Chicks dying - what am I doing wrong??

[busylizzie]

I have hatched chicks about 4-5 times (about 25 chicks) now and the
past hatches have been absolutely fine with great hatch rates and
no deaths after hatch....
...this has been with an R-Com mini and a basic polybox incubator
and has been hybrids and silkies.

However, I have been trying to hatch some special orpington bantams
and out of 12 eggs; in two different incubators and mixed in with other
hybrid eggs which all hatched no problems.

4 were clear (fair enough)
3 stopped developing somewhere between day 10-14 (not happened to me before)
1 chick died as is came out of its shell
1 chick died after 2-3 days....progressively getting weaker and refusing to open its eyes; never eating or drinking,
1 chick strong and bouncing around
2 more alive but getting weaker as time goes on

(helped 4 out of their shells as they were stuck and struggling after 36 hours)


My questions:
- what can I do to help the two weak chicks?
- Is this just a batch of genetically weak eggs/chicks OR could I have done something wrong? if so what?

Thanks for your time

 

[jenjscott]

Well I think you have answered your own question. If you hatched other eggs at the same time in the same bator with good results, then its in the chicks or eggs, could be shipping, nutrition of hens, lots of things, but probably not you.

 

[busylizzie]

Thanks Jenjscott - I think I just needed to hear it from someone else....I feel
so helpless and nothing I do seems to help them