Good news, Baby is alive, and appears to have food in it's crop! :rofl:

 

At first it wasn't moving, but Matthew said, "maybe it's sleeping" so I nudged it, and it stretched it's tiny winglets! :rofl:

 

 

 

 

I rolled it onto it's back to check it's crop, but I couldn't see it well, so I picked it up briefly, then put it back down, that's why it's moved in the second picture.

 

By the way, those eggs all look white to me, so fertile? I can almost imagine one is pink if I squint. Opinions?

 

Also, Baby has normal eyes. :rofl:

 

:rofl: :rofl:

 

 

 

Now for a study in egg candling, featuring Finnie and Phoebe's nests:

 

 

Top right egg appears whiter, no?

 

Here's with the light:

 

 

 

 

 

Top right is pink and fertile, as is bottom left, though it is hard to see it with the glare.

 

Another view with no light,

 

 

I can just barely tell that the top right and bottom left are whiter than the other two.

A good lesson.

 

On to Finnies nest.

 

 

 

In the top photo, the main lit up egg looks clear. It doesnt' really show, but in real life, I think the two eggs flanking it were fertile.

 

In the second photo, even though the egg glows a yellowish color, I can see veins and something else developing, so I'm saying it is fertile. :rofl:

 

Now for the view with out the light:

 

 

 

 

If you go back and forth looking at the candle pics and these, it seems to confirm that in the very top photo, there is a clear egg flanked by two fertile (whiter) eggs.

 

However, figuring out which one is the "clear looking one with veins", it is kind of lying in a trio, and it appears pinker that the other two in the trio. This confirms that I would guess it to be a clear egg, BUT having seen the veins, I know that is not right. My conclusion is that it is more newly laid, and has had time to develope the veins we see, but not time to turn the whole egg whiter. My bet is that in a day or two, this egg will turn whiter. (Of course, Finnie will have rearranged them, and I will never know which one it is.)

Edited January 4, 201015 yr by Finnie

Well, tonight's egg count is Finnie,8, Phoebe,5, and Colleen,6 (+ 1 live, well-fed chick, who seems bigger already!)

 

Apparently Finnie is not reading this thread, and didn't know she was supposed to stop at 7 :rofl:

 

 

 

These are Phoebe's:

 

 

And here's our little star :rofl: :

 

 

I guess I would normally excpect to see the next one hatch tomorrow, if things were on the right track. But if this one were a little early, then there will probably be a little more time before the second one, wouldn't there? I guess I will keep an open mind, and not worry about number two until it gets here. :rofl:

So cute :rofl: glad to see its doing well :rofl:

So cute glad to see its doing well

 

 

Thank you! I have in my mind to check it's cere, but so far it hasn't been a priority, and it didn't happen to show up in the photo, either. Maybe tomorrow

Well, tonight's egg count is Finnie,8, Phoebe,5, and Colleen,6 (+ 1 live, well-fed chick, who seems bigger already!)

 

Apparently Finnie is not reading this thread, and didn't know she was supposed to stop at 7

 

 

 

These are Phoebe's:

 

 

And here's our little star :

 

 

I guess I would normally excpect to see the next one hatch tomorrow, if things were on the right track. But if this one were a little early, then there will probably be a little more time before the second one, wouldn't there? I guess I will keep an open mind, and not worry about number two until it gets here.

 

well dont be to suprized if number two comes next day

i find with my eighteen day incubatours the chicks come one and two day after each other then three the 4th day and back to every other day from three on

all birds are diffrent though

 

i love my pet types

i will never get ride of them

show birds are pretty but as ren says a pretty big pain in but also lol

you need percistance and time

with pets its more about colour breeding and mutation s

where as with the show birds you try and not mix mutations up so....

i keep pets for colour breeding and compositive breeding of mutations in the one bird

and show i breed to better improve the quality and structure of one particular mutation

 

my pets always save the show chicks though from that first night of not being feed

i never came a crossed a pet type who has not fed a chick yet or who hasnt hatched all its eggs

mind you i never craddled pet eggs but its a good lessen to learn and its exiting to see the little life inside the egg

but i would only do it one time half way through incubation as the light can harm the new chick and cause it to become addled

this is true and i dont care who does not agree with me

Edited January 5, 201015 yr by GenericBlue

Look! Siblings!!

 

 

This time I wasn't sad when I saw the empty egg shell. Well, they are 2 days apart, as GB predicted.

 

I know it's a little early, but I'm going to get on record my guess as to their genders at this tender age, so I can look back later and see if I was right. Cere on chick 2, above, looks very very pink. Cere on chick 1, below, looks quite pale in comparison, so I'm saying: Chick 1-girl, chick 2-boy. (I'm not saying I'm right, this is just to test myself. Once we know what they all turn out to be, I will check my accuracy. )

 

You can even see the egg tooth still on the beak!

 

At two days old, it looks like I can see tiny down feathers coming in. Would this be correct timing for that? Cuz when I was checking them tonight, it looked like Chick 1's down will be white, which is what I would expect from a girl who has an opaline father. (Of course, with down this short, I could easily think grey down looked white anyway. Time will tell.)

Oops. I started reading posts while I waited for my new pics to upload to Photobucket, and I forgot to go back!

 

So here is last night's update:

 

Finnie now has 9 eggs!

 

 

Phoebe is holding at 5, so I wonder if that's it for her. That could make her available for fostering. But she and Bailey are the ones whose chicks were supposed to help me unravel their genetics, so why couldn't SHE have been the one with nine! Murphy's law, I guess.

 

 

I was trying to look at the colors of these eggs to guess fertility, but I think that the doors to the nest boxes cause shadows. In a lot of my pictures, the eggs at the top look whiter than the ones at the bottom. But then, so do the nesting materials. Plus the differences are so subtle, that I think I'm going to give up trying to figure it out and just wait to see what hatches. (I do, however, think the one with the smiley face is fertile! )

well fed babies

Love the candling shots! Well done!

 

I really love to see the very first stages of egg development. Sometimes early on at the veins and blob stage you can actually see the tiny heart of the embryo beating away.

 

Now the excitement of seeing what colour the babies turn out to be.

Believe it or not, the other day I was bored. So I set out writing a post about what colors I expect from these pairs. It took me a long time. (Cuz I think too much and re-do it over and over :emoticon112: ) I hit the Add Reply button, and then! Internet Connection Problem!! The whole post was gone!! Vanished into thin air

 

Later on I will try again, only finding some way to sum it up briefly.

 

Anyway, last night's udate: (Jan 7)

 

 

 

Third Chickie arrived right on schedule It's neck and crop were skinny and empty, so I'll be checking this morning to make sure Colleen has fed it. I'm not worried. She seems to be a good mother. Whenever I go check, she tries to cover them all up with her wings, and tucks them under her with her beak. To get a picture, I usually have to physically hold her against the opposite side of the box, snap the shot, let her go, and she's right back on, tucking them under again. I'm glad she cares.

Well, after checking on them this morning, I'm still not convinced she has fed the 3rd baby.

Or maybe she did, and the crop has just re-emptied itself.

I think I saw a tiny bit of yellow bulge there.

(The older two are well-fed, as Kaz pointed out. I just assumed she would do the same with this one.)

I am prepared to hand feed it, if it still looks unfed when I check tonight.

Unless I get advice that I should be checking on it sooner.

Check again this afternoon.

 

I think it needs to be fed in the first 24 hours.

they only feed a tiny amount first up but still its no harm to make sure

Check again this afternoon.

 

I think it needs to be fed in the first 24 hours.

 

 

they only feed a tiny amount first up but still its no harm to make sure :what:

 

 

Woops, forgot to check back to see what your advice was. (A little distracted by a problem I have with my 13.5 year old dog.)

 

So when I checked at about 8:30 pm, it looks like it had a tiny bit of food in it's crop, still, or again. (I can't tell, but maybe it had fed and digested and was ready for the next feed.)

 

I had the hand rearing formula out and was reading about how to mix it, in case it was necessary, but I decided not to interfere yet. In about an hour from now, I will be doing the morning check, and if it doesn't have a nice full crop like it's older siblings, then I will definitely be taking things into my own hands.

 

This is not a good picture, but there is Youngest on the right:

 

 

 

I also decided to put the leg ring on Oldest last night, since he is 5 days old now. I'm glad I didn't wait longer, because I had some difficulty with it. (Probably due to my inexperience more than his size.)

 

I had to be a little bit rough, because my first dainty efforts just weren't going to get anything through that ring! So I grasped his tiny leg a little firmer, and shoved the ring over his two toes, and then carefully moved my grip to the ends of the toes, and tugged them through, all the while repeating in my head "They are strong and made of rubber, they are strong and made of rubber..."

 

I'm sure I didn't hurt him, I would have been afraid to be too rough! I was also afraid of dropping him, so I was leaning with my hands over the nest box the whole time, just in case. (Fortunately, this make-shift box has a hinged lid that folds back, so this was possible.) My other boxes have the half walls in back that slide up, so I'm not sure how I will manage with them. Plus they are higher up, and awkward to get to. I think when it's time to ring those babies, I will have to carry them over to a safe work surface to do it.

 

Since he was so big, I decided to try ringing Number Two, just in case. Ring went on way too easy, and of course, fell off as soon as he was back in the box. I also noticed Colleen fretting with the ring on Number One, so I hope she doesn't hurt him. And I hope she doesn't remove the ring overnight!

 

My rings are just plastic split rings numbered 1-20. And they came with a little tool that can spread the slit apart widely, so that it can be placed around the leg of an older bird and then released. Probably requires 8 arms to manage that maneuver!

 

(As an aside, about my dog. We did some serious thinking yesterday and decided it was time for her final vet appointment. That appointment is this morning at 11:30. And of course, ever since, I have been second-guessing that decision, and dreading the moment when I know it will be too late to change my mind.)

Tonight's update:

 

Baby # 3 appears to have more food in it's crop. I'm not stepping in at this point. But I would like to see Colleen stuff him like she does the others. They're never empty!

 

Baby #1 has been re-rung. I put the ring up higher on the leg, this time. Hopefully it will stay on. Hopefully it won't be stuck in a bad position! :sadsorry:

 

Baby #4 has NOT arrived as scheduled. I'm hoping it's just a tad late. If #4 turns out to be infertile, or dead, I think I would still expect #5 to hatch on it's proper day, wouldn't I? #4 should have been tonight (Sat), so I think #5 should be on Monday night, right? (And when I say "night" I mean, it wasn't there in the morning, and it hatched/should have hatched sometime in the last 12 hours.)

 

No new eggs in the other nests, so maybe they are holding at 5 and 9 apiece.

If they are split rings Finnei,

time is not a problem,wait till

there a couple of weeks old & there

legs are stronger & longer,give you more

leg to play with.

Baby # 3 appears to have more food in it's crop. I'm not stepping in at this point. But I would like to see Colleen stuff him like she does the others. They're never empty!

Don't stress! Newly hatched chicks get fed very little but regularly. Mum is feeding the other two fine so in time this one will be "stuffed" too!

Baby #1 has been re-rung. I put the ring up higher on the leg, this time. Hopefully it will stay on. Hopefully it won't be stuck in a bad position!

You'll get the hang of ringing with experience! Better to have it fall off and need to be re-rung than leaving it too late .... now THAT can be stressful!

Baby #4 has NOT arrived as scheduled. I'm hoping it's just a tad late. If #4 turns out to be infertile, or dead, I think I would still expect #5 to hatch on it's proper day, wouldn't I? #4 should have been tonight (Sat), so I think #5 should be on Monday night, right? (And when I say "night" I mean, it wasn't there in the morning, and it hatched/should have hatched sometime in the last 12 hours.)

You are in winter right now so incubation time can be longer!

 

Sounds like it is all going well ~ Good luck!

Thank you, Macka and Renee.

 

I wont stress over the rings. So far, I think my second attempt at ringing #1 is working. I will wait on the others till they are bigger.

 

Chick #4 was there this morning, so I think he wasn't necessarily late, I just probably checked too early

 

 

 

 

You can see 3 separate heads, and the newest has his head buried under the rest.

 

It will be a miracle if the remaining 3 eggs are not addled, because Colleen goes nutso, trying to keep the chicks away from me. Not much I can do about that except to try to bother her as little as possible.

 

Still have a couple of days before any of the other nests should start hatching.

All sounds like it is progressing well.

 

It is hard not to want to check all the time, but it is best not to.

Results from tonight's check:

 

Finnie's first chick has arrived !!

 

 

 

All four of Colleen's chicks are well fed, now. That is a relief!

 

The oldest one is getting tiny white down pins, and It's eye is starting to open:

 

 

 

 

 

(It still has it's leg ring, too)

Results from tonight's check:

Finnie's first chick has arrived !!

Yessssss!

The oldest one is getting tiny white down pins, and It's eye is starting to open:

(It still has it's leg ring, too)

11 Jan, a.m. check: Finnie's chick is fine, it's fed. One of her other eggs looks grey and maybe cracked. Not sure if it is hatching, or just dead, or what. I guess I'll know tonight.

 

11 Jan, 5p.m. : Finnie was out of the box, so I cheated and peeked in to see about that grey egg. 2 Chicks in there!! Oh Boy! But wait, there's more. I figured the chick must have come from the grey shell, but NO. That one is still there, it's even more cracked, and...I could see a little bit of pink skin pulsing under the cracked place! I would have loved to stay and watch it hatch, but I didn't want to upset Finnie, so I will be patient and wait until tonight.

 

Isn't that weird to get 3 hatchlings within 24 hours?

I have my regular pm check to report, now.

 

Colleen now has a 5th chick, and it has been fed.

 

Finnie's 3rd chick had about 25% shell loose, but slightly attached, so I picked it off- wasn't attached to baby, just shell hanging by a thread. I got a picture, you could see that the back of the chick's head was uncovered. So I left her alone while I checked the rest.

 

Went back a short while later to re-check the hatching chick, and found that it was half out of shell, with lower half of body still in, as if it were sitting. Left it as is, and closed box.

 

At this point each night, I remove soiled newspapers and sweep up seeds and feathers. Then I turn out the lights and cover the main cage with a sheet. Well, I decided to check Finnie's chick one last time before lights out, and, Yay! It was completely free of the shell!

 

Minor concern is that it had a tiny thread-like umbilical, which I was told means premature. It's abdomen was also very red and swollen. I'm hoping this is okay, and just new to me, since I've never seen one quite so newly hatched. Otherwise, it looks fine, and I'm sure Finnie will feed it, since she has fed todays other hatchling already.

 

Having two hatch in one day has me thinking that they will be very close in size, and I will likely get them mixed up before time to ring them. Well, it's not like their inheritance hinges on being born first, I'm sure it won't matter

 

Tonight photos will have to wait until morning, because they are playing X Box Live in the other room, and apparently if I upload to Photobucket, I will "mess up their connection"! Pulleeze! Do the rest of you get this line?!?

Its all go at your place eh

Lots of pinkies! How exciting for you! I'm very pleased for you Finnie