Entry #41: So Many More

5/12/13
11:50 pm

Sorry I haven't posted again! Sooo much has been happening this weekend it's so hard to keep up!(it was prom weekend)

So since Bella hatched on Friday I've had 3 more chicks hatch!! Now there is Moe, Bella, Hermione, Peeta, and Jacob! They're all sooo adorable! Jacob actually just hatched this morning while I was still at my friends house. My parents and I had to really help out with his hatching though.

He made a pip in his shell Friday night, late at night, and Hermione was pipping too. (Pipping is basically when the chick begins to make cracks in the shell, starting to come out.) So I went to bed and in the morning I woke up to find two chicks had hatched! But it wasn't Hermione and Jacob like I had expected. It was Hermione and Peeta! This was startling because none of us had seen a crack on him. But Jacob had made no progress, and in fact, in the tiny little hole where he had pipped, it had turned a dark yellow color. So I went about my prom business, stopping in to see any kind of progress...and there was none. So my dad and I did a lot of research about helping chicks getting out of their shells and when to do it and then we proceeded to help little Jacob.

I took a q-tip and wet it with water and starting wetting the membrane that was showing. Then I peeled off a little of the shell will some tweezers. I wrapped the egg with some warm, wet paper towel so that the rest of the membrane would be easily broken by the chicks beak when it was time to come out.

Then I had to go to prom:( so I couldn't do anything more to help the little guy out. Luckily my parents helped him hatch, and now he's doing alright.

But then today I noticed one of his feet all his toes curl inward, instead of straight, so he has a hard time walking. I looked it up and I found that you can make them little cardboard booties to fix this problem.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/51112/chick-with-curled-toes

That's the link with a picture of the booties, if you scroll down.

Then there's Peeta who I'm worried about as well. He won't open his eyes anymore, I'm afraid that the others may have pecked his eyes, or I found that some chicks have conjunctivitis. Because his eyes aren't open I worry that he doesn't find water or food. And since he can't find water or food, his energy levels are way down. Every time I look in on the cage, he's always always always asleep on the ground. When he gets bothered by the other chicks or I try to pick him up he always gets very feisty. I'm not sure what this means but it breaks my heart :( I feel so bad for my little guys.

Poor Peeta and Jacob! I just want them to be okay. The thought of either of them dying is just way too sad :(