Have fun at the swap PsychoPeep. That's quite a list you have there...nothing like jumping in with both feet, eh? You sound a little like me a couple months ago. I came to my senses...not really...and sold some. Had to make room for all these chicks I'm hatching out. I am addicted to hatching chicks already. Make sure you quarantine all these new birds so if they have cooties your chicks don't get sick.
Sorry about your Aunt BigFam. 64 seems so young now that I am, a-hem, ...getting older.
Speaking of hatch addiction. I have a chick in triage right now. I had 9 out of 10 hatch and the 10th one didn't pip at all but was peeping like crazy. It was like, HELP ME! At least that's what I heard. So I pipped for it and opened a small window. I could see the little bugger tightly shrink wrapped inside. Part of me said, "let it go Lisa. This is going to be a pain in the butt." Well, that part of me, the part that sees reason, lost, and my heart said to help it. I wrapped it up in a wet paper towel and put it back in the bator. In the morning it was still alive and not as shrink wrapped so I opened more shell and moistened up the membranes. It started peeping a lot less and wearing itself out struggling, but its leg was over it's head so I delivered it a couple of hours ago. Still alive but just laying in the bator on a paper towel. The yolk was absorbed, but the navel is just a little open yet. Stressfull...I hope little Shrinky Dink makes it. It's pretty week and just sleeping on the bottom of the bator occasionally trying to thrash around, but not getting anywhere. Seems perfectly formed and has both eyes and all. Any suggestions?? Have any of you guys done something like this an pulled a non-pipper out of the egg? As tightly wrapped as it was it would have never made it out. I am pretty sure I just have to wait and see what happens.
No idea how this one baby got shrink wrapped so bad, the rest were just fine and humidity 70-80% was consistently fogging the windows of the incubator.
Lisa