Fully developed chick deaths-----how common?

[my4ladies]

I have one little egg I'm incubating, (a long story....). We're on day 13 now, and it's still alive, but we've battled temp spikes and dips (98.4-103.8 in a still-air) on and off throughout. It's a silkie egg if that matters. I'm concerned that it'll have permanant damage, but at this point I'm scared that it won't hatch at all!!!! How common is the occurance of a fully developed chick death? How many of you have experienced it? And what do you think causes it? I'm glad it's still alive, but I don't think I'm out of the woods yet! : (

 

[orionburn]

It happens, but there could be a hundred reasons as to why a chick has a late term death. If it gives you some comfort just remember that temps in nature don't hold steady all the time either and chickens have been making fine on their own for a long, long time now. Hang in there! Hopefully you'll have a little one in another week.

 

[my4ladies]

lol, I have been comforting myself with that very thinking. The lowest it gets is 98.4, *normally* steady at 102, then highest it gets is 103.8. When I see the low temp I think, "maybe this occurs when mama hen rolls them around and it gets moved to the outside of the clutch, then mama took a little stroll". And when it gets high, "maybe mama was out for a stroll and it's a really hot day out". 102 is when mama is there on her hens, which is most of the time. LOL...whatever is keeping me sane throughout this whole thing

 

[orionburn]

From what I remember most people tend to say that a bit higher temp is needed with still air bators. I'm not saying 103+ is a good thing for a long period of time, but it's not as bad as you might think. Have you tried taking temp readings at different spots in the bator? Maybe you can try finding a "sweet spot" where the temps stay a little more even.

Where do you have your bator at? Is there anything around it that could be playing a part in the temp swings? Such as a draft or vent, window, etc?

 

[my4ladies]

i have moved it down to the basement b/c it's a nice constant temp there. i turned the basement dehumidifier off too. i have checked different areas in the 'bator and this is the *sweetest spot* i could find, lol. i bought a therm w/ humidity % on it, and discovered my humidity was too low. I added water (same temp as 'bator), and that's when i started getting temp fluctuations again. for the last couple days it's been fluctuating between 100.2 and 102 on it's own; without me tweaking it. I'll check it and it'll be 102, then next time it might be at 100.2, but goes back up to 102 w/in minutes. I was really scared that I wouldn't have temp right before lockdown...and that i'd have to keep tweaking it during lockdown. Now, i feel more confident. BUT....I'm still nervous it won't hatch : (

Another question: the very first day, actually it was that night, I had the highest temp spike...110. (It didn't happen again). So, I've been wondering ever since if it made the membrane tough during that spike (b/c i cracked an egg and discovered a very tough membrane), or can a membrane restore moisture? I mean, I've had the humidity up averaging 50% now, so is it possible the membrane could soften back up? Maybe I should post this question too, lol!!!