Day 23 5 dead in the shell, 1 left UPDATE!

[BerrytangleFarm]

bantyhen'sfriend :

I guess I was not clear, what I meant was it has not hatched, but I can see it breathing through the hole I made, and peeping. I don't know if the shell is too thick for it to hatch or if it will eventually hatch on its own. If I need to help it, I am worried that it will not have absorbed the yolk.

I helped our chick out like you talk about. Thankfully she had absorbed the yolk, but others told me that if she hadn't to leave it all intact and in the incubator so it could.​

 

[vebyrd36]

You see you did it, now you can watch the fuzzy butt grow healthy.

 

[happyhens44]

Make sure all the yolk is absorbed before helping it.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

Update: The last chick has just died. I did eggtopsies on all the chicks that had pipped internally, and they all seemed to die just before finishing the absorption of all the yolk and/or blood vessels. It was very strange, almost like it was so close, but simply gave up before pipping. Could the shell have been too thick? Could it have something to do with humidity? Does anyone have experience with this type of issue?

 

[happyhens44]

what was the humidity and temp, Was there spikes?

 

[ChooksChick]

I'm almost inclined to think your temps were a hair low. I have an incubation cheat-sheet on my BYC page, and there are pics of the thermometer i use, and reasons why.

I'm sorry this didn't work out for you, but you'll get the hang of it and learn to know your incubator. It's a wonderful thing to get good at hatching, and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[The Lisser]

Sorry to hear you lost the last one. I have helped several chicks to hatch - for your future reference . . . The ones I helped had pipped and I could see movement but they didn't zip for 18 hours after pipping . . . I "zipped" for them with tweezers along where they would usually zip - trying NOT to break the inner membrane. Once you give them some wiggle room usually they can turn and zip the membrane. If you do happen to tear or cut the membrane . . . if it bleeds - the chick is not quite ready. if it doesn't bleed - the chick is ready.

I have also had some hatches that made it to lockdown and then died sometime during the last couple of days. I am not sure what caused it. I've read that sometimes it's because the shells are too thick (this is usually the case if the eggs are pullet eggs) . . . also sometimes the deaths are genetic, sometimes it can be a deficiency that the mother had when she was forming the egg. Of the several babies I've helped hatch - most are fine, I think they might have hatched on their own if I had been more patient . . . one died from failure to thrive when it was several weeks old. Many times I have concurrent hatches going on in the same incubator with the same conditions, and some hatch well while others don't . . . so I don't necessarily think the incubator is to blame.

Good luck with your future hatches.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

It's a Hovabator Genesis that I use, and the directions say it is pre-set to 100 F. I have hatched in it once before and the eggs hatched one day early. There were no temperature spikes. Humidity was about 35-45% days 1-18 and 65% days 18-23. There were three internal pips and no external pips or zips. I heard peeping day 20 & 21 but that stopped. There were no humidity spikes either.