chicks starting to hatch, coming out all crusty!?

[unclejohn]

gosh thanks for all the answers!

 

[Sambi89]

Great info thanks! I have a chick that got in his water then in his food and I think the toothbrush method will work great on his tiny soft feathers!

 

[ChickenLegs13]

When you say crusty you mean like slime & goo had dried on them? If so, that indicates excessive humidity on days 1-18.
Regardless of what the incubator's instructions say, I don't use any water on days 1-18. My meter says the humidity is 20-25%, but I can't attest to it's accuracy. It really doesn't matter and is of little importance to me.
What is important to me is that when I lock down on day 18 I fill all the troughs with water. My meter shows 60-75% at that time, and again I can't say it's accurate; as long as it's dry on days 1-18 and full of water on days 18-21 that's all the effort & worry I expend on it. My chicks pip & zip very quick and are hatched clean though it does take them several hours to dry & fluff up.
That's the way I do it. Your results may vary. Hope that helps some.

 

[unclejohn]

When you say crusty you mean like slime & goo had dried on them? If so, that indicates excessive humidity on days 1-18.
Regardless of what the incubator's instructions say, I don't use any water on days 1-18. My meter says the humidity is 20-25%, but I can't attest to it's accuracy. It really doesn't matter and is of little importance to me.
What is important to me is that when I lock down on day 18 I fill all the troughs with water. My meter shows 60-75% at that time, and again I can't say it's accurate; as long as it's dry on days 1-18 and full of water on days 18-21 that's all the effort & worry I expend on it. My chicks pip & zip very quick and are hatched clean though it does take them several hours to dry & fluff up.
That's the way I do it. Your results may vary. Hope that helps some.

Well i did the dry incubation method, so my humidity was like 25 from 1-18, then day 18 i put it do 65%

 

[frillydishes]

I'm no expert but I always went dry to lockdown, then filled all the water cells. This is the first winter I've incubated and the first hatch hovered around 25% till lockdown and I lost nearly half to shrink wrap and the ones that made it out were covered in gunk. The last hatch I did, I kept the humidity around 40-47% and when it dropped into the 30's I refilled 1 cell. I had a 79% hatch rate and the only gunky ones where the last to hatch and I had opened the box several times after they'd pipped...I know, shame on me. With that, I have to say it's gotta be your humidity. There's not enough moisture between the chick and the membrane for it to slide off them when they hatch.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

UncleJohn it sounds like you're doing everything right.
The only time I ever had a crusty chick was when a late hatcher got stuck in the shell and couldn't zip. I had to help him and when he emerged he was covered in juck and had a rotten egg & rotten poop smell as well as curled toes. He stayed crusty & crunchy and stank like high hell for about a week.
Sorry I no useful info to offer.

 

[unclejohn]

UncleJohn it sounds like you're doing everything right.
The only time I ever had a crusty chick was when a late hatcher got stuck in the shell and couldn't zip. I had to help him and when he emerged he was covered in juck and had a rotten egg & rotten poop smell as well as curled toes. He stayed crusty & crunchy and stank like high hell for about a week.
Sorry I no useful info to offer.

Thanks, i just cant figure it out! i've searched online. after a day or two all the chicks were nice and fluffed up, i guess they groom themselves and what not