Ostrich egg cam

[MAK]

 

[Donna]

Three new Ostrich eggs (estimated hatched date of October 12, 2013) ~ Update - September 2013: "Pip passed away after one week of wonderful life on August 25, 2013 from complications of intestinal infection and retained yolk sac. Of course we were all devastated by this.

As part of our healing process, our family went a road trip to an ostrich ranch in central California. The rancher was incredibly nice, plainspoken, and spent a couple of hours with us, showing us around and explaining his way of raising these birds.

Although he doesn’t sell fertile eggs to the public to be hatched, he was very understanding of our family’s loss, and gave us three eggs. I understand that they do better in groups, they are social animals. He was reluctant to do this for us because he had some doubts about their viability, especially since it was the end of the season for laying and those eggs don’t usually do so well, and these were a bit small and one was misshapen. I said I would give it my best try.

I showed him my new incubator that I built, (version 1.2 since I threw the original one away.) Basically a cardboard box, with a clothing rod with a sink basket bolted onto it so I did not have to open the box to turn the eggs. A heat lamp and a thermostat. He said he’s never seen anything like it, and thought it should work fine even though it was obviously rigged together from available parts around the house.

The countdown to 42 days begins when you put the eggs in the incubator, which I did on August 31, 2013 at 9 PM. This gives us an estimated hatched date of October 12, 2013.

My hope is that I could continue my journey, to watch ostrich chicks hatch and raise them until they were too big to be manageable at our home. I would have some nice places for them to go if we could no longer keep them. My top choice is the LA zoo since at this time they only have one ostrich, an older male with arthritis.

So I took some initial candling pictures, and tonight I took pictures of the candling for day four, and already I see progress. Unfortunately I still can’t determine which side has the air sac, so the eggs are still in a temporary cardboard carton that I made for them to stay on their sides until they develop enough to show their air sac. If we get a Facebook page together for this new ostrich project, I will post the pictures and updates.

I found that taking the trip to the ostrich farm, building a new incubator, and getting to know these three new eggs has helped me feel better. It also eased my conscience when the experienced rancher advised me that I did not do anything wrong while raising Pip" ... Cam: Baby Ostrich Cam Live! on USTREAM: Pip's Birthing Video! (3 min) Summary Video of Entire Hatching (12 min) Thank you for making these incredible videos! ... ~LGK~

  

[Donna]

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ostrich-egg-cam-live#

Cam is Live on the 3 eggs!

[Donna]

The Real PIP Ostrich Page
Day 24, less than 3 weeks to hatch
Everything looks OK so far.
Incubator from the top, and showing that the air cell is expanding normally.
The white of the egg is almost all used up. Feathers are forming and nails
are on toes.

I don't have names yet, but I have nicknamed the eggs
28 Miss Perfect (on the right in the cam, the Facebook pictures may not be
in order
29 Rascal (in center on cam)
30 Goofy (tall one on left in cam)

[Donna]

From the necropsy report it was determined that Pip was a male and he did pass away from infection and an unabsorbed yolk sac. Dash is planning on not handling the new ones as much and doing some things differently. He may even get them a newborn chicken chick for a playmate.

[Donna]

Update from Dash:

Today at 9:56 AM
October 12, 2013 Update

8:00 AM
Yesterday the egg on the far right, # 28, nicknamed for now “Miss Perfect� began to show internal movement. She pipped into the air cell (internal pipping), and you could see her head moving during candling. I do not like to candle for long because the light is so bright for her eyes. I oriented the egg so the head is facing the camera, so a crack (external pip) would be facing your view, about 1/3 the way down from the top of the egg.

I placed a microphone that is leaning on the egg, with the gain all the way up. Because of the fan in the hatcher there is a background hum. But you can hear occasional scratching, pecking and even a chirp, chortle or kick.

The other two eggs have not shown movement in the air cell, so they are a day behind. They are warm/ generating heat, so it’s OK, they are just behind schedule, which is very typical for eggs. It’s not as predictable as the weather J

Also, If you have sound problems, suggestions include clearing your browser cache and reloading the page.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ostrich-egg-cam-live#  Cam

[Donna]

Miss Perfect is hatching!  Middle egg has a crack now!

[Kris G.]

Update
 October 13, 2013
 Day 43
 Why assisted hatching is required for Goofy
 She is at high risk.

 I contacted experts regarding the odd shape of Goofy's egg and her lack of progress compared to Miss Perfect, who both pipped at the same time

 The problem is that Goofy's egg is not round, it is flattened, and thus she cannot rotate inside like a normal chick in the egg, so her beak cannot go to new places in the shell. I do not see how she could rotate in the egg. And for the past 20 hours she has pecked at the same spot. I believe she is stuck.

 In the commercial ranching world, they would not have even attempted to hatch a malformed egg.The rancher I got her from did not realize her odd shape when he gave her to me.

 The largest egg, "Goofy" is flat. 1430 grams 8-31-2013. Measurements are 4 7/8 wide and 4" the other way wide, and 6" tall.. This makes her narrower than the smallest egg I got.

 (The smallest egg was 4.25" wide, but even. 1190 grams 8-31-2013 - Miss Perfect)

 Anyway I am going ahead with this since this is a high risk hatch for Goofy.

[Kris G.]

2 hatches-1 to go!  

[Donna]

waiting on the little Rascal in the back! Hope they do better this time.

[MAK]

 

[Donna]

Special report
Day 8
October 20, 2013 at 11:00 PM

Skippy was not thriving, she was not eating or drinking, and was lethargic. This afternoon I tried:

Putting drops of water on her beak with an eye dropper
Putting bowls of food in the heat lamp area (which I expanded by getting a second heat lamp) so she would not have to move to get food and water.
Putting food granules on the floor around her
Putting minced lettuce around her
She did not really respond, and so I contacted the avian veterinarian specialist (who I have been updating on these chicks) and she made an emergency night call. (I turned off the camera while she was here).
After assessing Skippy, she decided that tube feedings with recovery fluids were in order, and started her on flagyl antibiotic. She taught me how to do the tube feedings and loaned me her steel feeding tube and other supplies.
I will be doing tube feeding 5 times a day until Skippy is eating and drinking vigorously on her own. I will continue the antibiotics for 7 to 14 days.
Hopefully she will rally and start going strong again. (And I do not know the gender of any of these chicks, I just call them "She")

[Kris G.]

Day 9 at 5:00 AM
October 21, 2013

Skippy passed away at 4:45 today.
She had her second tube feeding at 2 AM. She was weaker and less responsive, but took the feeding. She was asleep and her siblings were next to her.

           RIP little one. 

[Donna]

Oh so sad. I don't think he should be raising baby O's, they are very sensitive and need momma!! What a shame. 

[patsy6]

I agree, Donna.  Sometimes, nature is best.