hatching day 21

[kays chicks]

The little one passed last night. I believe this was for the best, there were issues, spradle legged & so weak from the start. Unfortunately, just not healthy.
Good news is I have five healthy Araucana Chicks!

One is tufted, all appear rumples. They are active & bright eyed. One is light pale yellow, three gray, & one black. I think the darker ones may be duck winged? They all have lighter under sides with lighter tipped wings.

I have four eggs in incubator still, today is day 25 should I remove them now or wait another day?

have you dont the water test to see if there is movement ? congrats on the hatch 5 healthy chicks lovely

 

[eggcrate]

No... Can try later. I did read a post or two about that awhile ago. Thanks for reminder

 

[kays chicks]

No... Can try later. I did read a post or two about that awhile ago. Thanks for reminder

i have gone to throw eggs away and they have gone on to hatch after the water test , thank god i did it

just make sure warm water is used so they stay warm , good luck let us know how you get on

 

[eggcrate]

Well not sure what to think

Day 25 & I have four eggs left in incubator...being a newbie I have not watched the humidity since the hatches on Saturday & Sunday nor have I monitored temperature though temp has been fairly consistent

. Tonight I tried the float test and all three eggs bobbed with just the air pocket large end of egg rising to top. From what I understand that means egg is viable right???? I filled up the incubator water cups & closed incubator back up. I did not wait for water to settle but did not see any obvious egg movement. Please advise

 

[kays chicks]

i would do it again to make sure , wait for water to settle first . after water test candle to see if chicks have piped into the air sac . always make sure the eggs dont have any small holes cracks or pips before water test . if unsure put back in until sure they will not hatch . what day did your others hatch ?? look i had half of mine hatch on early day 20 the rest late day 21 and one has still not hatched but piped on day 22 all from same batch of eggs / breader so they all can be different there is no set time they will hatch when ready

 

[eggcrate]

How long is too long to keep eggs in incubator? I did the water test again & all egg still bobbed just top air pocket out of water. I tried candling without success. The lights I used before the hatches is in use now with chicks. What is the longest time it has taken for an egg to hatch via incubator ? Anyone know?
I did separate the smallest chick & put into his own box. The legs were just not as sturdy as the bigger chicks & they would run him over. We found one laying on top of him & all he could do was kick his legs. I have been supplementing his feed with chick starter vitamins with electrolytes solution, hard boiled egg yolk & then added chick starter feed to it over the past few days. The chick does eat on his own, but just did not seem to be eating enough & loves to eat the mixture from a spoon so I offer the special mix several times throughout the day.

 

[dolly85]

Chicks can hatch at day 25, but it is not common and these are few and far between. I would crack open the large end at this point and slowly peel away. If you do find one alive it will probably need assistance. Since the others hatched several days before I would bet the chicks still inside the eggs were too weak and didn't make it. They should have all hatched by now unless your temperatures were really varied in your incubator.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

did u candle and look for internal pip and movement? if so at this point I would def help them hatch.... just my thoughts!! I pasted info found in article https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 it may or may not have more info for you.... update and pics please!!!

TO ASSIST OR NOT TO ASSIST: refer AGAIN to end of https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed for how to help a chick.

The one at this link made me teary eyed....

awwww she saved the peep!


Sites I will refer to:
Intervention: Helping Your Chicks Hatch
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/9316/intervention-helping-your-chicks-hatch

After the chick has made a hole in the shell, it stops pipping for three to eight hours and rests. During this time, it is acclimating its lungs to the outside atmosphere. After the resting stage is completed, the second stage of pipping begins....

The chick begins to turn slowly inside the egg. As it turns, usually counter-clockwise, the cutting edge of the chick tooth continues to chip away. In two to five hours, the chick has made about three quarters of a turn inside the egg. As the chick progresses in its movement around the shell, it begins pushing on the egg cap (large end). Squirming and struggling, the chick works feverishly for about 40 minutes pushing at the cap. Finally with a vigorous shove, the chick breaks free from the shell, still wet and panting.
When the chick is freed completely from the shell, it lies still. Its energy has been virtually exhausted, and it is extremely tired. After a rest of some few minutes, the chick begins to rise to its feet and gain coordination of its muscles. Within a few days the egg tooth, its usefulness over, will disappear. (http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/procedures.html)

If you feel he may be SHRINK wrapped (only YOU know what your cells, weight, and Humidity have been) maybe you should start reading how to help a chick...... I have watched a ton of videos on youtube and its done all the time with no problems and HAS SAVED many HEALTHY chicks!! PROOF on all those videos!

"Shrink wrap" vs. "Sticky chick"? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491421/shrink-wrap-vs-sticky-chick#post_6242987
Shrink wrapped: before pipping, both inner and out membranes dry tight around the chick; caused by too little humidity throughout incubation

Sticky chick: after pipping, the liquids dry becoming glue-like followed by concrete-like; caused by too little humidity during lockdown

Wet sticky or Swollen: the chick is swollen with water or simply very wet and sticky; caused by too high humidity throughout incubation

Drowning: the whitish outer membrane is dry while the clearish inner membrane is wet, binding the chick; also caused by too high humidity thoughout incubation

*Chicks experiencing more than one of the extreme conditions can exhibit multiple issues.
*These same issues can also occur during natural incubation, under a brooding hen.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491421/shrink-wrap-vs-sticky-chick#post_6242987

Float Testing, Checking Egg Viability For Late Or Overdue Hatching Give Eggs A Full 24 Hrs Overdue Before Float Testing. It Works On All Bird Eggs- Period! Takes Very Little Equipment Or Time To Do And Is Easy To Perform.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/383525/float-testing-checking-egg-viability-for-late-or-overdue-hatching

Eggtopsy: What happened to my egg?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/363717/eggtopsy-what-happened-to-my-egg-graphic-pictures

check out
Trouble Shooting Failures with Egg Incubation @ http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/trouble.html

This is also a great pdf with pics: paste link in browser search:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=early%20emrbyo%20death%20%20incubation&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CDsQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepoultrysite.com%2Fdownloads%2Fdownload%2F171%2F&ei=UllaUMXFHsmrygGnjoHICw&usg=AFQjCNGgYxCBYwBex31MS5w2McdnpH1zbw

ALSO this PDF at the last pages have a chart that shows what could have happened.... http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf


Pipped eggs that do not hatch
If chick embryos develop to the pipping stage, or at first shell cracking at hatching, they are normally healthy enough to hatch unless some incubator adjustment prevents it from happening. The problem is usually caused by either 1) poor ventilation or 2) improper humidity.

The air exchange requirement within an incubator is greatest during the last day of incubation. The chick embryo's oxygen requirement continually increases during development and especially when breathing using the respiratory system just before hatching. The vent openings are frequently restricted at this time in an attempt to boost incubator humidity. Instead of helping the chick hatch, the chick is suffocated from lack of ventilation. Never decrease ventilation openings at hatching in an attempt to increase humidity. Increase humidity by other methods. If any vent adjustments are made, they should be opened more.

Another reason for mortality during hatching is improper humidity adjustment. The deaths can be produced from too much humidity during the entire incubation period or from too little humidity during the hatching period.

The desired egg weight loss during incubation caused by water evaporation is about 12 percent. If humidity during incubation is kept too high, adequate water evaporation from the egg is prevented. The chick can drown in the water remaining in the shell at hatching. A dried coating around the chick's nostrils and beak indicates that drowning was likely. Attention to maintaining proper incubation humidity during incubation will reduce the potential for this problem at hatching time.
If the humidity is allowed to decrease after the chick pips the shell, the membranes within the shell can dry-out and stick to the chick. This prevents the chick from turning inside the shell and stops the hatching process. The chick eventually dies. If the membranes around the shell opening appear dried and shrunken, the cause is probably low humidity during hatching. This condition can occur quickly (within 1 or 2 minutes) when the incubator is opened to remove or assist other chicks that are hatching. When hatching begins and proper incubator conditions are attained, the incubator should never be opened until after all chicks are hatched and ready for placement in the brooder. http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/poultry_pipped.html


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/458759/how-to-tell-if-a-chick-drowns Per Gypsy: Chicks dying during incubation because of excess humidity is NOT the same thing as chicks drowning. It's a very badly misused term. An embryo can fail to develop and die at any stage of the incubation. And excess humidity can be the cause of the embryo dying. But a chick can only drown AFTER it has pipped internally into the air cell and started trying to breathe air. If there is excess fluid in the egg at this time, the chick can inhale it and drown. But before it pips into the air sac, it isn't breathing air, so how could it drown?

So a chick that has drowned will have pipped internally into the air cell. It might also have pipped the shell. If you're doing carton hatching I think it would be quite easy to see. Break a small hole through the shell into the air cell and have a look. If it has broken through to the air cell then drowning is a possibility. Tip the egg up and see if any fluid drips out. At this stage of development and hatching, there should be almost no liquid left in the egg so if fluid drips out, the chick most likely did drown. I think a chick that drowned could have either an unabsorbed yolk sac or an almost totally absorbed one, depending on whether it drowned immediately after breaking through to the air sac, or after 12 hours of resting and absorbing the yolk. That is definitely possible, depending on the positioning of the egg. Also even with lots of fluid in the egg, the chick might be lucky and not drown. If it manages to keep its beak above the fluid, it can still hatch okay.

A chick that hasn't pipped internally into the air cell has NOT drowned. It may have died during incubation due to excess humidity conditions, but technically, it has not drowned. So do the same thing and have a look in the egg. If the chick looks almost fully developed but it hasn't broken through to the air sac, break the egg open into a bowl and see if it looks like there is a lot of excess fluid. The more fully developed the chick is, the less fluid there should be.

NOTES from next staggared hatch.....

SHRINK WRAPPED : ( I should have helped it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One yellow peep... assuming its a bcm x comet, died in shell, the white plastic wrap around it didnt show breathing or anything since afternoon ....I took it out and tried to moisten but it was already dead.............I hate when I KNOW AND DONT LISTEN TO my gut !!!!!!

1 is OUT running around making a ruckess and banging everyone else... so much for the egg carton idea lol.... oh its a yellow peep assuming bcm x comet SOOOOOO I moistened the rest and chipped a tad of outer shell so I could see better in them to make sure they could at least breath, AFTER thouroughly READING & WATCHING my helping links!!! 2 Black peeps still in shells and 1 yellow in shell 2 no pips yet Humidity at 74% Heat 99.5 SOOO WHERE Did I go wrong??? I KNOW EXACTLY!

I pretty much guessed at lockdown date....

I DID NOT RAISE HUMIDITY because I was afraid of drowning them!!! (Because the 4 days lockdown high humidity with Halo made the cells too small....) Not ideal situation at all. Then when I saw the first pip I raised it, too late!!!

I just finished dabbing with wet warm Qtip again, I have been going down every hour and just dabbing, this last time I saw some feet on two of them and the other one is really locked in good so I dabbed it again when I finished the others. They started to chirp and move heads alot so I am assuming they are looking better ??????????? The one that hatched is running all over them, I assume normal? Thanks for the support, this is freakin nerve wracking, but I didnt even know if I could do a staggered this way! So these hatching are miracles eh!! The black ones have yellow under their chins!!! I hope they make it they look awesome!!!

4 almost FLUFFY BUTTS ~ 2 black and 2 Yellow peeps! I took the one out in the middle of the night to brooder next to the bator so they could still hear her chirping and roudyness

I HELPED them!! I did I did!!!!

IT was very slowwwwwww and it took until 3 am until I just had to hit the sack! One thing I noticed reading up and watching those saved articles and videos is that you have to be SLOW because they need to absorbe the yolk sack and stuff and that in itself takes hours.

I will check the other two eggs when I remove these guy later this afternoon, I assume, one is the one that didnt look like a quitter but I wasnt sure and left it....

THANK GOD I saved all those links ahead of time and could just go to the summary article of this thread and make my game plan!

If I would have left them all as links in my fav bar it would have been chaos trying to figure out where the stuff was!! Thanks BYC!!

Say Hi to Spot! Say Hello to Cha Cha (yellow), Chadwick (bigger black), and Chirp!!

 

[kays chicks]

think thats covered everything you need to know

 

[Roxannemc]

Thanks you. As far as I can guess electricity was off maybe 4 hrs. Difficult to know for sure as we were not home I knew the hatch rate would be low, I purchased 6 & received 19! Does my lockdown procedure sound good?

your electricity off only should delay hatch a little if anything. won't kill any eggs. personally I think you'll have better luck with soaking wet wash rag slightly opened during lockdown. sponges often don't do the trick
keeping the humidity is the hardest part of the last 4 days
good luck!