I have silkie eggs trying to hatch. Humidity and temp in the hatcher have been good. We watched the first one all day. It pipped this morning and worked all day to get out. I had read to not open the Bator no matter what so I watched. It zipped all the way around the shell and kept trying to break loose and couldn't. Then it got really quiet. After a while I knew it was dead. I could see the membrane was all dried out around where it zipped. So then the second one started doing the same thing. I watched for several hours and could tell it was working so hard to zip on around and just couldn't. I could see the membrane on this one looking like paper too. So I read the thread on what to do if you have no other choice but to intervene and got lots of warm washrags ready and grabbed both eggs out. I helped the live one to finish zipping and carefully took the shell off leaving the membrane intact. I then wrapped it in a warm paper towel and laid it back in the Bator with face up. The humidity was back up to 74% quickly. I did look at the one that had stopped zipping and it's beak was stuck to the inside of the shell. I think it suffocated. So the one inside the Bator is peeping and wiggling and trying to get free of the membrane. Anything else I should do? Also anyone know why this happened? Could it have been that my humidities have been too low day 1-18? I kept them at about 35%. Then went really high when locked down. Please any advice would be great!
I just helped out some chicks on a hatch I totally screwed up. I think I killed one by doing so but three did make it and I'm 99% sure they would have died had I let them be. I steamed the bathroom, took them in there, finished zippering for them and the membrane I sort of pulled the outside of it away, it kind of separated from the inner part around where I zippered it. If you see ANY blood stop, mine must have been really close to the end as there wasn't much if any in there. Good luck and be sure to update!
