Chicks keep dying after internal pip

[Silkies~Polishes]

Hi, so I have a pretty troubling problem here that after searching online I haven't found any results. I have so far attempted 4 hatches with my hovabator 1062N, 2 chicken, 1 quail, 1 duck. I am extremely frustrated because I have wasted over $100 on eggs. I have kept the conditions as stable as I can, with the temperature 98-101 degrees F and the humidity 40-55% during incubation(I have 2 gauges reading the same thing, one from the manufacturer and one from ebay), and 60-70% during hatching, a little unstable I know. So the first hatch was the quail. I had 14 due to hatch, they hatched one day late, one chick was not able to stand up and died in 5 hours, the other 5 are to this day still healthy(they are 7 weeks). The other eight had died in the shell after internally pipping, but 2 had externally pipped. The second hatch was serama-polish eggs from my chickens, all of the them had died in the shell after internally pipping(I finally cracked them open a couple days after hatch date).the third hatch was again my serama-polish, which was a few days ago, out of 6 two hatched okay and are doing fine, the other 4 died after internally pipping. And my last hatch due was yesterday, some ancona ducks. out of 11 two hatched (3 days early) but were really weak and couldn't stand and died in 12 and 15 hours.

So has anyone heard of this? If so what causes this? could it be somehow both my temp and humidity gauges are wrong. I also am open to the temp and humidity going out of the safe range, I was just stating what I had noticed when I check on the eggs.

I also just realized that I only washed the incubator after the first hatch, could it be a disease or bacteria?

Hopefully someone can help me as I am extremely frustrated and would be very grateful for even the slightest bit of help or lead what this could be. It seems to be a recurring problem that the chicks either die after internal pip are something is wrong and they are weak and cant stand. And sorry if this is a common problem! Its just when I searched this nothing came up, but if there are some threads you can lead me to that would be great.

Oh and I forgot to add: None of these chicks look shrink wrapped, and Im beginning to think the humidity gauges are wrong and they drowned. Although when I looked up symptoms it was: if the yolk had not absorbed and the chicks were really wet? This was the case with only a few of them, however most had absorbed their yolk.

 

[sumi]

I'm sorry to hear you are having such a hard time with your hatches. Chicks dying at this late stage or shortly after hatching could be due to a number of causes. I will list the most common causes for you and you can go through them and see if that helps:

- Incorrect temperature and/or humidity levels during incubation and hatching. Too high humidity can cause the chick to drown in the air cell and too low humidity can cause the chick to become shrink wrapped in the inner membrane and unable to position itself for hatching and/or manoeuvring in order to zip the egg shell.
- Inadequate ventilation during the final stage of incubation and hatching. It is vital that the chicks get enough oxygen during the final stage of incubation and when they hatch.
- The age of the eggs (eggs stored too long), especially quail eggs, which should ideally be set within a week after being laid.
- The problem could be with the breeding flock, insufficient nutrients in the hens' diet, which will lead to nutritional deficiencies of the embryo and
- Disease in the breeding flock
- Bacterial or viral infection. Eggs were contaminated by hands when handling the eggs (while turning or candling) or in an unclean incubator.
- Shaking, vibrations or general rough handling of the eggs can kill embryos, especially during the early stages, and result in crippled chicks at a later stage.
- Malpositioned chicks, due to incorrect placement of the eggs (pointy end higher than fat end), incorrect humidity levels, nutritional deficiency, or the age of the egg.
- Incorrect turning or inadequate turning of the eggs during incubation, especially during the first 14 days and turning during the final 3 days of incubation (lockdown).
- Excess calcium resulting too thick egg shells that is near impossible for the chick to pip through.

 

[ozexpat]

the 1602N does not come with a fan but it can be added.

did you have a fan? a day late indicates low temps

did you follow air cell size or weights? late death is often related to a humidity too high

did you adequately turn the eggs?

 

[Silkies~Polishes]

From what you guys have said I have an idea of what could be the problems:
I will see about getting a fan for regulating temps and helping with ventilation
I don't always wash my hands before handling the eggs so I think that may be one of the issues, and not disinfecting the incubator
Incorrect humidity. I've got 2 batches of my chicken's eggs in the incubator and if they have issues hatching I will try to figure out if they are shrink wrapping or drowning, although I think drowning may be the issue. In your experience what is the best humidity levels for incubating and hatching? since I know everyone's opinions are little different. I haven't been watching the air cell size, I should start doing that.

I use a turner that I know works, and none of the eggs were stored longer than 7 days, most only a few days.

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[Heidisgran]

I've had pretty good luck incubating chickens at 55% humidity give or take but as soon as they are about 3 days from hatching I up it to at least 65% of course you want to make sure there is a nice air sac before upping it.... when they internally pip I lay a damp paper towel under them....if they don't pip their shell on their own by 24 hrs or so I candle and pip it for them...I decided that I would do whatever I need to do to keep them alive! I lost some that didn't pip and regretted not helping so I won't make that mistake again. they may not be ready to hatch but they need to breath! good luck!

 

[Heidisgran]

they ran out of air! I have seen posts from others that if the heat or humidity are to high the chickens grow too big to shift and zip! but I have read about the unhealthy chicks and that seems to be "maybe" a problem with your flocks health...or older hens laying the eggs!

 

[Silkies~Polishes]

thanks for the reply and I will keep your humidity preferences in mind. I'm doubting the chicks parents are unhealthy since they are from three different species of birds, all from different people and my chickens are only 10 months old. But I never thought about the temperature being too high and the chick got too big to pip, that's a good point!

 

[ozexpat]

Most people on here will incubate at 40% or less. Hatch at > 65%

Most of us will trouble shoot one variable at a time. If you are pipping on day 19 then I would lower temp by 1F for a hatch. If not, start with humidity.

The best assessment of aircell is weight.

Hatching 101 in my link is very useful.

 

[chiqita]

How were the quails feet? If one could not stand, that can also be a temp issue. did you calibrate your thermometer and hydrometer? check BYC on how to do both. I don't like calibrating temps, so I got a brinsea spotcheck instead, but that is me. Many many thermometers and practically all hydrometers are off. If you know how off you can get much better info from them.

 

[Silkies~Polishes]

well my chickens eggs are pipping on day 19, but I think they are supposed to since my chickens(the parents) were incubated under a hen and they hatched on day 19 with no issues, and they are a mix breed serama-polish.
The quail's feet seemed perfectly fine(and the ducklings) they just couldn't seem to get their balance and couldn't even sit, theyd just roll over onto their back with their necks to the side.
Oh and I think I will try to see if I can find a better thermometer hygrometer with good reviews. I haven't calibrated the thermometers, but all 3 read the same thing so im hoping that means they are reading right. I did calibrate my hygrometers yesterday and one was reading 15% too low, the other 10% too low, so Im thinking if I had checked them earlier I wouldn't be having these issues.