Hatching Help

[munky4569]

So my husband started to incubate baby chicks, only problem is he works over night so i'm the one taking care of them. I have no idea what im doing or how to help these babies. He has 16 eggs in there, one hatched 2 days ago with half its yolk hanging out of her so she passed. Then one hatched last night, she was having a hard time and the membrane dried so I had to help her out by wetting it every few hours. She finally came out over night, was walking/stumbling around all day but now she just died. Neither of them ever seemed to dry/fluff at all, I have no idea how to change the humidity in it or if I even should. I read I could take the chick out and put it in another incubator to let it dry but we don't have another one to do that. I can't sit here and watch each one of them die, I even tried putting her on a dry towel in there but the towel just got soaked, it seems like no matter what its so damp in there they will never dry. He has a bowl in there with a wet wash cloth in it, plus under the eggs is a lid that has water in it too. Any help would be great please help me save these babies!!

 

[adlynch]

What kind of incubator do you have? Does it tell you what % humidity is?

 

[munky4569]

Its a hova bator. The temp is 96 and it says the humidity is 74% but then goes up to 79%, its like it fluctuates even when its not open. There's one hatching in there right now, she should be out by morning and i'm so scared im going to lose her too if I don't figure something out. Could I stick like some sort of plastic container in there and put the new hatched one in it with dry paper towels to make sure she can fluff?

 

[The Phantom]

Ok so what is your temp and humidity right now?

 

[Quailegg1]

It may have just been something wrong with the chick. It is not your fault they died. You did what you could. I just started incubating myself and my first chick hatched happy and healthy. The second was just a non fertilized so it did not do anything. The third was another successful hatch today, and he/she seems to be doing good. They are supposed to hatch around 21 days. If the chick needs help you may have to assist, but most of the time they just come into the world without problem. Does your incubator have temperature control/humidity control? Day 1-18 of incubation the humidity should stay between 50-60%. Does your incubator turn eggs? Or do you have to do it by hand? If no egg turner you should hand turn the eggs 2-3 times daily. Some say up to five times just so the embryo doesn't stick to one side which could cause problems when hatching. The last 3 days of incubation are incubation lockdown which means you stop turning the eggs, and increase humidity up to 70. Keep in mind I am by no means an expert, but have had two successful hatches on my first go round. I hope some of these tips help, and I am sorry your chicks passed. Keep trying! I know you will get it. If you need to assist in any hatches there are useful areas to look at on BYC. Search assisted hatches. Good luck on your flock! ;-)

 

[adlynch]

In my opinion (people have A LOT of opinions on humidity) your humidity isn't too high. The temp could be a little warmer, around like 99°.
Humidity will fluctuate while chicks are hatching. Are you leaving them in the incubator after they hatch? Chicks can live in the incubator and survive off the yolk for a couple days while the other are hatching. They may not fluff out 100% but you should start to see them dry a bit. Then, once you dont see anymore pips on any other eggs take them out and put under a heat lamp

 

[cmfarm]

It sounds to me like it is too wet in there. I would pull one of the water containers out and see if that helps.

 

[aart]

The temp is 96

I would be more concerned about the temp.
If it's been that low the whole time, that could be the problem with the chicks dying.
Tell your hubby to test his thermometers before attempting another hatch.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/
Sorry you got stuck in this situation.