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Can I leave a dead chick in the incubator until the end of the hatch?

post #1 of 7
5/20/12 at 9:06pm
Thread Starter 

I had a chick get stuck in the shell.  The shell is partially open and I can see that the chick is dead.  Do I leave it or take it out?  Which is safest for the remaining chicks?  (One hatched, 4 pipped so far.)

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post #2 of 7
5/20/12 at 9:13pm

If the others are that close to being out, I would not open the incubator, the less humidity they have, the more chance they will dry up and die too.  ~Mary~

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post #3 of 7
5/20/12 at 9:22pm
I would just leave it alone for now.
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post #4 of 7
5/20/12 at 9:49pm

When this has happened to me before I just leave it until I clean out all of the egg shells and unhatched eggs, mostly for convenience.  It really doesn't harm anything unless your hatch is taking unusually long and it starts to smell.  If it bothers you seeing a dead chick (kinda sad/gross) go ahead and throw it away, opening the 'bator for the couple seconds it takes to remove it won't hurt.

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post #5 of 7
5/21/12 at 4:27am
Thread Starter 

Thanks, I have left it and so far so good on the smell. I am going to leave it unless the others start pecking at it or it starts to stink.  This hatch is being really slow.  My first chick is 24 hours old and my third just hatched.  Still have three with Pips. Hope they are all out when I get home from work. 

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post #6 of 7
5/21/12 at 6:21am

Strange that the egg is open which indicates it was strong enough to do that. Remember that if the chick is still alive it can't move about much because it's stuck to the shell and may only appear to be dead. Only you can be sure on that point.

If you look on my Wine cooler page from a while back I had a similar problem which turned out with a happy ending. See the video bit for "number 10".

Regards.

Paul

I started my business with nothing and I've still got most of it.
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I started my business with nothing and I've still got most of it.
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post #7 of 7
5/22/12 at 11:02am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by toxo View Post

Strange that the egg is open which indicates it was strong enough to do that. Remember that if the chick is still alive it can't move about much because it's stuck to the shell and may only appear to be dead. Only you can be sure on that point.

If you look on my Wine cooler page from a while back I had a similar problem which turned out with a happy ending. See the video bit for "number 10".

Regards.

Paul

It was the first to pip and had zipped about half way.  Ir really looked like one good push and it would have been out.  It was stuck to the shell when I tried to help, but I don't know what did it in.  I could have stuck and died from exertion or died and then stuck.  I could see the beak, so I know it could breath.  I had one stuck in the shell for 24 hours last hatch and it made a full recovery.  The others have hatched fine and don't seem to be sticking.  I only have one left to hatch.  If it hasn't pipped by tonight, I am giving up on it.  

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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Incubating & Hatching Eggs › Can I leave a dead chick in the incubator until the end of the hatch?