Chicks drying with the "wet look" ?

[RussianChickens]

He's definitely not "ripe" yet. I hope he makes it.

Me too! After what others have said I thought not hearing any sound that the eg was dead so I piped it to see what was wrong with the egg and there he was! Then his membrane dried out and I had to make a big window to wet it again. I have humidity at 65-70% and a wet cloth over the hole. I keep checking on him.

I had to help one hatch that was WAY too big for his shell. Hes seaming stronger now, he was awful tired. I wondered why he wasn't zipping. I got he shell off and he was packed in there! lol

 

[Farmer Viola]

yay! you got this. he definitely needs more time to absorb everything. trust me, you do not want him to hatch too early!!! you are already keeping everything moistened so that is perfect. there is no harm in leaving him in the shell for a long time, 24-48 hours from the pip time. he can breathe, his membrane is moist, there is no emergency right now for him.

in that same page I linked you earlier, there is a section about premature assistance and it shows how to make an "egg cap" out of the shell of one of the other eggs. if you still have the ones recently hatched from that would work. if you use one from the kitchen, make sure to boil or bake it first to sanitize. the cap will help keep the moisture inside to slow the drying out process while you sleep tonight.


____________________________________________
The aim here is a little progress at a time then after about 5-10minutes stop and replace the chick back into the brooder for another 30-60 minutes. This allows the chick to rest and warm through. It also allows the membrane to dry and shrivels any blood vessels a little further. Gradually the entire membrane is eased back and using the Q-tip the beak can be eased forward and over the right wing. At this stage the chick may start pushing with renewed vigour or you can ease the head up and out which will provide you with your first direct view down into the eggshell.

Using your candler assesses and check the blood vessels have receded and the yolk sac is absorbed. If you have assisted too early then allow the chick to curl up its head and re-cap the egg. Infertile eggs are excellent for this purpose. They are broken in two and the top half cleaned of its membranes. The top has a safety hole put in it and the egg shell soaked in boiled water. This action causes the shell to be pliable and it can be trimmed just below the widest point so it provides a snug fit. After soaking again in hot water remove the cap, allow to cool and simply place over the chick in the shell. If necessary use surgical tape to hold it in place. You are now committed to a fully assisted hatch.

Graphic showing the concept of 'Capping' in the event of premature assistance.

read more:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed

 

[RussianChickens]

Sadly I woke up this morning to find him dead. He is not moving and the hard stuff is beginning to creep over the soft membrane. Looks like he might have tried to pip in the wrong spot and drown, or just not pipped at all and drown. He was opening and closing his beak last night but people told me this was yolk contractions? since he was still under the membrane?



I'm not so sure this one would have made it even if I didn't accidently pip him.


See he hadn't even moved his head and I kept hitting blood when I tried to touch his membrane. I stayed up till 3 AM with him last night but missed your last post on premature hatching.

I did assist another chick who was too big for his shell and got stuck and it started to dry on him. He is now doing fine. So I still have an 80% hatch rate out of 10 eggs including the midterm quitter and the last one. Pretty good for my first time hatch!

 

[Farmer Viola]

Sadly I woke up this morning to find him dead. He is not moving and the hard stuff is beginning to creep over the soft membrane. Looks like he might have tried to pip in the wrong spot and drown, or just not pipped at all and drown. He was opening and closing his beak last night but people told me this was yolk contractions? since he was still under the membrane?


I'm not so sure this one would have made it even if I didn't accidently pip him.


See he hadn't even moved his head and I kept hitting blood when I tried to touch his membrane. I stayed up till 3 AM with him last night but missed your last post on premature hatching.

I did assist another chick who was too big for his shell and got stuck and it started to dry on him. He is now doing fine. So I still have an 80% hatch rate out of 10 eggs including the midterm quitter and the last one. Pretty good for my first time hatch!

Oh! I'm so sorry...

*hugs*

he was already late and behind the others. sometimes there are complications we can't understand, like the positioning you mentioned, or something else. if you do an eggtopsy, it should let you see how much fluid was still in there, and how much yolk was absorbed, etc. I understand if you don't want to take the egg apart, but I do encourage it because it helps when you're "picturing" what's happening inside the egg during your next hatch.

do not feel guilty at all, your accidentally pipping him had nothing to do with this. I have pipped eggs that have lived many times and was prepared to take you through the steps, though it is not commonly done. if you are finding blood in the membrane, then you are right to stop and wait longer. you did absolutely everything right. sometimes, they are just not strong enough to hatch for whatever reason... genetic, nutritional, conditions, it could be anything.

and great job on the chick you assisted earlier! this has been a great first hatch, that's an amazing hatch rate that you should be VERY proud of everything you've done! you have a great attitude toward hatching, and I bet you know a lot more now for your next hatch (and there will be many hatches to come, this stuff is addicting!)

 

[RussianChickens]

Oh! I'm so sorry...

*hugs*

he was already late and behind the others. sometimes there are complications we can't understand, like the positioning you mentioned, or something else. if you do an eggtopsy, it should let you see how much fluid was still in there, and how much yolk was absorbed, etc. I understand if you don't want to take the egg apart, but I do encourage it because it helps when you're "picturing" what's happening inside the egg during your next hatch.

do not feel guilty at all, your accidentally pipping him had nothing to do with this. I have pipped eggs that have lived many times and was prepared to take you through the steps, though it is not commonly done. if you are finding blood in the membrane, then you are right to stop and wait longer. you did absolutely everything right. sometimes, they are just not strong enough to hatch for whatever reason... genetic, nutritional, conditions, it could be anything.

and great job on the chick you assisted earlier! this has been a great first hatch, that's an amazing hatch rate that you should be VERY proud of everything you've done! you have a great attitude toward hatching, and I bet you know a lot more now for your next hatch (and there will be many hatches to come, this stuff is addicting!)

Thanks

I have been keeping the egg moist in the bator so I can crack it and look at it later. It does look like there is a lot of fluid still in it and brown blood in veins. I'll have to wait till tonight to see inside.

That big guy sure was ready to get out of that shell! Once I got the top off he couldn't wait Lol! When he stopped rocking around I knew something was up so I decided to open the bator and I discovered his predicament. I try not to open it when I get the humidity just right.

I think my gauge is off, I'll have to fix that for next time. I did have some trouble with the goo, or flash goo. The goo starts when the humidity is too high, then you open the bator to help a chick and the stuff freezes.

 

[Farmer Viola]

I think my gauge is off, I'll have to fix that for next time. I did have some trouble with the goo, or flash goo. The goo starts when the humidity is too high, then you open the bator to help a chick and the stuff freezes.

I think you are right about this, the too high humidity for the first 18 days slows down the evaporation of the egg. the egg has to lose water weight, and if it is too humid, not enough water is lost. so that is how you end up with liquid at the end, here is a link I use for troubleshooting different issues http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/trouble.html

 

[RussianChickens]

Ok, So I did and Eggtopsy tonight. COD was suffocation from malplacement of the head. He did have a lot of fluid with him, appeared to be in his mouth as well. He was ready to hatch, yolk absorbed but had his head under his feet in such way he would not have been able to pip. I suspect he drown during the night. I was going to try and help him out before bed but I kept hitting blood so I had to stop. Possibly if I had stayed up a few more hours I might have had success with an assisted hatch.

Doesn't look like this chick would have ever had a chance without a fully assisted hatch any way. I learnt a great deal from opening the egg. I have a day 15 or so quitter I plan to open tomorrow just to see what's inside.

Now I know for next time what to watch for. If I had never opened this egg he would have undoubtedly died so it wasn't an incubating problem but likely a position problem. I guess I actually gave him a shot by cracking the egg, other ways I'd never have known.

How is best to dispose of old eggs and DIS chicks?


Its a tough world out there if you're a chicken, not much to help ya' out but one little person, a pair of old tweezers, and a flashlight. Lol!

 

[Farmer Viola]

Ok, So I did and Eggtopsy tonight. COD was suffocation from malplacement of the head. He did have a lot of fluid with him, appeared to be in his mouth as well. He was ready to hatch, yolk absorbed but had his head under his feet in such way he would not have been able to pip. I suspect he drown during the night. I was going to try and help him out before bed but I kept hitting blood so I had to stop. Possibly if I had stayed up a few more hours I might have had success with an assisted hatch.

Doesn't look like this chick would have ever had a chance without a fully assisted hatch any way. I learnt a great deal from opening the egg. I have a day 15 or so quitter I plan to open tomorrow just to see what's inside.

Now I know for next time what to watch for. If I had never opened this egg he would have undoubtedly died so it wasn't an incubating problem but likely a position problem. I guess I actually gave him a shot by cracking the egg, other ways I'd never have known.

How is best to dispose of old eggs and DIS chicks?


Its a tough world out there if you're a chicken, not much to help ya' out but one little person, a pair of old tweezers, and a flashlight. Lol!

interesting, thanks for all the eggtopsy information. sounds like too high humidity to me, due to the excess liquid. I wonder if the extreme glue-ing you had was also for the same reason? I can't remember if I said this already, sorry if i'm a broken record, I highly recommend the dry incubation method, link is in my signature

you are correct about his malposition preventing hatch. this is one of those cases where mother nature has decided this one isn't meant to live. it's harsh, but it's part of natural selection.. the only time I feel justified assisting malpositioned chicks is in the case of shipped or severely damaged eggs (detached air cells rolling around in the egg). these embryos are out of position because of human interference, so I can usually predict damaged eggs = damaged chicks.

I put bad eggs and dead chicks inside of ziplock baggies. I burn them in our burn barrel, I don't want to bury them because I think predators around here would dig them up.

 

[RussianChickens]

interesting, thanks for all the eggtopsy information. sounds like too high humidity to me, due to the excess liquid. I wonder if the extreme glue-ing you had was also for the same reason? I can't remember if I said this already, sorry if i'm a broken record, I highly recommend the dry incubation method, link is in my signature

you are correct about his malposition preventing hatch. this is one of those cases where mother nature has decided this one isn't meant to live. it's harsh, but it's part of natural selection.. the only time I feel justified assisting malpositioned chicks is in the case of shipped or severely damaged eggs (detached air cells rolling around in the egg). these embryos are out of position because of human interference, so I can usually predict damaged eggs = damaged chicks.

I put bad eggs and dead chicks inside of ziplock baggies. I burn them in our burn barrel, I don't want to bury them because I think predators around here would dig them up.

Yeah, I started with the humidity method but switched to the dry after like 4 days.

This was good practice for my shipped eggs that will be coming. They are special and I do not want to lose any if I don't have too. I may have to help some hatch, and now I have a much better Idea on how to run my bator and what to expect from the humidity. I'm ready for my next hatch!

I'm still amazzed I had an 80% rate on my first try Lol! even with the bator coming unplugged for several hours haha! and after all that they hatched early!