# Clutch anxiety...



## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

The last clutch we had 2 out of 4 eggs hatched. And those 2 eggs hatched on day 17 and day 18 with pip marks visible as early as day 16 I think. Prior to that, eggs hatched around 20 to 21 days. I am sure this difference was due to humidity changes. 

We have 5 eggs in the nest box now. Today was day 17 and no pip marks at all anywhere. Temperatures have been cooler so I thought it might be a day or two difference in hatching. There are still good veins in all the eggs and mom and dad have been sitting hard since day one of the first egg. 

I have done an assisted hatch before but I just don't know how long I should wait on these guys.. or if I should just let nature take its course. No eggs are discolored to make me think something is going wrong in them either. 

I know it's still early and that they can hatch as late as 21, 22 days or so. I always get this way at the end.. lol I'm ready for some action and there isn't any action!  I'm a little jumpy because I've had issues in the past where a few of the chicks have been DIS just as they should be hatching. 

So.. talk me down from my cliff. lol


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

How is the humidity in your house? If it's low, running a humidifier (or hanging up a wet towel) will add humidity to the air which helps with hatching. About 50% is considered ideal, although my chicks hatch just fine with much lower humidity than that (I'm in Arizona). Actually, they kick their way out like ninjas. They can go from smooth egg to fully hatched baby in as little as two hours. Out of 33 eggs laid in this house I have only seen one pip, the others finished hatching before I knew anything was happening.

Other than tinkering with the humidity, all you can do is wait. The eggs will hatch if and when they're ready to hatch. Are you sure the parents were actually sitting on day one, and not just hanging out in the nestbox admiring the eggs for several days?


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

lol Little ninjas. It's been chillier here.. my little gauge that reads humidity has bit the dust. Will need to get another one. We had our first 2 inches of snow this past weekend and our heat is electric and so I know the humidity levels for sure are different than they were.

I checked the eggs just a bit ago and one egg is starting to appear DIS, darkening up. We'll see. And lo and behold we have pip marks on another egg. Usually I start out by seeing one or two pip marks.. but this one appears to be a group of about 4 or 5 marks. I usually hear the chirping too.. but this little guy seems to be napping. This clutch I opted for not marking the eggs because I wanted a surprise clutch. I don't think I'll do that again. Not good for the nerves. lol


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

No more progress on the egg with the pip marks. In the past it has taken our eggs up to two days to hatch after initial pips. This is where I question if I should be doing something. I'm going to check the eggs once more before bed. There are so many ifs.. I get that edgy feeling that it stopped pipping because it's in trouble. But I know there are so many risks with trying to help a hatch too early as well. It's like the little angel on one shoulder and the little devil on the other. Will moistening the egg around the pip marks help make it easier for the chick if it's finding it difficult to get out?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It would be a good idea to increase the humidity. It's OK to mist the inner sides of the nestbox but don't get the eggs wet. If the humidity is low the membrane inside the egg will dry out, which prevents the chick from turning inside the egg. If the baby can't turn it can't pip its way out. Low humidity can also affect the toughness of the egg shell, making it harder to crack. 

The egg that already pipped might need more help than that. Here's an article on srtiels website about assist hatches: http://justcockatiels.weebly.com/assist-hatches.html


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

I really don't have a lot of hope for this clutch. There was no more activity on the egg that started pipping after a few hours, so I did decide to do an assist hatch (quite the process when done with helpful tips). He didn't seem to be fully ready to hatch as there were very few whisps of hair on him and his yolk sac didn't look like it had started to absorb at all. What would cause baby to start pipping when he is physically not ready? I left him in the half egg shell and kept a close eye but he didn't make it. Wasn't meant to be on that little one. 

So, I'm pretty sure we are down to three as I mentioned one looks like it is no good also. I did mist the walls of the nest box as you suggested, how often should I do this? I didn't number these eggs because I wanted to just let nature take its course this tiime, but the last four eggs she laid would be 18 days on November 2, 4, 6 and 8. As I'm not sure which one is which.. I will assume any are possible. The first would have been 18 days on the 10/31. 

Mom and Dad are still faithfully nesting and caring for all 4 eggs even though one has looked no good for days. Everyone speaks of mom and dad discarding an egg that is no good but I have never seen mine do that. Maybe they are hoarders! lol


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Is it possible that the egg wasn't actually pipping, and got broken somehow in a way that resembled pipping? I don't know a lot about the hatching process so I don't know what all might have gone wrong. 

It's hard to say how often you should mist the nest box. It would be easier to provide an ongoing source of water vapor in the room, for example a humidifier or hanging a couple of wet towels in there. 

Sometimes birds will discard a bad egg and sometimes they won't. Buster once heaved a cracked egg out of the nest, and I think he must have lifted it with his head because I don't see anything else he could have used. But another time they sat on a DIS egg until I took it away several days after all the other eggs hatched.


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

The marks on the egg were definitely from internal pipping.. much like with glass.. when it is pushed from one side, it protrudes on the other more. Still no more progress as of today. I guess we'll just sit and see.


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

We still have no new progress on these eggs. More and more I think this clutch just didn't work. Taking from day 17 from laying date of the first egg, the eggs would be 22, 20, 18, 16 and 14 days old. I know there is still time yet and I know you should take the second or third egg and use that as due date, but they were sitting tight from the get go on the eggs. Also, one is DIS and the other chick didn't make it. These two could possibly be the first two eggs as I didn't mark them this time. There is still time for the other three if they are the youngest ones, but I usually see pip marks by this time. Mom and dad are still very protective of the eggs and tending to them like troopers. I'm considering not even looking in the nest box until I hear chirping as it is driving me crazy! lol But I know I won't be able to.. and I know you shouldn't as you need to check on things. I'm still not sure on how often to squirt the inside of the nest box but I opted not to yesterday as the 4 Tiels were begging for a good squirt so I granted their wish. I do worry about misting the box too much as I would think this could also cause mildew or something. Am I wrong about this?


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

Just an update. This morning's check pretty much confirms that 2 out of the 4 left are DIS. They are darkened up too much. Absolutely no pip marks or anything on them. 3rd one is still looking alright but no pip marks. 4th one has pip marks!! Up and down, up and down. lol I guess we're still not out of the running.. but once again, still not a full clutch hatching. Hopefully this little one makes it out alright.


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

Well we finally have a hatchling! But a weak one.. I discovered him half out of his shell earlier today but I could see that his yolk sac hadn't fully been ingested yet. So I left him in the shell for a bit and dad kept him warm. He is now out of his shell completely with only a small bulge there. Poor little one seems a bit weak but is chirping and moving. I keep checking on him every hour or so to make sure he's keeping warm and moving more. He hasn't been tossed aside yet, so I guess that's a good sign. We'll see how the night goes.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If you have any pedialyte on hand or some honey, you can make some honey water and give that to him or the pedialyte to build up his energy.


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

I was able to get a few drops of Pedialyte in him last night. He survived the night! I checked in on him every hour. Completely surprised I was. However, he passed on at around 10 am this morning. He was moving around more and chirping good and then he was just gone. Little guy gave it a good fight though.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Aw...sometimes they just don't have the strength. But you gave him a chance and that's what matters.


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