Help!! Incubator stopped working WHILE chicks were hatching!!!

[Luckyhen006]

i usully wait atleast 24 hours after no progress has been made i push it to 36 hours if i can... the membrane will turn a brown color when it dries up shrink wraps.

You can put a little coconut oil on it to keep it moist, but that might provide false reassurance as it only affects the exposed membranes. I would just leave it closed to preserve humidity and run grab another incubator ASAP.

Also, there is a GREAT article around here regarding assisted hatching and how to know when it is necessary and when to STOP and put the chicken back. Highly recommend reading it right after you get the new bator to make sure you don't intervene prematurely. I will look for it and try to link it here.

Here it is - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

About 1/3 of the way down starts the part about identifying whether to intervene and then instructions for doing so along with important considerations. Good luck with your bator and eggs!

Don't open the incubator or it will lose the humidity as well as the warmth!

You can put a warm water bottle underneath your incubator to help with keeping the temperature up, but be careful not to cover the ventilation holes as the chicks need a lot of oxigen to hatch.

Okay! Thanks for all the help
One question I must ask; so that same chick I had been referring to maybe needing assistance has just been sticking his beak out of the hole for hours not even trying, since early this morning, is THAT normal? He cheeps every once and a while, and if his already hatched sibling comes up to the egg he may start wiggling, but that's about it.

 

[MidwifeMamaHawk]

Okay! Thanks for all the help
One question I must ask; so that same chick I had been referring to maybe needing assistance has just been sticking his beak out of the hole for hours not even trying, since early this morning, is THAT normal? He cheeps every once and a while, and if his already hatched sibling comes up to the egg he may start wiggling, but that's about it.

As long as there is an air-hole to breathe chicken chicks can survive on just their yolk for up to 3 days. I think turkey chicks would be similar but I will admit I have no turkey experience. So the most important thing is to maintain temperature and humidity. I know some ducks can take a super-long time to hatch from the first pip and zip.

 

[Luckyhen006]

As long as there is an air-hole to breathe chicken chicks can survive on just their yolk for up to 3 days. I think turkey chicks would be similar but I will admit I have no turkey experience. So the most important thing is to maintain temperature and humidity. I know some ducks can take a super-long time to hatch from the first pip and zip.

Oh okay! Thank you! And We managed to get our incubator to turn back on Finally, not sure what happened

 

[LaFleche]

Okay! Thanks for all the help
One question I must ask; so that same chick I had been referring to maybe needing assistance has just been sticking his beak out of the hole for hours not even trying, since early this morning, is THAT normal? He cheeps every once and a while, and if his already hatched sibling comes up to the egg he may start wiggling, but that's about it.

They don't need any assistance at this stage as they are still resorbing the yolk sack. Any "assistance" at this stage would very likely kill them as their abdomen is still open and the blood vessels also still carry blood and have not dried out.

Just be patient and sit on your hands whike talking to them. Hearing your voice will encourage them and they will already recognize it when fully hatched.

 

[Luckyhen006]

They don't need any assistance at this stage as they are still resorbing the yolk sack. Any "assistance" at this stage would very likely kill them as their abdomen is still open and the blood vessels also still carry blood and have not dried out.

Just be patient and sit on your hands whike talking to them. Hearing your voice will encourage them and they will already recognize it when fully hatched.

Thank you! Guess I better start sitting on my hands then....or duct tape them to a chair

 

[MidwifeMamaHawk]

Thank you! Guess I better start sitting on my hands then....or duct tape them to a chair

Don’t leave us in suspense! How is your hatch going?!?!?

 

[Luckyhen006]

Don’t leave us in suspense! How is your hatch going?!?!?

Well, so Far We've had 2 hatch on their own, and 1 hatch assisted. So three so far in total, we originally set 8 eggs,
The assisted chick....It had been over 24 hours SINCE he started zipping, and he only partially zipped, but he was Dried up in yolk, wasn't looking good, so we decided to assist, he's OK but he has yolk and some membrane dried stuck to his back and a curled toe. can't really walk, he just lays there.... He was covered in dried on yolk BEFORE we decided to assist. Almost like he was to eager to hatch and zipped before finishing his food. We've had one egg pipped since yesterday morning, but he hasn't done much, honestly a little worried for this batch. Luckily we have two chipper healthy little guys who were able to hatch on their own and seem to be doing fine,
If you have any advice, Especially for the chick who can't walk it would be greatly appreciated! if you stand him up on his feet he may stand and and slowly walk and wobble for a minute or two but then he just falls over again and lays down...
but anyways, that's how it going! Hope that made sense.
Sorry if that was a lot!

 

[MidwifeMamaHawk]

Well, so Far We've had 2 hatch on their own, and 1 hatch assisted. So three so far in total, we originally set 8 eggs,
The assisted chick....It had been over 24 hours SINCE he started zipping, and he only partially zipped, but he was Dried up in yolk, wasn't looking good, so we decided to assist, he's OK but he has yolk and some membrane dried stuck to his back and a curled toe. can't really walk, he just lays there.... He was covered in dried on yolk BEFORE we decided to assist. Almost like he was to eager to hatch and zipped before finishing his food. We've had one egg pipped since yesterday morning, but he hasn't done much, honestly a little worried for this batch. Luckily we have two chipper healthy little guys who were able to hatch on their own and seem to be doing fine,
If you have any advice, Especially for the chick who can't walk it would be greatly appreciated! if you stand him up on his feet he may stand and and slowly walk and wobble for a minute or two but then he just falls over again and lays down...
but anyways, that's how it going! Hope that made sense.
Sorry if that was a lot!

I honestly wouldn't know what to do other than try and hold the chickie upright as much as possible if you have time. And try to help drink water if it will. How is it going today?