Why didn't this chick hatch? (dead chick picture)

tracecom

Songster
10 Years
Jan 16, 2010
344
38
151
I recently hatched 9 perfectly formed RIR chicks in my homemade incubator. They all hatched within 22 days of being set. There is a separate thread if you care to read about the experience and see the pictures.

Here is a picture of one of the two chicks that apparently were fully developed but didn't hatch. In both cases the chicks didn't pip the internal membrane or the shell. I wish I knew what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future.

There were no temperature spikes; temps were consistently 99.7 to 100.0. The humidity was stable at about 53% until lockdown, at which time I brought it up to about 75%. There was one brief period (maybe six hours) on day 21 when the humidity rose to about 90%.

In addition to these two full term chicks, I had two other failures. I opened them and they were early quitters with tiny embryos, so I assume that was genetics or something not my fault (except that I should have culled them during early candleing.)

47208_dead_closeup.jpg
 
Last edited:
he could have drown from too high humidity, I usually have it at about 65% for my hatches. Sometimes they just aren't supposed to make it though
sad.png
 
This is copied from this site. The "transfer" mentioned is moving them from the incubator to a separate hatcher. You may see something here that rings a bell, but that chick looks fully formed. I'd suspect either too high humidity during hatch or maybe a ventilation issue?

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa204

1.Sign: Not pipped. Full-term embryo, large yolk sac; yolk sac may not be fully enclosed by abdominal wall, may have residual albumen. Causes:

2.
a.Inadequate turning, resulting in decreased embryonic membrane development and nutrient absorption.

b.Humidity too high during incubation or after transfer.

c.Incubator temperature too low.

d.Hatcher temperature too high.

e.Eggs chilled (e.g., at transfer).

f.Nutritional deficiencies.

g.Heredity.

h.Embryological development accident.

i.Breeder diseases.

j.Inadequate ventilation.

k.Prolonged egg storage.

3.Sign: Pipped. Full-term embryo, dead in shell. Causes:

4.
a.Low humidity or temperature for a prolonged period.

b.Low humidity during hatching.

c.High temperature during hatching.

d.Nutritional deficiencies.

e.Breeder diseases.

f.Poor ventilation.

g.Inadequate turning during first 12 days.

h.Injury during transfer.

i.Prolonged egg storage.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom