Setting Feb 16, want to join in>Hatch-Along

[heyheypaula]

Well, all my chicks were dead. I think they were shrink wrapped? I'm not sure. I'm pretty upset. This whole experience has been just awful and disappointing for me. I feel terrible for the chicks. Maybe I fussed with them too much? My humidity was sometimes VERY low during the beginning of incubation? Or do they shrinkwrap due to loss of humidity from opening the incubator during lockdown?

Silkie:

Silkie:

Maran:

Maran, Day 12 quitter?

 

[MommaSampson]

Sorry Paula! I'm not sure about the shrink wrapping. Hopefully someone with more experience can tell you. I can empathize about this hatch being more difficult. I feel the same way.

 

[hokankai]

I'm so sorry . It does not look like they are shrink wrapped, that inner membrane is very close to their body normally.

This is what I can gather from your pictures:

1: this poor baby is upside-down. Unfortunately most malpositioned chicks die because they can't get to the membrane. Not your fault!
2: looks like there is a LOT of fluid in that egg. Was there fluid in the air cell? That's what it looks like in the pictures. What as your humidity throughout incubation?
3: can't really tell on this one
4: could have been anything really

Well, all my chicks were dead. I think they were shrink wrapped? I'm not sure. I'm pretty upset. This whole experience has been just awful and disappointing for me. I feel terrible for the chicks. Maybe I fussed with them too much? My humidity was sometimes VERY low during the beginning of incubation? Or do they shrinkwrap due to loss of humidity from opening the incubator during lockdown?

Silkie:


Silkie:


Maran:


Maran, Day 12 quitter?

 

[mammat]

You cannot open your incubator during lockdown. I really am one of the most impatient people I know but you just have to leave them alone and not handle them too much. I hand turned some of mine in a second hand hovabator still air and they all hatched. I candled maybe 4 times the whole time. You just have to leave them be. I run about 35-40% humidity until day 18 then 65% until hatch. I have only ever had one fertilized egg not hatch and that was this time. I am sorry they died. Dont give up! You can try again! What kind of incubator are you using?

 

[mammat]

Quote: I had one splay legged baby and i used a rubberband with tape in the middle to hobble it. She is doing great! I may be able to take the hobble off tommorrow. Look at this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/318395/spraddle-leg-treatment-for-feather-legged-chicks This is working way better than bandaid for me. I used a thin rubberband instead of a hair tie and cut it down tied a knot and put tape over the knot. She dosent seem to mind it at all and it walking around just like the others now.

 

[frankensusan]

I had one splay legged baby and i used a rubberband with tape in the middle to hobble it. She is doing great! I may be able to take the hobble off tommorrow. Look at this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/318395/spraddle-leg-treatment-for-feather-legged-chicks This is working way better than bandaid for me. I used a thin rubberband instead of a hair tie and cut it down tied a knot and put tape over the knot. She dosent seem to mind it at all and it walking around just like the others now.

oh cool. I took her out of the chick chair, she was miserable. it was more like a hen hammock, I'll get the picture off the camera sometime. Poor thing. But while she was there I was finally able to get a vetwrap hobble. She was still sitting on her hocks last time I checked but it is better than trying to put her leg up by her ear. I'm afraid there is something more serious going on, maybe the tendon problem I read about. I told myself she has 48 hours to show improvement or I have to let her go. And now I'm actually wondering... but she may be the one that I had to help a little... maybe she didn't need the help, but she had zipped all the way around and was just kind of pushing out on the shell less and less more and more weak, the membrane was just so thick. so all I did was snip a few parts of the membrane so that it would break....

Picture day is tomorrow.

Susan & the Cochin Crew

 

[frankensusan]

oh cool. I took her out of the chick chair, she was miserable. it was more like a hen hammock, I'll get the picture off the camera sometime. Poor thing. But while she was there I was finally able to get a vetwrap hobble. She was still sitting on her hocks last time I checked but it is better than trying to put her leg up by her ear. I'm afraid there is something more serious going on, maybe the tendon problem I read about. I told myself she has 48 hours to show improvement or I have to let her go. And now I'm actually wondering... but she may be the one that I had to help a little... maybe she didn't need the help, but she had zipped all the way around and was just kind of pushing out on the shell less and less more and more weak, the membrane was just so thick. so all I did was snip a few parts of the membrane so that it would break....

Picture day is tomorrow.

Susan & the Cochin Crew

banty black cochin

stuffy hen to hide under in case of cats (the lid snaps on, has wire top, and the door to the room stays closed, but you can never have enough options when there are cats in the house.

omg. don't hate me! This is the helping hand hen hammock... She's out of the hammock now.

the medium grey (blue) LF cochin girls. there's also a dark and a light LF cochin, but their pics will be taken tomorrow.

Little splay light LF cochin took some special birdy electrolite juice and is getting spoiled with handling.

I'm sorry for the losses so many had, I am convinced that winter hatchings are harder.

Susan

 

[hokankai]

Woke up and found one of the sizzle babies hatched . It's day 21 for them now.

 

[heyheypaula]

I'm so sorry . It does not look like they are shrink wrapped, that inner membrane is very close to their body normally.

This is what I can gather from your pictures:

1: this poor baby is upside-down. Unfortunately most malpositioned chicks die because they can't get to the membrane. Not your fault!
2: looks like there is a LOT of fluid in that egg. Was there fluid in the air cell? That's what it looks like in the pictures. What as your humidity throughout incubation?
3: can't really tell on this one
4: could have been anything really

It looked like they were shrink wrapped to me because when I pipped through the shell with tweezers both membranes were very tight to the chicks. It was obvious they had all been dead for a couple days and I think that accounts for all of the fluid seen in #2 and another silkie egg that I didn't take a picture of. I was pretty bad and opened the incubator a couple of times to candle them after lockdown and my house is very dry so I can only guess that is what went wrong? I also changed incubators from a Farm Innovators forced air incubator to a Brinsea 20 Eco on day 16 or so... The Brinsea holds temp + humidity great but the Farm innovator was a little wonky in the holding humidity department. Sometimes I would wake up in the morning and humidity had dropped from 35% to 14%... The Maran egg #4 appears to be the same as my lavender Orpington that I culled, they both stopped developing I think on day 12 when I took them all out of the egg cartons to lay down. Over all I think I just messed up by touching them and fussing with them and opening the incubator too much... I will try again I think and just not touch anything!!!!

 

[gryeyes]

House Silkie Sparkle still has only two chicks, but she definitely didn't want me to take the three eggs away. I picked each up, looked for pips and listened for peeping, then set them back down in front of her. She inspected each, then tucked them one by one back under herself.

She's not willing to give up on them yet. Luckily, she has been nesting in a brooder bin, so the two chicks have easy access to feed and water. I think I can afford to let her sit on those eggs for another two or thee days; when using an incubator, I don't chuck eggs until day 25. I have had late chicks, so Sparkle will get that same opportunity to hatch these.