Deformed at hatch CAUTION graphic images.

[Granny Hatchet]

hows the chick this morn?

 

[dajen]

hows the chick this morn?

Unfortunately we lost him/her. Even with sugar water and warmth. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

some times it just isnt meant to be. i used to live in newnan. worked at the waffle house. hahah bout 35-40 yrs ago give or take.

 

[dajen]

some times it just isnt meant to be. i used to live in newnan. worked at the waffle house. hahah bout 35-40 yrs ago give or take.

It was the worse hatch I've had. Day 21 was Fri. They started to pip on Fri am and hatched through to Sun evening. This baby being the last one. We have 9 healthy babies from this hatch. Newnan is an intersting place to live for sure!! Of course I'm not from these parts..LOL

 

[Granny Hatchet]

9 out of ? i have had a 0 hatch before. bacteria got to them from mixing guinea eggs i found in the weeds and mud. passed right to the bantams

 

[dajen]

9 out of ?   i have had a 0 hatch before. bacteria got to them from mixing guinea eggs i found in the weeds and mud. passed right to the bantams

14 eggs were set. We have another hatch this Friday. Hopefully it will go better.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

thats not that bad.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

This is just awful. I've hatched out over 200 chicks from my own flock and from sellers here on BYC. Only once, just once doid I have an issue with a chick, cross beak. Your deformities in this hatch are unreal. Was it a BYC member you got eggs from. Scary.

 

[mmccubbins30]

I feel for you, i have had over 30 eggs hatch perfectly and gon one deformed chick, i am surprised it even hatched. It is only one out of 30, and it is the only one from a different seller.

 

[ChicksChick16]

Thank you for the awesome information from your link this quote: "Normally, loss of about 1.8% of total hatch due to malpositions and deformities can be anticipated. However, if this is elevated, necessary corrective measures must be taken. The importance of a routine embryo diagnosis program can not be overstated."

Out of 16 eggs 7 had severe defects: brain protruding the skull, beaks severely crossed, missing eyeballs and missing eye sockets. All of the chicks that lived: only one could stand after 24 hours most of them could only lay and kick. I had hoped that they would gain strength and we could "save" them. My husband returned home from his trip and he culled them all. I had purchased these to add diversity in breeding. This is not the diversity I hoped for.

If only one chick out of the hatch could walk my from seller's eggs the percentage of incidence is much higher in my hatch. If the incidence would havebeen only one chick I would not have said a thing to the seller as I understand the risks, and success rates especially when eggs are shipped in the mail.

With the 16 eggs I purchased I also had 14 of my own Ameraucana eggs that hatched 13 healthy chicks from the same 21 days in the same shared incubator.

This is my worst experience so far. The saddest part of this is once I contacted the seller stating I was not looking for a refund or replacement just wanted to let her know that there may be a problem seller accused me of a bad incubator that "spiked high temps" . Seller stated that their eggs are good & has hatched thousands of chicks. Seller stated that it is my fault.

I guess if some of my Ameraucana's hatched with some of the defects that the seller's chicks had I would agree as they spent the same days in the incubator.

I live with my incubator or my incubator lives with me and check it 20 times a day actually I check it more than that. I peek at it all the time the digital readout on incubator, the two individual thermometer/hygrometers in the unit. I am into saving chicks not culling, this was painful.

Thank you kindly for your posts and comments.

I think you nailed it. The ratio of their bad eggs to yours (one!) absolutely indicates that it was not your incubator's problem, unless half of a heating element went out and they were separated by that line. I would note that seller and never buy from them again, and recommend against them to anyone who asks you. Not in a vicious way, but in a conscientious way. They may indeed have hatched thousands of chicks, but anyone who knows anything about chickens knows how quickly lots of things can go south. It would have simply been professional customer service to have THANKED you for the info and for them to look into it, esp. since you told them you were not looking for a refund, etc. They made a stupid decision to talk to you that way. Who knows why, but that was just dumb in my book. Good for you to trying to save them, and super bummer that you had such a rough go of things. :-/