Day 22 Hatch Help Needed – High Humidity, Bad Smell, 2 Pipped Eggs Still Not Progressing

[NewChicks858]

Hi everyone, I really need some advice. This is my first hatch and things have gotten stressful.

I currently have 7 chicks hatched, but 2 eggs are pipped and haven’t made any progress for many hours. The rest of the eggs have not pipped at all.


My incubator humidity has been staying very high (85–87 percent) and the inside of the incubator is soaked from condensation. The paper towels and the bottom tray are wet. It also smells really bad, so I’m worried there might be a rotten egg but I can’t tell which one.

Here’s what’s going on:

• Humidity is stuck around 85–87 percent

• A few eggs look “sweaty”

• The incubator definitely smells off

• I have 2 slow pips with no real progress

• I currently have 7 chicks inside and about 9 unhatched eggs

• I’m nervous to open the incubator too much because of shrink-wrapping, but the smell is strong and humidity is too high


My questions:

1. Is it safe to open the incubator briefly to remove obvious rotten eggs?
2. Should I remove some of the hatched chicks to help stabilize humidity?
3. Will the high humidity hurt the two pipped chicks?
4. Is there anything else I should do right now?

Any advice or shared experiences would be really appreciated. Thank you!

 

[DemeterAD9]

IME it really doesn't effect the eggs/chicks all that much if you are quick about getting in there and checking the eggs. When I incubate I tend to be a bit of a helicopter parent, candling eggs almost daily. I like to remove duds before they start smelling. I keep the temp and humidity stable by draping a blanket over me and the incubator while I do the candling, opening and closing the incubator as I check each egg. I even do this during lock down. Considering I had a pretty good hatch rate with my own eggs (25/28) it doesn't seem to do any harm to the developing chicks.

Your humidity isn't too high IMO, it isn't going to hurt to have it high while they are hatching. Plus you won't really be able to control the humidity as it will always spike every time a chick hatches. You can remove the chicks who have hatch once they are mostly dry. I don't really like keeping a bunch of active chicks in the incubator as they knock the unhatched eggs around and get goo all over so I take them out once they are mostly fluffy.

If you have a rotten egg you are better off removing it before it explodes. Candle the eggs with a strong light, if there is movement then they are still good. If they look off and have no movement then remove them. The sweaty eggs may be the source of the smell, I'd be checking them first. Be sure to give them a sniff test as that is likely the surest way to find the bad ones. When removing dud eggs during lock down I always chip away at the air cell end to take a peek inside, just to make sure they are indeed goners. Of course the rotten eggs are not ones I'd want to open up indoors.

In a perfect world all the eggs would be hatching around the same time, say within 10hrs of each other. There could be the odd straggler or two but typically once that big rush of hatching action is over any who are left are either dead or having issues hatching.

For the pipped eggs, how long have they been pipped? I would personally help them out if they have been pipped for more than 24hrs. When going to help the chicks I start by chipping away at the air cell end and see if the chick has finished absorbing the blood and yolk. If you see active blood vessels and/or if chicks are doing a chewing motion they are still absorbing. If everything looks to be well absorbed then I start chipping away in a similar manner to how they zip and hatch naturally. Once their head pops out I try and let them finish on their own.

 

[NewChicks858]

Thank you! The one that pipped, pipped probably 6 hours ago or so. I know for a fact that the other one that pipped is a dud unfortunately. It’s still in the incubator.

I had another incubator and ended up moving the hatched chicks in there. They seem happy enough but the humidity is just rising in there too lol.

 

[Debbie292d]

I try to ignore my incubators as otherwise, I'm going to be lifting the lid to lower the humidity, grabbing chicks and egg shells, candling unpipped ones, etc. I incubate a lot, and I've been gone when they hatched and that is so much less stressful.

I'd have patience with the 9, but there's your break to check them once that pipped one hatches. I've snuck unpipped ones out and candled them just to be sure there weren't any that died, and usually, they're just slower. I've never had an egg explode, yet, but that one that stinks would worry me, so hopefully, you're able to check soon.

Wishing you a great hatch!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is possible a piece of space junk could fall out of the sky and hit your house today. You might have a fender bender the next time you go for groceries. The sun might shine where you are today. Many things are possible but some are more likely than others.

It is possible to shrink wrap chicks by opening the incubator during hatch. It really can happen. But I put the possibility somewhere a little higher than you having a fender bender the next time I go to the grocery. Not a possibility that will stop me from going to the grocery but I will try to drive safely.

I had another incubator and ended up moving the hatched chicks in there. They seem happy enough but the humidity is just rising in there too lol.

Excellent! Since I understand that opening the incubator during hatch can possibly cause a problem I don't do it just for fun. I don't go out of my way to try to cause a problem. But if I have an emergency in the incubator I take care of the emergency. That's more likely to do good than cause harm. It is a judgment on my part as to what the emergency is.

If I were smelling the rotten egg smell I would open the incubator and sniff each unhatched egg. You should be able to tell which egg is bad. You had a safe place to put the chicks, that was a good move also. Personally I'd have put them in the brooder if it was ready. With the second incubator, make sure the vent hole is open. The humidity could be rising because the chicks are damp, from their breathing and poop, or maybe you put water in there for them to drink. High humidity will not hurt them but they don't need it.

Good luck!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Get chicks and rotten eggs out, they’ll never dry at that humidity, mine runs that high too. Stinky means rotten egg, smell any suspects, should be obvious, don’t open and might explode if left! Give pipped eggs a good day or more, I had a quail go 60 hours once! After 48 hours with no progress on anything (if we’ll past hatch date!) go ahead and check eggs: widen pip holes and watch for blood/movement or dead chick. Unpipped eggs can be water candled (inspect thoroughly for cracks/holes visually with flashlight/candle/and feel!). Then float in a glass of 100F water, any actual bobbing is alive, sedate floating is dead. Otherwise make a hole in the wide end over air cell, any blood throw it back in the incubator for an hour before proceeding. Blood or chicks making a chewing motion are too young to hatch, just give them more time. But this is salvage procedure, don’t implement until day 23 on a 21 day hatch for example, or 48 hours after your last pip/zip/hatch. Most chicks that can’t hatch don’t for a reason, a couple dead in egg is normal and just part of the process.

 

[Yardmom]

How is your hatch going? You mentioned paper towels in the incubator. This can raise the humidity by creating more surface area of water. Are the towels for the chicks to walk on? Shelf liner might work better.

Shrink wrapped chicks are due to a lack of humidity. Chicks can drown from too much humidity. I have had cases of both, but a quick moment of opening the incubator will not cause shrink wrapping and a quick spike in humidity from hatching will not cause drowning.

If you have not yet done so, open the incubator remove paper towels. Candle the eggs and remove eggs that do not have moving chicks in them.