Chicks hatch, but then die

[moraylass]

Hi.

We've now had 4 chicks die with a few hours of hatching. Two were with a broody, so I'm no sure what may have happened; the third was abandoned by that broody and got cold and not moving but in an incubator it revived and seemed OK, then out of the blue we found it dead a couple of hours later, and the fourth was in an incubator pipped, got out, seemed a little lathrgic and floppy, and after an hour started gasping (we tried some water on the beak a few times, but kept it in the incubator), but as it started to fluff up an hour later on it expired.

We're not trying to hatch large numbers, but this year seems very problematic, and wondered if anyone had an explanation, or something we should be doing differently if we do get any more hatching to keep them alive.

Thanks!

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Hi.

We've now had 4 chicks die with a few hours of hatching. Two were with a broody, so I'm no sure what may have happened; the third was abandoned by that broody and got cold and not moving but in an incubator it revived and seemed OK, then out of the blue we found it dead a couple of hours later, and the fourth was in an incubator pipped, got out, seemed a little lathrgic and floppy, and after an hour started gasping (we tried some water on the beak a few times, but kept it in the incubator), but as it started to fluff up an hour later on it expired.

We're not trying to hatch large numbers, but this year seems very problematic, and wondered if anyone had an explanation, or something we should be doing differently if we do get any more hatching to keep them alive.

Thanks!

Did they have any visible abnormalities?
How is the condition of your broody?

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Are they too cold or too hot?

 

[moraylass]

Did they have any visible abnormalities?
How is the condition of your broody?

No abnomalities (I've attached a pic of the last one, which was chirping happily inside and outside the egg), and the broody was/is fit and healthy (though she had gone off to eat and left the latter one to get cold).

 

[moraylass]

Are they too cold or too hot?

I'm not sure. The first two died under the broody. The third had been moved under a heat plate as it was moving around, having revived in the warmth of the incubator for a few hours. The fourth in the incubator (set at 37.5). I saw most of the last one, and it was the gasping that seemed odd, though giving it water drops didn't help.

I was wondering if I was missing something in the first few hours, just as they have dried off.