Chicks are hatching TOO DRY

[AliciaC]

Aghhhh!!!! My first hatch and my poor little chicken eggs are hatching but they appear to be too dry! I woke up on day 18 to 108 degree incubator. I dont know how long it was that high, an hour to 6 hours maybe. The humidity of course was out of whack from this as well. Got that under control and back to 99.5 but that evening 105 degrees and that could have been up to 4 hours. Normal temp and good humidity since then, they are hatching now but appear to be very dry. One has just made about a 2 cm hole since last night, is that a normal rate of hatch? I'm a basket case.. please please please advise!!! btw they were due yesterday.

 

[kasey08]

Some do hatch late. What is the humidity now?

 

[AliciaC]

Its 75 now. Like I said I've never done this or seen this done before, the membrane looks very dry to me and appears to be sticking to the chick.

 

[kasey08]

I would leave it. They should be fine. You can risk it and try taking it out. But you could cause the others to "shrink wrap" also (the membrane stuck to the chick)

 

[tigtoy]

try increasing the humidity.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

It can take 24 hours from pip to hatch, but for my three hatches that I have experienced, it took at most 4 hours.

There are threads on removing membrane stuck to chicks. You can search for this in the search bar until someone else assists with that, if you wish.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Kasey08 is right- don't open the incubator if you have pipping unless the chicks have been in there for 24 hours at least and need food. Then you might have to remove them quickly.

When they pip if the humidity goes down, they can die in shell due to shrinkwrapping.

 

[clarmayfarm]

Hi there,

If the humidity is 75, you should be fine. If not, open the bator and put in warm wet sponges, spritz pipped eggs and even chick's backs with warm water. As long as you add humidity, you will be okay opening the incubator up quickly.

If you take the chicks who shrink wrapped out, try warm water on them, rubbing gently. If it is too late, they will still live but will be crusty for a couple of weeks until their feathers come in...then you will not be able to tell them apart!

Foster

 

[AliciaC]

Ohhhh goodness Thank You! I've spritzed, added warm wet sponges, dabbed the dry membranes with warm water and that did seem to perk them up a bit. It's gonna be a long night! I did that search for how to remove stuck membranes and thats quite scarey... I Yih yih!!

 

[AliciaC]

Got Chicks! Woo hoo!! I did have to help them, they were really stuck. 8 out of 24! I was sure I lost them all.