that it was intestines. I believe that they were right. I couldn't watch the poor little thing suffer anymore.

There is one little guy left in the bator. He seems to be getting stronger.