So today I had an egg hatch at day 47-48 (laid overnight, hence day uncertainty) with a bloody soft yolk still attached. It looks surprisingly good despite all of this, but does anyone have any tricks or tips with how to deal with premies? So far I took it off the egg box substrate and put it on damp towel and put it back in an incubator.
Premature Hatchling
- Thread starter qiksilver
- Start date
Thanks!
I know generally what to do I just figured I'd ask if there was anyone here with any personal touches to share. I've had early hatchers before, but they're usually more contained, with smaller yolk. This one up and ran away from me when I found it, dragging the bloody yolk as well as the egg behind it.
I know generally what to do I just figured I'd ask if there was anyone here with any personal touches to share. I've had early hatchers before, but they're usually more contained, with smaller yolk. This one up and ran away from me when I found it, dragging the bloody yolk as well as the egg behind it.
Sometimes a baby at term hatches with yolk sac attached. Depending on your incubation temp, 47-48 days may be term. I had a baby hatch at 49 days a few weeks ago that was very tiny (1 gram) with a huge yolk sac attached and a lot more yolk in the egg. Its clutchmate hatched 2 days later without a yolk sac at full size. I have a rack for the babies and I put this one in the rack in a small container. By day 2 it had climbed out of the container and was roaming around the tub, but it only lived 3 days. I think it was just too small and obviously had not absorbed nutrients properly to be so small at that point in egg development. I have had a few others hatch with yolk sac attached or something that looks like an umbilical cord and they all (except for this tiny one) have done well. You could keep it in the incubator, but you can also put it in an enclosure, keep it warm and moist and give it time to either drop or absorb the yolk. If it doesn't survive, it may not have been strong enough to live.
Aliza
Aliza