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Quote: I am not as experienced as Laree, but I had one very sticky chick who is now three weeks old. My husband and I both helped. The chick was in his left hand in a washcloth over the sink. I doused its body with handfuls of warm water from the filled sink, and we both used Q-tips to wipe...

Quote: I have no adult chickens, but I am hoping some of these chicks will grow into broodies! Maybe next spring's hatches can be much less stressful! Good luck with your broodies!

I would like to figure out the opened-the-incubator-during-hatch-"shrinkwrap" issue. Does it look like the shrinkwrap in Laree's picture, or is it something different? Quote:

Quote: My goodness - 8 stuck chicks are a lot of work. Sticky chicks are so stressful. I had a few for the Easter hatch. One ended up being a runt (a sweet little runt, though), but the other two were normal sized. All ended up alright, but it made the whole day feel like an emergency. It...

Hmm. I just thought of something we hadn't covered. Many people talk about shrinkwrapping chicks by opening the incubator while chicks have pipped from the sudden drop in humidity. Looking at Laree's pictures in Post #3, this last-minute issue isn't true shrinkwrapping. What exactly happens...

they'reHISchickens : Too low humidity to me was under 20%. Regular dry humidity to me is 25-35% and closer to the upper 20s. Now when it gets lower than 25 , i "let the hen walk thru rain" or .. add some water to bring it up to 30+. Then I let it go for a while down to 25 or so. Lockdown is in...

Quote: Sorry! I read what you said again just after posting and understood it better. I thought I caught it before anyone saw, but you were too quick for me! Anyway, I appreciate both answers! Updated summary: Shrink wrapped: before pipping, both inner and out membranes dry tight around...

Quote: Yeaaah.... I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be overly optimistic, but, hey - it's worth a shot. Quote: (Edited because I think I understand this differently now) So, are you saying that they drown because the air cell is too small? What conditions would cause a small...

Quote: Summarizing again and still trying to get things clear: Shrink wrapped: before pipping, both inner and out membranes dry tight around the chick; caused by too little humidity throughout incubation - based on SteveH & Laree's observations Sticky chick: after pipping, the liquids dry...

Okay, I'm on the East Coast, and you guys did a lot of figuring after I went to bed! I'm going to summarize what I think everyone said, and if you would, please correct me and fill in the blanks. Was this the consensus? Shrink wrapped: both inner and out membranes dry tight around the chick...

Thank you for clarifying, debiraymond. Great info and explanation, Laree. Thanks again!

One more question to clarify: Is shrinkwrapping caused by humidity being too low just during lockdown or throughout all of incubation?

Thank you so much, Laree. That was amazingly clear, and the photos are excellent illustrations. I'm going to print this to PDF to keep as a personal reference. You are awesome! Thank you for your help.

(ETA: As I understood it...) If you open the incubator during lockdown, the humidity drops and a pipped chick can become "shrink wrapped." They cannot turn to complete the zip. If your humidity is too high during lockdown, the chicks can become "sticky" and cannot turn to complete the zip...