Before bed, we (my husband and I) made the decision to help the little chick a bit. We helped crack the egg all the way around, using the existing crack already there. Now he should be able to break out of it, so we thought.
When we woke up in the morning, he was still in the shell, but now he looks like he’s stuck to it. It’s all dried around him. Using a spray bottle with warm water and tweezers and fingernails, we slowly and carefully pulled the shell off of him. Sure enough, the membrane was dried up and stuck to him. His right wing was stuck on this head and covered his eye. We carefully dropped droplets of water to moisten the membrane and peeled it off him. He only lost a few feathers in the process.
OK, I need to stop here for a minute to clarify something. I keep referring to this little chick, and maybe others, as “he”. We have no idea which ones are hens and which are roosters. That won’t be known until they are about 3 weeks old, and they will be at their farm by then.
Back to the little chick… After he was successfully out of the shell, we put him back in the incubator to warm up and dry a bit. We tried putting him in the Brooder, but he was just too cold and the others pecked at him. “A” insists they were picking on him. So back to the incubator he went. Later we moved him to the Brooder, even though he was still wet – well he looks wet, but it could be all the goo stuck to him – and not able to walk well yet. He just flops around. He tries to walk, but flops instead. I hope he makes it. The other chicks peck at him, but I think they are trying to clean him up, not be mean.
We spent some family time in the evening holding the chicks and playing with them a bit. They are funny the way they hop and peck. They were pecking at my fingernails.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment