Chicks drying with the "wet look" ?

RussianChickens

Songster
9 Years
Jul 2, 2013
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Michigan (USA)
I hatched my first chicks. The first came out at 45% humidity fine. Someone here told me to raise it to 65%, so I did. Now the chicks that hatched have that hard goo on them someone posted about last week! And another can't hatch because of it and is now stuck!


HELP! What do I do now? Their feathers are matted down and they can't walk! They act brain damaged. The first one is fine, he hatched at 45%.


I'm getting my humidity DOWN! This is bogus! The first hatched fine at 45%. I'm not touching it next time.
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So now what do i do for my matted chicks?


<<< So I took paper towel and rubbed them till they fuzzed up a bit and lowerd the humidity back to 50%. They still can't walk but seem a tad better now that they aren't covered in hard stuffs. More are hatching. All have zipped and one has piped and the other may be dead or piped. Can't tell. Stuck chick was finally able to struggle out and is very tired. He had less crap on him sense I lowered the humidity.
 
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I hatched my first chicks. The first came out at 45% humidity fine. Someone here told me to raise it to 65%, so I did. Now the chicks that hatched have that hard goo on them someone posted about last week! And another can't hatch because of it and is now stuck!


HELP! What do I do now? Their feathers are matted down and they can't walk! They act brain damaged. The first one is fine, he hatched at 45%.

that stuff that gets hard as a rock when it dries is the inner membrane from the egg. sometimes a little bit will remain on the chick after it hatches, and what I do is rinse it off under warm water. I hold the chicks head very securely between my fingers and hold it's body in my fist, just letting the warm water run over it. 95-100F degree water is good, not too hot or too cold, skin temperature.

for the chicks that are getting stuck to the shell, you may need to intervene. as you know, that stuff is like GLUE! once it dries, the chick can't move in the shell. the chick needs to be able to spin around to zip and get out. This is often caused by a sudden drop in humidity, usually from opening the incubator while there are open pips/zips. This is why people enforce "lockdown" where you're not allowed to open the incubator. it lets all the moisture out, and causes this glue problem. l am not blaming you in any way, just want you to understand why and how it happens. if your humidity was lower at hatch time, 45%, that could be a factor as well. I wasn't there, only you know your incubator conditions.


when they get stuck as you have descried, you can use warm water or anti-biotic ointment (neosporin) to moisten the membrane. by keeping it moist, it will become un-stuck and the chick should be able to hatch on it's own. you will need to monitor it closely. just keep it moistened and allow the chick to unstuck itself; DO NOT remove the chick from the shell yet.

before intervening, please read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/9316/intervention-helping-your-chicks-hatch

Quote: I don't know what your incubator conditions were for the first 18 days, but this is what I do:
day 1-18: 25-45% without adding any water
day 19-21: 55-65%
this is called the dry incubation method, there is more information about it in the link in my signature.

there is a certain amount of water that needs to be lost throughout the 21 days. so if your humidity was higher for the first 18 days, lower humidity at the end may be acceptable/necessary. only you know your incubation conditions.
 
that stuff that gets hard as a rock when it dries is the inner membrane from the egg. sometimes a little bit will remain on the chick after it hatches, and what I do is rinse it off under warm water. I hold the chicks head very securely between my fingers and hold it's body in my fist, just letting the warm water run over it. 95-100F degree water is good, not too hot or too cold, skin temperature.

for the chicks that are getting stuck to the shell, you may need to intervene. as you know, that stuff is like GLUE! once it dries, the chick can't move in the shell. the chick needs to be able to spin around to zip and get out. This is often caused by a sudden drop in humidity, usually from opening the incubator while there are open pips/zips. This is why people enforce "lockdown" where you're not allowed to open the incubator. it lets all the moisture out, and causes this glue problem. l am not blaming you in any way, just want you to understand why and how it happens. if your humidity was lower at hatch time, 45%, that could be a factor as well. I wasn't there, only you know your incubator conditions.


when they get stuck as you have descried, you can use warm water or anti-biotic ointment (neosporin) to moisten the membrane. by keeping it moist, it will become un-stuck and the chick should be able to hatch on it's own. you will need to monitor it closely. just keep it moistened and allow the chick to unstuck itself; DO NOT remove the chick from the shell yet.

before intervening, please read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/9316/intervention-helping-your-chicks-hatch

I don't know what your incubator conditions were for the first 18 days, but this is what I do:
day 1-18: 25-45% without adding any water
day 19-21: 55-65%
this is called the dry incubation method, there is more information about it in the link in my signature.

there is a certain amount of water that needs to be lost throughout the 21 days. so if your humidity was higher for the first 18 days, lower humidity at the end may be acceptable/necessary. only you know your incubation conditions.
Ahh, thank you! I started with higher humidity so that could be the problem as well! it seems i have found the spot for it now and I add water with straw fulls to up it if I need to.

Once I got the humidity back down there were no further hatch problems with that hard stuff. Everything else has been great! Just waiting on the last two to hatch, one pipped the other was accidentally piped by me and still live in shell.

I have been learning so much from this hatch!
 
Ahh, thank you! I started with higher humidity so that could be the problem as well! it seems i have found the spot for it now and I add water with straw fulls to up it if I need to.

Once I got the humidity back down there were no further hatch problems with that hard stuff. Everything else has been great! Just waiting on the last two to hatch, one pipped the other was accidentally piped by me and still live in shell.

I have been learning so much from this hatch!

awesome! Glad to hear it
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I'm happy that everyone was able to hatch out on their own!

keep me posted on those last 2 :)
you said you accidentally pipped one of them? did you pip it near the beak / can you see if it's breathing?
 
awesome! Glad to hear it
thumbsup.gif
I'm happy that everyone was able to hatch out on their own!

keep me posted on those last 2 :)
you said you accidentally pipped one of them? did you pip it near the beak / can you see if it's breathing?
He is breathing, but I can not see a visible internal pip. !? ?? ? Idk what to think about that nor what to do?

DO I keep waiting? Do I help him? They were a few days early anyhow. Hes the last one now :S
 
He is breathing, but I can not see a visible internal pip. !? ?? ? Idk what to think about that nor what to do?

DO I keep waiting? Do I help him? They were a few days early anyhow. Hes the last one now :S

WAIT! do nothing. he's fine :)

when the chick starts breathing, that is the first time it has ever used it's lungs. until this point, it's body has received oxygen through the veins exclusively. when he takes his first breath, the process of "sucking in" all the veins AND the yolk begins; until then, that process hasn't even started. it can take 12-24hrs for everything to absorb; ONLY THEN is the chick ready to start trying to hatch.

I highly recommend this guide from my signature: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed
if you scroll down, this is the part of hatching you're on right now:

______________________________________

It is now that the chick enters its latent phase and it appears as though there is little progress. This phase can last from 6-72 hours depending on species or breed incubated. Gradually the chick becomes more vocal as the lungs finally mature. Apart from the constant clicking noise from breathing the chick will occasional whistle or peep. It is vital to point out that the clicking or tapping noise is NOT the chick tapping against the shell trying to release itself. Many owners nerves are shredded at this stage and they misinterpret the noise and prematurely intervene with disastrous consequences! To reassure the reader I advise putting your chin on your chest and try forcibly breathing in and out. In this position you can mimic the clicking noise which is actually caused by the chicks head being bent and made in the pharynx as it breathes.

While the chick rests during this quiet phase it is preparing for its final hatching sequence. By changing pressure in the thorax and abdominal contractions the yolk sac is drawn inside the abdominal cavity. Meanwhile the lungs have finally matured and the job of the chorio-allantoic membrane becomes redundant. The blood vessels start to gradually close down and recede into the chicks navel. If the owner prematurely assists before this stage they will usually cause haemorrhage from the still active blood vessels and find the yolk sac unabsorbed.

80310_graphic-fetalposition.jpg

Graphic showing the almost mature chick that may have externally pipped but still with the yolk sac unabsorbed and the major blood vessels still active.
 
Thank you! That was very informative. You caught me literally right as I was talking the membrane to test for blood. There was so I didn't pull it. I however did chip away the shell so I could see inside.

I chipped away the rest of the shell to find a dry membrane. I followed instructions to wet it down and cover the opening with wet paper towel and raised humidity in bator.

Took a pic after I wet it down. You can see his head if you look close. He must be a very late hatcher. He's been like this for 24hrs.
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