YO GEORGIANS! :)

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So, funny chick story for me today:
I've had my chicks a couple days and estimate them at close to a week old since I got them from TSC. I've been offering them a little bit of grit with their food so, I figure, why not try giving them a treat today?
I have some strawberries in my fridge that have started to go a bit wilty, so I snagged one and took it to the brooder and offered it to the most dominant chick first, (a RIR I've dubbed Peppercorn) figuring that once she started going for it the rest would follow. The plan was to let most of the chicks have a taste or so and then take it away for a while so their little tummies can get used to new things slowly...

But that's not what happened.
Peppercorn took one hard look at that strawberry, jumped as if startled, made this strange trilling cheep and fell backwards all over herself in her haste to get away and then ran all the way to the other side of the brooder peeping the whole way! I wish I'd had a camera!
lau.gif
And for the life of me I could not get her to warm up to that strawberry! Every time I moved it towards her she screamed and ran away! I even tried leaving it on the ground for a while and in the food bowl for a bit and she (and the others too) would just eye it suspiciously and eat from the other side of the dish. I don't know if it was the color or what, but they were not having it!
 
ShadesofSable said:
So, funny chick story for me today:
I've had my chicks a couple days and estimate them at close to a week old since I got them from TSC. I've been offering them a little bit of grit with their food so, I figure, why not try giving them a treat today?
I have some strawberries in my fridge that have started to go a bit wilty, so I snagged one and took it to the brooder and offered it to the most dominant chick first, (a RIR I've dubbed Peppercorn) figuring that once she started going for it the rest would follow. The plan was to let most of the chicks have a taste or so and then take it away for a while so their little tummies can get used to new things slowly...

But that's not what happened.
Peppercorn took one hard look at that strawberry, jumped as if startled, made this strange trilling cheep and fell backwards all over herself in her haste to get away and then ran all the way to the other side of the brooder peeping the whole way! I wish I'd had a camera! :lau  And for the life of me I could not get her to warm up to that strawberry! Every time I moved it towards her she screamed and ran away! I even tried leaving it on the ground for a while and in the food bowl for a bit and she (and the others too) would just eye it suspiciously and eat from the other side of the dish. I don't know if it was the color or what, but they were not having it!
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:lau so cute!!

This makes me feel better. My chicks NEVER want treats and freak out the same way. I've never had chicks that like special stuff. A friend of mine guilts me (hers always love it, even chicks she gets FROM me).
 
Okay. Morning update not good guys.

The one side-pipper had sat all night long with no progress- like, zero from where it was a evening (giant blow-out hole on side of egg).. Which I suspected it would do. But was still very active and normal-acting so I popped it right out of the shell. Literally like a five second assist. Easiest I've ever had lol. It's fine now, perfectly normal.

The Brahmas. Three of the five were dead in shell so I pulled them.

The other two have internally pipped so I left them. They're cheeping and all but I don't hold a lot of hope.

:(

I wish I understood more about why chicks die at certain times. My suspicion here is the wide humidity swings I had at lockdown this hatch. From mid-70's to 20's, 30's and up again to normal.

But why wouldn't that kill them all? Any other reason eggs that make it just fine to lockdown just, die during?
 
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Carcar, here is what I know. If, during incubation, the temperature is too high, it can draw more moisture out of the egg and create too much air space and the chick doesn't have room to grow right. Too high of a temp can also harden the shell too much and the chicks can't break thru them. Think of the term 'baked on enamel'

If the temperature is too low, not enough moisture is taken out of the egg and the air space is too small and so when they internally pip, they run out of air before they can pip out and they suffocate.

The same thing about humidity but in reverse. Too much humidity during incubation doesn't allow for the air space to get bigger, so the chick ends up drowning at the end.
Too little humidity and the air space grows larger and there is too little room for the chick to grow into.

That's why it is important for balance. The egg should lose 13% of it's weight from start to lockdown. Small fluctuations of humidity during the first 18 days of incubation is ok as long as it balances out to a 13% total weight loss by lockdown. So don't obsess about having the humidity off a % or two from day to day.

The increase in humidity during lockdown is so the membrane gets soft enough to break thru. Not enough humidity makes the membrane harder. (Think of it like a wet paper towel....it just tears apart easily) Too much humidity at lockdown, though, can also cause the chicks to drown before they can pip out.

Most books recommend humidity be between 35-45% for first 18 days. Then 55-65% during lockdown.
Temp should be 99.5-100 during first 18 days and then to be reduced just a tad at lockdown. (The idea here is that the hatching chicks will create lots more heat)
It is also extremely important to remove all air plugs after the first 10 days of incubation. They need all the oxygen they can get. Some people never even use the plugs.

I'm sure you know all this, just thought I would refresh your memory. Best of luck with your Brahmas!
 
Thank you flower. I do know my humidity runs very low during incubation, compared to what most do. However, my air cells are always spot-on so I stopped stressing over it this year. That's the thing though.. I can't figure any reason they die when everything looks right??

Anyway. There's always next weekend (and each one after, lol) for better luck and more learning. What I NEED to do is get a cabinet. Sigh.

One of the two Brahmas JUST pipped. :clap

Flowerbh said:
All that being said, I finally have pips!
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Woohoo!!! Is this day 22/23 for you also? I can't remember. I set late on set days too so I'm always having to remind myself I'm not AS late as I feel.
 

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