amazon parrot egg pipping help

[littleT]

I have a young pair of bluefronts.she would not sit the eggs so I bought a incubator.today is day 26---hatch day.yesterday was a few tiny cracks in shell but nothing since.chick is alive -I can see beak throu tiny hole.how long should it take to pip out of egg.dont want to rush the baby.i normally pull babies at 2 weeks after hatch--so this is new.i have raised birds for 30 yrs but never helped a chick<hope I don't have to>out of egg

 

[sunnysmom]

I hope everything goes well!

 

[Birdbabe]

If the chick struggling for more than a few hours, you may need to help. If you carefully make the hole a little bigger, he could do the rest himself. There should be video help on the net, or call your vet for help. Others will be on with advice.

 

[littleT]

thank you---you and me both-----I got 2 more eggs after this---im gonna take it very slow---read and read some more

 

[littleT]

thanks for advice--today is hatchday so everything is right on time.im a little inpatiant<hehe>I am searching the web now for any and all advice !!

 

[sunnysmom]

I don't know if this is helpful or not- but this is an article with pics, etc. on assist hatching for cockatiels: Assist Hatches - Just Cockatiels!

 

[melissasparrots]

Amazons can take a few days after external pip to actually hatch. I have never hatched an amazon egg in an incubator. I just have a very general idea of what goes on my my nest box. Usually its a few days after draw down. Do you know when draw down happened? External pip may or may not correspond with draw down. Make sure the humidity in the incubator is really high right now. Knowing when to intervene is hard. My normal rule of thumb is when in doubt, let nature take its course. However, incubator eggs are a little more likely to need assistance. If the egg was in draw down a few days ago, then you might be looking at hatching today. If just yesterday was draw down, then you may have another day or two to go. My yellow nape eggs can hatch anywhere between 26 and 28 days. Just depends on the year.

 

[melissasparrots]

BTW, external pip is the first crack in the shell. So that was yesterday. If the chick's nostrils are clear and he's able to breath, then I wouldn't worry about him too much.
Draw down is where the air cell suddenly expands and usually becomes uneven around the body of the chick. This is when the chick pierces the air cell at the large end of the egg, and it collapses down around the chick allowing it to start breathing air. Generally just the beak and nostrils have pierced the membrane. In some species, draw down consistently corresponds with external pip. In other species it doesn't or just varies with the individual. Many times the egg will sit there for a good day or two without any notable progress while the chick absorbs the rest of the yolk sac and other blood vessels. You need to make sure the baby has time to do this.

If you decide you have to assist, try not to go beyond just making sure the membrane is peeled back from the nostrils so he can breath. Wet the membrane a little bit before doing anything to make sure it isn't full of blood vessels. If you see thick blood vessels in the wetted membrane, he's not ready yet. Whatever you do, don't #1 pull him out of the shell. You'll likely end up with an open umbilicus and major problems. Don't #2 do so much damage to the shell that he can easily crawl out on his own too early which can also lead to an open umbilicus. Since today is hatch day, and you can see his beak through the opening in the shell, I'd make sure its practically raining in the incubator (but not so wet the egg chillls from all the moisture and evaporative cooling) and just wait. If draw down was yesterday, I'd be prepared to wait a while. If draw down was a few days ago and it gets to be late tonight, then judgment call time. Possibly just take a few chips out of the shell to make sure the nostrils have air and leave it at that.

 

[littleT]

thanks for advice--im proud to announce the hatching of my first bluefront egg.next question--it is very active when do I give first feeding--today ,tonight,tomorrow?2nd egg is pipping.

 

[melissasparrots]

You really need to get the book Hand-feeding and Nursery Management by Howard Voren and Rick Jorden. Its like the bible of feeding day one chicks. I can't recommend it enough. Order it tonight if you can find it. Hopefully its still in print. The only thing outdated about it is the hand-feeding formulas although frankly I think the old time formulas put weight on day ones better than manufactured formulas. After the first week or so you can switch to the manufactured. For now, you probably just have Kaytee or Zupreem to work with which is fine. The growth curve of the chicks will just be a little different and you'll need to do the round the clock feedings. Manufactured formulas produce prettier feathers. Hand-made formulas come with a host of pitfalls but if done right can get the chick gaining weight at pretty close to the same rate as a parent fed chick and let you sleep longer. You can feed it thicker and maintain hydration. Probably not something you want to mess with for this clutch, but possibly look into if your are stuck hand-feeding another batch from day one. There are other little tricks you can do to help move things along too and get better weight gains. Amazons have slower metabolisms than other species, so just the regular manufactured formula might work just fine. I've only ever done quakers and as of right now a parrotlet from day one and they have problems with hydration. Which makes it hard to feed formula thick enough to get good growth. without getting dehydrated. Bigger babies still have issues with it, but not as bad sometimes.

Anyway, to answer your question for today, people differ on the specifics. For sure you want to wait until the chick is dry and produces its first poop. Many people wait a full 12 hours or a little more before starting to feed with formula just to make sure the yolk has a chance to start digesting. If you see really obvious yellow or greenish yellow under the skin of the belly around the umbilical scab, then its probably best just feed fluids and wait toward the longer side of 16 hours or so before starting formula.

My first feed is usually just fluids. I get a bottle of Pedialyte from the grocery store and mix it half and half with water. For the first few feedings, when in doubt, go light on the size of the meals until you get an idea of how the crop works. There are better electrolyte solutions out there for baby birds, however, I've always just used Pedialyte. But I don't use it past the first couple days and I don't use it full strength. Have you ever fed a day one of some other species?

Also, keep the humidity up in the brooder. Depending on the structure of your incubator, you can leave the chick in the incubator for the first day or so where its really humid for the other hatching eggs. So long as the baby can't stretch out its neck and get into trouble with mechanical incubator parts. But after that, they really should be kept a good .5 degree or a full degree lower than the eggs. So when you move to the brooder, remember to have a bowl of humidity in there. It helps the chick stay hydrated and actually allows you to start feeding formula a little thicker sooner. But not until the first couple days have passed if you are using manufactured formula. I always elevate my humidity bowl a little bit so there is zero chance of a chick crawling out of its container and into the bowl. They can be surprising mobile sometimes using bedding as a ramp and end up where they aren't supposed to be. I keep day one chicks in somewhat high sided square bowls and make a little nest out of soft toilet paper. Then just change the TP at every feeding.

 

[melissasparrots]

Also wanted to mention make sure to keep weight data on the chicks. Weigh every morning. I'm sure you know this since you've been breeding 30 years, but I still run across breeders that don't do that. You really need to keep track of weights on day ones and find a few other people that breed blue fronts to compare with. What kind of incubator are you using? Just curious.

 

[littleT]

this is not my first hand feeding.i have handraised for 30 yrs however I usually pull babies at 12 to 14 days old to hand feed.i know how just trying to figure best time to start.thanks anyway.it has eaten 1 time so far so im well on the way.videos of the chick are on youtube.I can give addy to videos--I use a brinsea advance--and a brooder made by my with a cooler and a incukit DC.placed in it at pipping.and no I don't usually weigh birds.i do keep a video camera on chick 24/7 and watch for any problem

 

[melissasparrots]

Glad its going well. Pictures or video would be great.

 

[littleT]

go to youtube and type little.c in search--click on blue box and there are new videos of hatch.also my greys and amazon videos

 

[melissasparrots]

Bummer. Not finding it. I typed in little.c into search and got a bunch of videos come up but none with a parrot.

 

[littleT]

look here

 

[littleT]

you were to type littleT.c you left the T off.---was my fault sorry

 

[melissasparrots]

Cute little guy. Thanks for the video.

 

[littleT]

there are more of all my birds at littleT.c on youtube---click blue box that says littleT.c--all my videos are there thanks for looking

 

[Birdbabe]

Congrats on the little one!!