Bad hatch and leg problems! MORE HATCHED!!!!

[mrbstephens]

I had 97 bobwhite quail eggs in the incubator and they started to hatch in the turner. I turned off the turner when I noticed, added water the the troughs and the next morning I had several chicks, pips and zips. One chick was wedged between the turner and the side of the incubator. I opened the incubator quickly and pulled the chick out, then stuffed paper towel in the crevice. I didn't notice the humidity drop I think because it's in the damp basement.

I had to open the bator a few more times quickly to save chicks that were wedged in other areas. Hatching in the turner is AWFUL!

Today, I removed 25 chicks from the bator and moved the to the brooder. Two had serious leg problems. They were going in different directions. They died shortly after I put them in the brooder. One chick had zipped halfway and stopped and was peeping. It had been like this for over 12 hours. I helped it hatch and now that it's dry in the bator I see that it too has leg problems.

I'm still hearing peeping in the bator, but the ones that had pipped over 36 hours ago aren't zipping. I fear the membranes have dried. I added more water to the troughs.

I'm not sure that I can do anything to save these unhatched chicks.

Also wondering what is wrong with their legs and why are some hatching this way?

 

[fried green eggs]

I have rescued chicks that couldn't get out by placing a very warm wet paper towel around them and let it set then slowly and carefully helped them get out. I had a chick born with a foot that was curled and it couldn't straighten its leg. It couldn't stand at all. I started giving it vitamins and made a little shoe out of light cardboard in the shape it's foot should be and taped it on w/ band-aids. I also helped stretch it's leg several times and by the next day, it was walking with only a slight limp. The foot was normal and within a few days it was doing great. Good Luck.

 

[kingbee]

What type of bator are you using? Sounds like a styrofoam square type. At day 14 you need to open the incubator and remove the turner and place the eggs on the wire floor. Do not put newspaper over the wire floor as this is too slick and will cause the baby quail to have bad legs. Keep it closed until day 18 then transfer all hatched to a brooder. I hate to sound mean but any unhatched eggs should be tossed, If they were to hatch they would be small or sub quality.

I like the larger cabinet incubators, quick to retemp and humidity changes are small.
Good luck!!

 

[mrbstephens]

I'm hearing a lot of peeping in the incubator, but I don't know which egg it's coming from!!!

Yes, it's the styrofoam type incubator. I followed the directions for quail hatching where it says to take them out if the turner at day 20. They started hatching on day 19. I've never heard to take them out on day 14?!

 

[mrbstephens]

Last night I checked into the incubator one more time before bed when I saw a newly hatched wet chick! I looked closer and noticed a ton more eggs zipping and then it was like popcorn! Based on the amount of empty eggs I would say about 48 more eggs hatched last night!!! So right now I have about 70 peeping bobwhites! YAY!!!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Bob eggs need temps of 99.5 to 100 degrees. Humidity of 55% to 60%. At lock down, up the humidty by 10%. It is best to use an incubator with fans and vents. The fans circulate the air enough so that there is no hot spots in the incubator. The vents draw in oxygen. Chicks will die without fresh air and especially at lock down and hatch, the babies need a TON of fresh air.

Leg problems are generally caused by too high temp or hot spots in the bator. Do not allow the temp to rise above 100 degrees. Keep tabs on the humidity during lock down, it is very important that the humidity remains high enough to keep the membranes and eggs plyable enough for the chicks to zip out.

As far as the turners....at lock down, you can cover the turners with some sort of non-skid material and place the eggs back on top of this material. It protects the chicks from getting caught in the turners and gives them traction after hatching.