Incubating Eggs from Road-side Stall?

[gimmie birdies]

I hatched these chicks from a feed store fridge. I buy them the same day they get put in the fridge. The air cells are small. The bad- She does wash them. She also stores them point up boo!. Some are clear. But in the end they are only $5 each carton. And I don't have to bother with a rooster. I also like the surprise chicks. Some are black. (dark eggs) some are Gray, (tan or blue eggs) and some are white or yellow, (blue eggs) and some are black and white or just white (white eggs.)

 

[DemeterAD9]

So far 3 pips (one on the wrong end) and one chick pipped and hatched within the 6hrs I was away from home.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Morning update, 3 have hatched and there are 5 others who have pipped. I had to help one chick that got stuck zippering, come to find out the membrane got dry and stuck to it's little wing/back feathers. It seems fine so far, just needs to fluff up. The other two got moved to the brooder.

2 pips on the wrong end, thought for sure with them being incubated fat end up the entire time that it wouldn't happen. Oh well, just means it's a good thing I actually handled them all and noticed otherwise they would of had a hard time hatching in the egg carton. I simply flipped them to face pointed end up, hope that works okay.

Of the shipped eggs two have pipped now, one has a white beak and I'm thinking it will be a light chick, as I'm typing this it is zipping like mad and will likely pop out in a few minutes! The egg with a huge air cell is still kicking. I cannot get it to chip but I do believe it is internally pipped as I can hear what I assume is the "chewing" they do, pretty sure I can hear the heart beat too! The other egg is still doing nothing.

For the road side eggs 2 of the medium browns and a tan egg have hatched, the first black chick has feathered legs. One green egg is pipped, still unsure what's going on with the one I cannot see through.

Will add photos soon!

 

[DemeterAD9]

5 are hatched and in the brooder. 3 are pipped, 2 are internally pipped (one being the large air cell shipped egg) and the last 3 are still doing nothing much.

Here are the first 5, the two cleanest yellow chicks are from the shipped batch.

 

[DemeterAD9]

2 more added to the brooder this morning! The green egg hatched as did one of the wrong end pips (a light cream egg). I heard the distress peeping at night and had to wake up both times to give them a hand, one was wedged just right between the egg cartons and the other was just sitting in the bottom half of the egg shell and apparently couldn't get out (think getting your butt stuck in a bucket lol). Both are super cute, one in particular makes me think it could be sex linked. It's black with a perfect dot on its head, another chick may very well be the same but it has more yellow on it's body and the dot is not as apparent.

I did the not-so-accurate wing sexing with the pin feathers and it suggests the possible sex linked chicks may indeed be male. So far 3/7 could be male, which would be nice as I plan to give a handful to a friend who has been supplying me with free eggs. She only wants hens. I'm just happy if they all come out happy and healthy!

6 eggs remaining, one that is pipped (and looks to be starting to zip), 2 talking inside the egg (I added safety holes last night) and still 3 not doing much. If the three are still making no progress by tonight I may break away the shell at the air cell end and see what's going on.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Well change of plans. I had to assist the pipped egg as it was not able to zipper properly, it was trying but all it was doing was a sort of vertical widening of the hole. I helped it out but it has some sticky goop all over it. There was no blood and no yolk so it was ready to come out.

I also gave the two internally pipped eggs a listen to. One had stopped peeping so I carefully opened it up and found the chick had died I think the membrane had gotten too dry so it was unable to move, a real shame as it was perfectly formed and the yolk was completely absorbed. Because this one had died I decided to help any other chicks that were still alive.

The other peeping egg was saved, the membrane was definitely stuck to parts of the chick. I got off what I could and it is drying out now. The remaining 3 eggs were goners, one had a severely deformed leg so it's probably a good thing it died. One looked to of died a couple days ago judging by the sunken eyes and unabsorbed yolk. And finally the last egg from the shipped batch was fully formed with a bit of unabsorbed yolk. Looks like the 3 were all upside down in the egg so malpositioning is to blame. If only I was a hour or two sooner I probably could of saved the other chick that was internally pipped.

So I am left with 9 chicks out of 13 eggs that went into lock down, 14 if you include the one I couldn't see through but suspected had no development (it did not). I hope the 2 I assisted pull through and are able to get their feet under them. There is still some membrane and goopy stuff stuck to them. Photos to come once everyone is in the brooder.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Everyone is doing well other than the last two I had to help. One acts like it is blind and the other has some leg/toe issues that I think I can fix. The one with leg/toe issues has eaten and I've shown it the water. It hobbles around pretty well despite having it's legs tethered together. The blind one won't eat or drink, I've put a few bits of chick crumbles in its mouth, some it swallowed some it spat out. I'll create a new thread to get some more advice for those two.

Here they all are, the sorry looking one is the blind one. It is dry but not fluffy. I already wiped it down with warm water last night and got some stuff off it so it's not as crusty. Poor thing tries to groom but falls over. First the problem chicks...

The first to hatch, only one with feathered legs

The two normal ones from the shipped eggs

Two who may be sex linked an male?

And the two cutest ones who look like they'll have pretty coloration

 

[DemeterAD9]

Everyone is still kicking! The two problem chicks are doing better now but appear to be stunted. Here’s to hoping they are still able to grow into full size adults.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Chicks are being integrated in with the 12 week olds. A few feathers were pulled but they know where the safe zone is, behind the makeshift "excluder" made of sticks. I kept 4 chicks are from the eggs in the thread, gave the other 5 to a friend. There's another 17 with them that came from a hatchery, they are about 1 week younger.

The one chick I kept from the roadside eggs, looking like a girl! Pretty tame and bold. Doesn't mind being picked up.

One of the 3 shipped eggs, this one is certainly a roo and the biggest. Other two look like girls, the runty chick has been thriving but it's hard to get decent photos with the chaos of 21 chicks running around. The poor white chicks are being targeted by the older birds too. This chick in particular also had his tail feathers pecked at the base a week ago, I accidentally let them run out of food when I slept in too long. Luckily it was a one time incident.