Please help newbie hatcher!!

[CSisley]

It is hard to see but it looks like he may have had trouble absorbing his yolk sack but he should be fine if you keep him in the incubator and give him time to rest and recoup from his hatch. Sugar water and boiled egg aren’t a bad idea but just don’t be surprised if he doesn’t eat much since he’s still being sustained by the yolk. Their appetite doesn’t really start to pick up until about day 3. I can’t definitively say why your hatch results have been poor without a detailed knowledge of where your eggs came from, your incubator, and what you did during incubation but you have all the knowledge to do your own trouble shooting. Check out this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatchability-problem-analysis Since your chick is alone, you may want to seriously consider doing one of two things:

1. Spend every waking moment with it until it’s old enough to put next to or with your other chickens
2. Find it a buddy of a similar age

Chickens are such social creatures that they don’t do well on their own.

 

[crzyckldy]

I actually have some 1 week old chicks in the brooder but I'm afraid to put it in there since it seems weak. Do you think it would be ok or should I keep it in the incubator longer?

 

[crzyckldy]

Also my humidity during incubation was around 60 , was that too high?

 

[CSisley]

I actually have some 1 week old chicks in the brooder but I'm afraid to put it in there since it seems weak. Do you think it would be ok or should I keep it in the incubator longer?

Oh perfect! Yes I would definately wait till the chick is strong before putting it with the others and even then I would keep an eye on it to make sure it's not getting excessively picked on. It's amazing how early they start working on their pecking order.

Also my humidity during incubation was around 60 , was that too high?

There is your problem! You're overall average humidity should be between 40 and 50% during incubation and 65% during hatching. They have to lose enough water during incubation to be able to hatch properly. If you live in eastern North Carolina like I do then you have to especially watch to make sure your humidity is not too high.

 

[crzyckldy]

Oh thank you so much!!! I had a batch of 9 eggs prior to this one that was my first & only 3 made it. I have 6 that are on day 14 .. I'm going to candle them today and attempt to judge the air cell size. If I've had the humidity too high for them, is it too late to save them at this point? And yes I live toward the Eastern part of NC. Thanks for all of your help!!!

 

[CSisley]

I don't think it's too late to try. Judging the air cell size is a good idea but it can be difficult if the air cells are funny shaped. I get shipped eggs a lot which usually have saddle shaped air cells. If it were me, I would aim for a humidity of 40% or less but probably not below 25% to try and reduce your overall average humidity. When you’re in lockdown, you’ll still want to aim for 65%.

 

[crzyckldy]

Yeah these are shipped eggs. I'll change up my humidity "ways". Thank you so very much for your advice!!

 

[CSisley]

You're welcome! Let me know how it turns out if you don't mind!

 

[crzyckldy]

I definitely will!

 

[crzyckldy]

I candled the eggs I have that are at day 14 & yes I have ruined them! :-(. Only 1 is still alive. I got as much water as I could out of the incubator & the humidity is down to 40 right now. Any chance this one will make it or anything else I should do??