When chicks have trouble hatching there is a reason. It is possible it is something we did but often there is something wrong with the chick. Call it a birth defect. With your hatch rate I don't think it was anything you did.
About half the chicks I help do not make it. They are just not meant to. That does not mean you don't try though.
Before they zip a chick needs to do a few certain things. It needs to dry up blood vessels in the membrane around it and absorb that blood. Otherwise it can bleed to death if it nicks a blood vessel while zipping. It needs to absorb the yolk. They can live off of that yolk for 72 hours or more before they need to eat or drink. That way they can wait on the later eggs to hatch before the broody leads them off of the nest. There are other things too, like somehow they manage the gunk that surrounds them so they dry soft and fluffy. The ones I help often dry with the down matted down, not fluffy at all. It takes mine like that about a week to fluff up. If a chick hatches without doing those things then it is not the "normal" conditions.
I try to keep them warm. That means they often stay in the incubator for a while. If they are in the brooder with the other chicks they might walk on it or even peck at it. If it appears "normal" other than it has gunky down I wash it in a cup of warm (100 F) water, careful to keep its head out of the water. That doesn't remove all of the gunk but it helps. But keep it warm until it dries.
I try to feed it. Some people use electrolytes they can buy at a feed store. Some use sugar water which contains a lot of "energy". I use hummingbird liquid as I always have some on hand. The idea is to keep it hydrated but mainly to get something in it to give it enough energy so it can eat and drink on its own. I use a medicine dropper (some use a pippette) to put a drop of liquid on the tip of its beak. If you try putting liquid down its throat it can drown. Most of mine twist their head and drink that drop of liquid. Keep feeding it as long as it drinks.
That's about it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Good luck!
About half the chicks I help do not make it. They are just not meant to. That does not mean you don't try though.
Before they zip a chick needs to do a few certain things. It needs to dry up blood vessels in the membrane around it and absorb that blood. Otherwise it can bleed to death if it nicks a blood vessel while zipping. It needs to absorb the yolk. They can live off of that yolk for 72 hours or more before they need to eat or drink. That way they can wait on the later eggs to hatch before the broody leads them off of the nest. There are other things too, like somehow they manage the gunk that surrounds them so they dry soft and fluffy. The ones I help often dry with the down matted down, not fluffy at all. It takes mine like that about a week to fluff up. If a chick hatches without doing those things then it is not the "normal" conditions.
I try to keep them warm. That means they often stay in the incubator for a while. If they are in the brooder with the other chicks they might walk on it or even peck at it. If it appears "normal" other than it has gunky down I wash it in a cup of warm (100 F) water, careful to keep its head out of the water. That doesn't remove all of the gunk but it helps. But keep it warm until it dries.
I try to feed it. Some people use electrolytes they can buy at a feed store. Some use sugar water which contains a lot of "energy". I use hummingbird liquid as I always have some on hand. The idea is to keep it hydrated but mainly to get something in it to give it enough energy so it can eat and drink on its own. I use a medicine dropper (some use a pippette) to put a drop of liquid on the tip of its beak. If you try putting liquid down its throat it can drown. Most of mine twist their head and drink that drop of liquid. Keep feeding it as long as it drinks.
That's about it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Good luck!
