If I never hatch (or assist hatch) eggs again it'll be too soon. Okay, it's been years since we've hatched eggs out - I guess I was super uncaring and cold back then?? I don't know, there's just something about baby chicks that tug at my heartstrings. They're so pitiful and helpless, I can't hardly stand it.
We've had 6 very successful hatches and one that didn't make it. There was one other egg last night that was trying to hard to hatch, but he just couldn't. The shell had hardened significantly due to loss of humidity, so this little one was in the fight of his life. I know you're not supposed to intervene until the very last minute, but this guy pipped several hours before and wasn't making any type of progress. So around 8 or so last night, I decided to help him along.
I'm not going into details, but I ever so gently chipped away at his shell until his beak was exposed. I was careful not to touch the membrane where the veins or yolk was. This went on until nearly 3:30 this morning until the little one finally broke free from the hole I made in his shell. He still had to fight really hard to get free of the membrane, but there was no way he would've made it out alone.
His cord was still really red and looked terrifying, so I couldn't help thinking that he might not make it. Thankfully when I got up today, he was alive and fluffed up! He cried and cried, but when he was put with his 6 siblings, he was happy as a clam. He's still very wobbly and almost pigeon toed a but, but once he gains more strength, he should be good to go.
Talk about a stressful ass night.
I really think that's all I have to share - it's been too rainy and wet to do anything with the garden, so I'll leave you with some random photos that not only I took today, but LaVaughn as well. Enjoy!
These photos I took:
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