"Shrink wrap" vs. "Sticky chick"?

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ChestnutRidge

Songster
8 Years
Feb 26, 2011
1,165
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Western Virginia
(ETA: As I understood it...) If you open the incubator during lockdown, the humidity drops and a pipped chick can become "shrink wrapped." They cannot turn to complete the zip.
If your humidity is too high during lockdown, the chicks can become "sticky" and cannot turn to complete the zip.

Looking at a chick, how do you know if it is/was sticky or shrink-wrapped? Is there any practical difference in how these are handled? I'd like to be able to better trouble-shoot on my next hatch by better understanding the difference.

Thank you for your help!

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THREAD SUMMARY:

Here's brief summary of what we've discussed. This doesn't represent a 100% consensus but seems to represent the current majority opinion:

Shrink wrapped: before pipping, both inner and out membranes dry tight around the chick; caused by too little humidity throughout incubation

Sticky chick: after pipping, the liquids dry becoming glue-like followed by concrete-like; caused by too little humidity during lockdown

Wet sticky or Swollen: the chick is swollen with water or simply very wet and sticky; caused by too high humidity throughout incubation

Drowning: the whitish outer membrane is dry while the clearish inner membrane is wet, binding the chick; also caused by too high humidity thoughout incubation

*Chicks experiencing more than one of the extreme conditions can exhibit multiple issues.
*These same issues can also occur during natural incubation, under a brooding hen.
 
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Shrink wrapped chicks are stuck--the membrane has dried (and tightened) onto the chick, making it a tight covering. Most shrinkwrapped chicks are shrinkwrapped before pipping. The liquid has evaporated to the point the aircell sack is...well....shrinkwrapped around the chick. It prevents any movement at all.

The shrinkwrapping does not happen after pipping, since the membrane is no longer flexable. It cannot contract against the chick itself.

Once the chick has pipped, and starts to dry out, THAT is when you get sticky chick. The liquids in the egg become like glue at first, then dry out further into concrete. This is more like a scab on the chick, and is hard to peel off, even under running water.


ETA: So my observation is this: shrinkwrapping is too little humdity throughout the hatch. Sticky/concrete chicks are the result of humidty drops once hatching has begun.
 
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Shrink-wrapping:
4761286005_05740d62c1.jpg
 
FYI: Do not, I repeat, DO NOT google sticky-chick pictures.

I am looking ftrhough my pics of Gorilla Snot and Elmer for a good example.
 
Elmer: He put a foot through his yolk sack before it was absorbed. He had unzipped, and the blood and yolk dried, cementing him in there.

I helped him out, and nursed him for a week before he died.

You can see the blood underneath his egg.
36979_img_5088.jpg


36979_img_5101.jpg



Not that all sticky chicks and shrink-wrapped chicks are tradgedies. I have a BLRW from the NYD hatch who was hard-core sticky-chick. It took 2 baths a day for 4 days to get all the membrane off....and she was bald on one side until her feathers came in. Her name is Gorilla Snot.
 
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Thank you so much, Laree. That was amazingly clear, and the photos are excellent illustrations.
I'm going to print this to PDF to keep as a personal reference.

You are awesome!
bow.gif
Thank you for your help.
 
Quote:
That's what mine looked like. I got 9 chicks out of 20 that went into lockdown and only two of those were quitters. I calibrated my hygrometer, but clearly something went haywire during the hatch.
 

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