Chick dry but not fluffy

[as110]

I am joining this gang. This is our second try at hatching. Last night after we turned to day 20, two chicks pipped a few hours apart. The one that pipped second hatched first, I estimated it took about 6 hours. I thought it pipped under the air cell but when it was born it was obvious it pipped in the air cell. Zipped fast and it was born with some yolk dangling for almost an hour and there was a bit of blood. It finally separated but not before it made a mess on every other egg. The second chick that pipped first hatched in 10 hours. It pipped right on the pencil line. When it hatched the egg had an intact air cell. I don't know how we saw the cell when we drew the line, I thought it pipped just at the right spot. It hatched clean and without blood or gunk. This one was walking on curled toes until this evening. It seems to have corrected itself thank goodness.

They are now dry, it is almost midnight and we are into day 21. Nothing else pipped externally. Impatient me, I stuck my phone in the box to quickly candle what I could see. I think 2 may have internally pipped. I did not check all of them. I hope we get some more chicks tomorrow. There were at least 5 more that moved on day 19. so we are hopeful.

These two little guys are dry but look messy and crusty. Humidity is between 68-72. The egg shell that was stuck to the top of their heads fell off. Once in a while they pick on each other and I saw one groom itself a bit. But they look like hobos.

I am not sure how to post the pictures to show if they look fine.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Those chicks will be fine, if really crusty a quick check and clean of the vent area to ensure it's not covered with gunk may be in order but by your description they're fine.

We use to hatch at 65-70% RH and that worked great, still think it's the best range. The problem with that range is as chicks pip and hatch the humidity spikes turning the album sticky and when dries back under 70% RH dries hard around pip hole and glue inside egg. If you can I suggest you get the humidity to 70% and over. When we hatched in that lower range I'd take chicks out as soon as they hatched to not let the air in incubator get too wet for too long. Would also lift lid to let air out when it was getting too moist. Worked great for many a hatch until one where the majority pipped and 1/4 of them hatched in one night. Awoke to dry fluffy chicks and the rest stuck inside shells. We keep it 70% and over anymore. It's stressful aiding stuck chicks to hatch and then all the cleaning involved after. No fun at all. If your over 70 that shouldn't happen.

If chicks are covered with gunk or have too much shell stuck to them wipe them or even hold them in a bowl of warm water. I get the water to 100F then hold chicks head out of it and rub the gunk, and shell off taking care not to pull anything until it's wetted enough to be liquid again. It's these situation where extra care cleaning around vent area is needed. You don't want the vent obstructed.

 

[as110]

It looks like they fluffed up a little more, except the head where they can't groom.
Here are my chicks and their butts are OK and dry.


We were not sure if the umbilicus was good. I got the fluff away with wet q-tip to see it. It is scabbed. The other one does not have it. This is the chick that hatched fast with the yolk and blood vessels still hanging around for an hour after hatch.
It already had a good size yellow and dark green almost black poop.
He is not happy at the moment, not sure if it is from the water or that I touched the umbilicus. It is back in the incubator to dry and does not want to sit down. It is falling asleep standing up.