Problem hatch

Hello all,
I was able to locate one thread with info on my problem this morning.
I have six eggs set in my Brinsea advance. my weight loss chart has been perfect so maintaining great humidity levels.
I increased humidity to 86% for hatch and got my first pip yesterday morning which was day 22. The little chick tried all day and night to get out of the egg. It had worked itself almost halfway out and was stuck for 15 hours. This morning I could see the shell membrane was attached to her like glue. I helped her out just to the point that she could flop out. The shell was stuck to her like glue.
She has a small pea sized amount of what I am sure is yolk attached to her bottom (anal area) Looks like intestines hanging out. Has anyone had experience with this?
I am not having a good hatch this time as two to three others are pipped but no activity.
I have left the baby girl in the incubator with the other eggs while I am at work for a few hours.
Worried I will lose her. I saw one thread only about this and they lost the baby. I was hoping to hear words of encouragement or knowledge or anyone else that has experienced this before. Thanks so much.

I had a chick with a similar growth on his rear. He also had a hard time coming out of his shell. He survived!
Can you tell if it is coming out of the anus, or the navel? If it's coming from the anus it's probably intestines. If it's coming from the navel, it's either an unhealed navel, or some un-absorbed yolk. 86% is in my humble opinion too high for hatching. I try not to let humidity get over 78 or so percent during hatch.

Thank you so much for your response.

My Brinsea book says to fill both pots and by doing so humidity should be 65% or much higher. That is so vague. I filled both sides of water pots and had two great hatches doing that in the past but I bet my humidity is too high. Thank you for input. I bought a small hydrometer to take a reading with a plus or minus of .3 difference.
The protruding area is right where the anus is I think but I have never seen where the umbilical cord is before. That makes me feel so dumb.
The protruding area is getting smaller and the little chicky girl is acting very good. She is ready to leave the incubator since she has been in there for 10 hours now. I am wondering if she should move to brooder or stay in?

BradyK said:

Thank you so much for your response.

My Brinsea book says to fill both pots and by doing so humidity should be 65% or much higher. That is so vague. I filled both sides of water pots and had two great hatches doing that in the past but I bet my humidity is too high. Thank you for input. I bought a small hydrometer to take a reading with a plus or minus of .3 difference.
The protruding area is right where the anus is I think but I have never seen where the umbilical cord is before. That makes me feel so dumb.
The protruding area is getting smaller and the little chicky girl is acting very good. She is ready to leave the incubator since she has been in there for 10 hours now. I am wondering if she should move to brooder or stay in?

Click to expand...

The umbilical cord area is closer to between the legs, whereas the anus is under the tail. Don't worry, it took me several years to realize a chick had a navel
Awesome that you have an extra hygrometer. You're doing it right. Even with the most accurate of incubators (and brinseas are great) I would always recommend using extra thermometers/hygrometers.
As far as the chick goes, she could stay in there for 24 hours no problem. I've left chicks in the incubator for more than 24 hours, even though I try to get them out as soon as possible.
Another thing I noticed--you said this chick pipped day 22? That would indicate your incubation temp was too low, and humidity too high. Next time, before you incubate, I'd tuck in an accurate thermometer (the glass aquarium thermometers at Walmart are usually pretty accurate, and can be calibrated using the ice water test) to check your incubator's temperature.

I thank you so much for the information. I googled it and could not find the location of the anatomy and the umbilical cord.

I am very sure that my incubator is too low. This has been a very hard hatch. The little girls umbilical are is drying up and she is strong and doing well. I have another stuck this morning on day 24 !!!!! Uggg in the shell and bleeding. The shell is stuck to them. She had been pipped for almost 24 hours and you could see she was not coming out. Maybe called a sticky hatch? I helped her but she again had the same problem. She lost some blood but is coming around and the umbilical area is drying. No more bleeding but even losing a little with the tiny amount they have could have hurt her. She is gaining strength and was peeping when I left for work.

I was told to see how she is doing at lunch time and sub Q warm fluids if she still appears weak.to assist with blood volume.
I am a wildlife rehabber so I sub Q everything else. Your thoughts on that?

I still have another that pipped last night and has not broken out yet. Breathing in there so I will hope it hatches today. On day 25 !!! Not good.

I am so happy to hear a good way to calibrate and thank you so much for the info. I was going to ship it back to Brinsea to have them calibrate but then after shipping and being banged around it could go off again.

This second batch has been a doozy. Scared me to death. So far four are beautiful and strong. One weak from the ordeal this morning and one more to hatch. Do you here in this board recommend helping after 24 hours after pip and no break out?

So sorry for all of the questions. My book only goes so far.

No it's ok! We love helping out
Just as a heads up, chicks hatched after day 23 have a greater chance of some deformities/health issues. I definitely would NOT advocate euthanization if the chick is not sick, but would also not recommend breeding these chickens.
As you learn to incubate more, you will develop a sense to know whether or not to help a chick out. If the chick has pipped and not hatched within 24 hours, and appears to be in distress, I would definitely help it out. There's a thread on here about assisted hatching--very exhaustive and informative. I would say there's a much greater chance that a chick after day 23 will need to be helped out. On days 18-21 the chick absorbs yolk into its abdomen to allow it to live without food or water for the first few days of life. If the chick is still in the shell at day 25, her food reserves are almost used up and she is going to be weak, and possibly unable to break through the shell.
As far as giving fluids subcutaneously, I would say wait and see if she eats and drinks. You can give her some "grogel" (available at any farm store) to start her off once she has left the incubator.
Yes i understand about those bad hatches. Don't feel bad: so many factors affect hatch from egg quality to temperature to cleanliness of the incubator. Now you know what to do different for the next time. Each time you hatch, you get cues from the hatch on how to incubate the next time. Please let me know how your last little baby is doing!

Here is an image of a chicks navel area in comparison with its vent:

Thanks again for the information.

I am convinced it is my incubator temp and plan to do as you instructed to calibrate or send back to Brinsea. I cleaned the incubator after the first hatch as Brinsea shows on the site using their incubator disinfectant. I am a clean freak so I am sure all parts including the fan were thoroughly cleaned.

The hatch turned out well. The one that bled so much turned out to be fine as I applied pressure to the area for a long time and the blood loss stopped but man did she lose blood. All six are beautiful and healthy and eating and drinking. The three that had umbilical issues have had the cords recede and dry nicely.

The last one I spoke of did not hatch out after 24 hours and I broke it at as well. This was basically nearing day 24. This has been so nerve racking.
The farm that gave me the eggs is aware but I have used them as well as others used them and had no problem. I really feel like it was my incubator. so I will not attempt another hatch until I am sure my temp is correct. That was an awful experience and I thank God they are all well. Beaks are good, feet are good, appetite and dispositions all good. Clear bright eyes. I think I am very lucky considering.
You are correct I am learning with each hatch. Not doing another one without a decent thermometer in there to confirm I am at temp. Thanks again for taking the time to respond

P.S. Meant to thank you as well for the pics. Yep that was the umbilical area all right. Not the vent that was hanging out. I have my anatomy down now thanks to you. Geeze