Hatching Guinea keets. Help!

[Valpar]

Hi I am hoping someone can help me. This is my first time hatching Guinea keets and I am now on Day 28 almost 29 the first one pipped start of day 24
I have 6 keets alive and 1 pending.
I Also have another 11 eggs in the incubator
I candled them all before lockdown it looks like they were all fully developed.
I watched this 1 video and it said humidity should be at 60 to 65%.
So that's what I did. After reading alot of guidelines it sounds like my humidity was way too high.
But it was too late. I locked them down and upped the humidity to 70 to 80% mostly settled around 75%
My temp is at and always has been 37.5
4 of those keets hatched out just fine. 1 of the others pipped and zipped only halfway around. After around 40 hours of no progress I took the egg out and gently peeled the egg when doing this I noticed the white membrane was glued onto it and tough, so I gently peeled the membrane off and put it back into the incubator to recover.
It recovered and is a beautiful keet. But this has happened to 2 others. 1 is doing good in the brooder and the other was the worst I literally had to wet the membrane to get it off and is in the incubator.I hope it will recover.
My question is Why is this happening?
It looks like they are pipping a hole and then the membrane is drying before they can get out.
If I remove a keet after 24hrs I quickly open and remove 1 keet then wait for humidity to rise again and then move onto the other keet. And so on.
Humidity is around 75% and usually drops 5% during this process
Thanks Val

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hi I am hoping someone can help me. This is my first time hatching Guinea keets and I am now on Day 28 almost 29 the first one pipped start of day 24
I have 6 keets alive and 1 pending.
I Also have another 11 eggs in the incubator
I candled them all before lockdown it looks like they were all fully developed.
I watched this 1 video and it said humidity should be at 60 to 65%.
So that's what I did. After reading alot of guidelines it sounds like my humidity was way too high.
But it was too late. I locked them down and upped the humidity to 70 to 80% mostly settled around 75%
My temp is at and always has been 37.5
4 of those keets hatched out just fine. 1 of the others pipped and zipped only halfway around. After around 40 hours of no progress I took the egg out and gently peeled the egg when doing this I noticed the white membrane was glued onto it and tough, so I gently peeled the membrane off and put it back into the incubator to recover.
It recovered and is a beautiful keet. But this has happened to 2 others. 1 is doing good in the brooder and the other was the worst I literally had to wet the membrane to get it off and is in the incubator.I hope it will recover.
My question is Why is this happening?
It looks like they are pipping a hole and then the membrane is drying before they can get out.
If I remove a keet after 24hrs I quickly open and remove 1 keet then wait for humidity to rise again and then move onto the other keet. And so on.
Humidity is around 75% and usually drops 5% during this process
Thanks Val

Hi Val, sounds like a stressful hatch! The good news is that you have successfully hatched keets - congratulations!!! As for your hatch troubles, it sounds like your humidity is causing issues. Have you read this article?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/?page=2#ams-comment-510794
Usually, too much humidity results in “sticky chicks” that may drown before they can hatch. They also may be too big to turn properly to pip and zip. Too little humidity at hatching can result in “shrink wrapping”, which sounds like what you have going on but doesn’t match the humidity you describe. Have you seen the guide on assisted hatching?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/
Best of luck with the rest of your hatch!!!

 

[Valpar]

Hi Val, sounds like a stressful hatch! The good news is that you have successfully hatched keets - congratulations!!! As for your hatch troubles, it sounds like your humidity is causing issues. Have you read this article?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/?page=2#ams-comment-510794
Usually, too much humidity results in “sticky chicks” that may drown before they can hatch. They also may be too big to turn properly to pip and zip. Too little humidity at hatching can result in “shrink wrapping”, which sounds like what you have going on but doesn’t match the humidity you describe. Have you seen the guide on assisted hatching?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/
Best of luck with the rest of your hatch!!!

Thank you for your help
I have not read them so I will definitely be reading them and make adjustments for the next batch

 

[Lovem all]

I would suggest playing baby chicken noises on a loop for them. That's how I got mine to hatch

 

[Valpar]

I would suggest playing baby chicken noises on a loop for them. That's how I got mine to hatch

I can try this. thank you

 

[Lovem all]

Glad to help