ELeVan ~ Honaker Farm Journal

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Sorry to hear about you DH.

I am also sorry to hear about your duck eggs. What were/are you tempature and humidity throughout incubation? You can give your eggs a couple more days, escpecially if your temperature was low.

When you open up the eggs to check them, start from the big end (air sac) and gently make a crack. Start peeling off the shell and once you see the membrane you should be able to see the chick moving. If the chick is moving then go ahead and continue peeling the shell only. Once a good part of the shell is peeled, wet the membrane with some warm water. You will see blood vessels/veins. This is normal. Try not to injury them. Start peeling the membrane and stop if you see blood.*
Continue peeling and if you can, either make a "Zip" around the egg and membrane or you may be able to help the chick get out of the egg completely. That is up to you and the particular situation. Try not to rush them however, you may have to peel a little, put the egg back in the bator. Peel a little, put the egg back.

*If you see blood, put some blood stop powder, corn starch or flour on the bleeding spot. Take the egg and wrap it in a moist towel. Take care not to block up the chicks air space or head. Place the egg back into the incubator and check on it again in a little bit. Once the egg has been in the incubator a while and the bleeding has stopped, continue helping him/her out.


Always remember to start from the top (Fat end) of the egg and go through the air sac. Never start from the pointy end! There are more blood vessels/veins down there and you will risk rupturing them.

You may find a couple of live ones, I wouldn't be too surprised if you did. Be prepared to find some dead ones though. It does happen and most likely you will find at least one dead one. It can be sad, but try not to let your emotions take over. You seem like a pretty strong farm gal, so you may not have that problem.


Don't be afraid to use tweezers, scissors etc. Making the chick an air hole should be your top priority.

Good Luck!

 

[TTs Chicks]

What a stressful thing - glad DH is ok

 

[elevan]

Thanks for the egg input Sunny. Temp has been a constant 99.5-100* and humidity was 51-55% until the last few days when we bumped it to 65-70%. We'll give the cracking / checking a shot tomorrow and see what we see.

Thank you everyone for the hugs and support. DH had this same type of infection about 10 years ago so I'm familiar with it. However, the only other time in the 15 years that we've been married that he has fainted was when he worked a 15 hour shift and didn't eat a thing. So what scared me the most about this episode was the fainting.

DH was feeling 100%+ better by 6:30 this evening. I needed to go to the store and he said he'd put the chickens in for me. Ok.

Well now I'm ticked off at DH. I came home to the evening egg basket on the counter and at the top were a bunch of duck eggs! He let the boys collect eggs and they took the eggs that were under Hershey!!! I was not very nice in my blow up and then stormed out to put the eggs back under her. I've specifically told everyone that the boys are not allowed to collect eggs while we have broodys...for this very reason. Does anyone listen to me? Apparently not. It seems that I'm destined to not hatch out duck eggs She's been sitting on them less than a week so I'm hoping that all will be ok...

3 guinea eggs collected today...which verifies my guinea hen suspicions. I'm really hoping to get 4 eggs in a day cause "chicken" is really leaving me hanging as to whether it is a boy or a girl guinea.

Think I might have a buyer for Little Boy. Actually there are 2 people interested in him.

 

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Thanks for the egg input Sunny. Temp has been a constant 99.5-100* and humidity was 51-55% until the last few days when we bumped it to 65-70%. We'll give the cracking / checking a shot tomorrow and see what we see.

Sounds like perfect conditions to me. Unless fertility is the issue? Keep me posted on what you find tomorrow!

Glad to hear your DH is doing better.

 

[elevan]

I did a check on fertility of those type of eggs prior to popping some in the bator. They were fertile. But then Hardy has been chasing the guineas lately so maybe he's been partially neglecting the ducks...crazy drake!

 

[elevan]

If you have a Menards near you and are in need of hardware cloth go before Sunday 4/8. I just got 3 rolls for $12-14 off the regular price! I went there for roofing panels that were on sale but they were only $2 off and go on sale frequently. I needed the hardware cloth since I'll be building a hoop coop and a quail pen soon anyway.

 

[elevan]

Ok...I just cracked open 2 of the eggs from the bator to check them. I chose 2 because a couple had a yellowish tint to them and the others were darker.

First one...yellowish tint...was a rotten egg So I threw it away and the other 2 that were yellowish tinted.

Second one had a fully formed, dead duckling inside

So my plan is to leave the 8 darker tinted eggs in the bator a couple more days to see what happens. If they don't hatch by Sunday I'll discard them.

 

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Ok...I just cracked open 2 of the eggs from the bator to check them. I chose 2 because a couple had a yellowish tint to them and the others were darker.

First one...yellowish tint...was a rotten egg So I threw it away and the other 2 that were yellowish tinted.

Second one had a fully formed, dead duckling inside

So my plan is to leave the 8 darker tinted eggs in the bator a couple more days to see what happens. If they don't hatch by Sunday I'll discard them.

I told you it wouldn't be easy.

It took me 4 hours to open 14 unhatched eggs. 6 of my unhatched had live chicks, 8 eggs had either dead chicks or non developed ones. Non of the 6 live chicks lived, even the one that I got completely out of the egg and looked good. It was very sad, but you can't let it keep you down. You have to get up, brush yourself off and try again.

I personally won't throw eggs away without opening them all. I treat them as if they are alive, and be gentle. You just may find a live chick.

I have been thinking about you a lot today and your unhatched eggs. Keep me posted on the darker eggs.

Good Luck!

 

[elevan]

Ok...I'll open them Sunday evening and that I've got some live ones that can make it if they don't hatch on their own by then.

 

[elevan]

Everyone at Honaker Farm wishes all of those who celebrate Easter a happy day. And to everyone a wonderful weekend!

We'll be having family over tomorrow and cooking a feast as we always do for every holiday. B and I have decided to try a new recipe...one that he is very excited about - Dandelion Fritters! B is my wild eating and foraging buddy and the thought of eating those yellow flowers all over the yard makes him very giddy. This boy thinks about food constantly and if he's happy to snack on flowers then I'm happy he's making a positive choice K and my mom think that we're weird