Help!! Chicks are dying!!

[NewToTheFlock]

I have 8 eggs in the incubator. One hatched throughout the night last night but died. It was completely out of its shell and on the other side of the incubator. What could've went wrong?

 

[AmericanMom]

I have 8 eggs in the incubator. One hatched throughout the night last night but died. It was completely out of its shell and on the other side of the incubator. What could've went wrong?

No way really to tell, Check your temps and humidity, obviously the bator was clean else the chick probably wouldn't have hatched...It happens, not all chicks survive... I have had a few hatch that looked just fine, went to bed and awoke to a dead or dying chick, happens in nature also.

Keep us updated on the rest of your hatch

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So many things could have gone wrong.

1. Low humidity or temperature for a prolonged period.
2. Low humidity during hatching.
3. High temperature during hatching.
4. Nutritional deficiencies.
5. Breeder diseases.
6. Poor ventilation.
7. Inadequate turning during first 12 days.
8. Injury during transfer.
9. Prolonged egg storage.

If the chick was weak and died

1. High hatcher temperature.
2. Poor hatcher ventilation.
3. Excessive fumigation.
4. Contamination.

I often suspect nutritional deficiencies in the breeder flock if I know the incubation went well.

Death to fully developed chicks could be a deficiency of vitamins D, K, thiamin, riboflavin, biotin, folic acid, B12, manganese, zinc, magnesium, molybdenum or imbalanced amino acids.

Many feeds are sufficient to produce eggs and maintain bodies but not necessarily to produce viable hatching eggs and healthy embryos.
The roosters' nutrition is important for the viability of his sperm. Roosters that have been fed layer feed have lower sperm vitality.
The hens have to deposit enough nutrition in the egg to feed the growing embryo.
Most people ignore these things as possible problems in hatching.

Commercial feeds, though good, aren't always perfect. The vitamin and mineral supplements may occasionally be omitted in a batch.

 

[NewToTheFlock]

Temp is fine I think. 100.5. I'm hoping at least a 5 will make it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Is the 100.5 at the top of the egg in a still air?

 

[NewToTheFlock]

Yes. Is that bad?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No, that's exactly correct.

Otherwise 99.5 in a forced air.

The idea is that the heat is stratified in a still air so 100.5 at the top of the egg equates to 99.5 at the middle of the egg.

 

[NewToTheFlock]

Good. This is my first time hatching and I assume I'll make mistakes even with all the research I do.