Chicks drowning during pipping.

[skillet_scramble]

I once read about something that can cause fully formed chicks to drown during pipping but can't recall what it was. My last hatch was around 80% success but of the ones that didn't hatch after an additional 3 or 4 days in the bator I decided to throw them out. I had to crack them open just to see and what I found was 4 more fully formed chicks that were dead. Could this have been drowning during the pipping stage? What are the causes for this?

 

[Sylverfly]

Too high humidity? just a guess.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Humidity levels that are to high during incubation is what causes the chicks to drown. If you had an 80% hatch rate, I seriously doubt that the few chicks that were left drown. There are many reasons why fully formed chicks don't hatch. One is malformation of the chick. I've had some that I've helped hatch that just didn't develop correctly and I ended up having to cull them. One had severe neck problems, another had hip / leg problems, and others were lacking toes. I've also had one that didn't make it long, which I believe had an internal problem.

Like I said, there are just so many issues that can affect whether a chick hatches or not, it is hard to say why yours didn't.

 

[skillet_scramble]

Well gumpsgirl you are probably correct. There was one also that we helped out of the shell that didn't have all it's toes and wasn't able to walk or hold its head up that we had to dispose of. These were some of the first eggs from these young layers also so I was surprised that we had any that hatched but my 9-year old daughter insisted that we try and to my surprise it was quite a sucess all things considered. She's quite a kid and very good about caring for her small flock of 7 which has now more than doubled with this hatch. These are now about 8 weeks old and are getting to learn about pecking order but are doing great in with the others.

 

[aalbury]

Quote:
What kind are they? No pictures?

 

[skillet_scramble]

White Leghorns. Sorry for not having the pictures posted. I have some pics when they were a few days old but not sure how to post them.

 

[Surehatch]

Like Gumpsgirl said there are many reasons why chicks don't hatch, but chicks that drown is very likely to be due to too high humidity.

The ideal humidity with chicken eggs is around 65% to 75%

 

[Katy]

Quote:
If I did that high of humidity they'd all drown!! 65% is the highest I keep it and that's only for the last 3 days.

 

[skillet_scramble]

Well here is a picture of the chicks that did hatch in their new brooder that I built from old cedar fencing with an electronic temp controller and heater that I salvaged from some old industrial equipment.

And here is the brooder in operation.

 

[chickenlover456]

Your chicks are absolutely precious!