Drying of egg membranes?

[zekii]

I have a question in regards to membranes starting to dry towards the end of a hatch.
We had a relatively normal hatch, 6 of the 11 eggs the poults were out, at that time the incubator was getting
crowded with poults & egg shells. We decided to wait another 6 hours to see if the other 3 eggs that had pipped would
open up. Those 3 poults almost ringed the shell in preperation for hatch, but It seemed to us that there was no more room in the
incubator for those that had not hatched to free themselves. We started noticing the membranes that were exposed were turning
yellow and drying, obivously making it more dificult for those egg to open up properly. We decided then to remove the 6 poults and egg shell remnants, and moisten the exposed egg membrane to help free those 3 poults. This definitely helped them free themselves and all 3 were perfectly formed no yolk sack or blood noted. Our humidity during the hatch was in the 70-80%
and with those 6 poults hatching it might have been higher. What would cause those membranes to dry, dust from the poults already hatched? We were using a Brinsea Oct20 has a hatcher, so there was no way to turn off the fan, and with 11 turkey eggs it was a little tight. Anyone with experience that might have had this happen to them with a hatch please chime in.

 

[retlaw]

Yes had it happen last week.
Its crazy how strong those membranes can get.
Some say it means that your hens are health.

 

[zekii]

Well these turkey eggs were my 2nd dry incubation, had great results with the last chicken eggs I did the dry incubatin with 100% hatch, but possibly turkey eggs require a little more humidity during the incubation to avoid tough membranes. It is definitely a trial & error
experience hatching eggs. Will add a little water to my incubator the next time I incubate turkey eggs.

 

[monitagabel]

I have zero experience with turkey eggs but I have hatched a lot of chickens and have had the same problem in the past. I used to have to put a lot of wet sponges and paper towels in the incubator to keep the humidity up to prevent drying out and shrink wrapped chicks. this time though I have no sponges paper towels or anything and my humidity is perfect. I got to thinking about the differences in this hatch and all of my previous ones..... same incubator, same room, same room temp, same everything....... except I now have a fish tank in my bedroom where my incubator is. I am not an expert but I know I have to replace a lot of water in my fish tank every week. I am thinking since my heat and air is always set on 72 and I am having a lot of evaporation from my fish tank keeping the humidity high in my bedroom it is helping keep the humidity and temperature stable in my incubator.

I guess the point I am trying to make is maybe increase the humidity of the room that your incubator is in. an easy as well as affordable way to do it would be a fish tank. even if you have no fish in it. just a 10 gallon tank with a little filter that hangs on the side of it would drastically increase the humidity in the room.

I know I have tried using the room humidifiers and they are a little pricey as well as a hassle trying to keep it filled and my own experience was the humidity level in my incubator jumped all over the place. I preferred using the sponges and paper towels than a room humidifier.

anyway..... it is an idea. Hope it helps.

 

[crazycoop12]

I too have had several hatches this spring with this issue. I had 4 chicks out of 32 today that I had to help because of this. I keep my humidity at 55-60% during hatch. My question is how do you get the sticky stuff off of them after it has dried. I have just put some of them under warm running water and got most of it off but I am worried I will either accidentally drown them or chill them. Any ideas would be appreciated !

 

[monitagabel]

I too have had several hatches this spring with this issue. I had 4 chicks out of 32 today that I had to help because of this. I keep my humidity at 55-60% during hatch. My question is how do you get the sticky stuff off of them after it has dried. I have just put some of them under warm running water and got most of it off but I am worried I will either accidentally drown them or chill them. Any ideas would be appreciated !

warm water, a q-tip, and a lot of patience. just wet the q-tip with warm water and gently rub the stuck piece of membrane until it comes off on the q-tip. it keeps them from getting too wet and you are less likely to accidentally drown them... to help keep them from catching a chill i just use my hair dryer ...prop it up with something and turn it on a little way from where i am working (usually the bathroom vanity) this keeps them warm as well as your hands free to work.

hope this helps. maybe raise your humidity to between 60-65% too

 

[zekii]

Rh is 60% now in the room my incubator is in so I still think I might have dried the membranes in the incubator before I moved the the eggs to
the hatcher.. I'll keep experimenting with humidity levels until I get it right, and then these could change again based on the time of year I am
incubating at.

 

[monitagabel]

Rh is 60% now in the room my incubator is in so I still think I might have dried the membranes in the incubator before I moved the the eggs to
the hatcher.. I'll keep experimenting with humidity levels until I get it right, and then these could change again based on the time of year I am
incubating at.

true..... it is a trial and error thing I know I have had my own fair share of that lol. but yea just keep working on it you will get it right. Good luck to you.