HELP! NEW TO CHICK HATCHING, ONE MIGHT BE SICK

[coocoochick]

I started out with 12 eggs to hatch. I split up the bunch and let my mom hen try to hatch 6 while I hatched 6 in my incubator. One in the incubator turned out to not be fertile and mom hen kicked on out because it died in the egg. She ended up with 4 hatching and I ended up with only 2, but two of my eggs still look like something is in them. How long should I wait to see if they will hatch. Today 4/26/12 will be the third day of them not hatching with the rest of them. I'm also having issues with one of the chicks that I hatched from the incubator. This chick had a very hard time getting out of the egg to the point its feathers started to dry with some of the egg shell stuck on them. When it finally came out, it still had the umbilical cord attached and its tummy looked bloated. Its still alive, but last night it had a bit of green stuff come out of its mouth. Its eating and tries to drink. It gets stuck on its back a lot and and still wobbles around. Now my questions to everyone is, how long should I wait till I toss these other two eggs out and what should I do with this wobble chick?

Thank you

 

[KLRA]

Chicks will be wobbly after hatching for up to 24 hours in my experience. The bloated-looking tummy and a little umbilical showing is normal too. I don't know what to say about the green stuff coming out of her mouth, though... If she's still weak and wobbly you might want to consider vitamins--either the Sav-A-Chick packets that are sold at feed stores or many people use infant vitamins.

As for the other eggs, if they're not pipped then it would be okay to take them out and candle them to see if there's any movement. How many days have they been in the incubator?

 

[CorinneP]

If you are at all in doubt as to when they were laid that changes the scenario .. I just read a post from one person today that said it has been 29 days and it started pipping .. I never heard of this before and am carefully following the post . A slightly low temp can delay hatching a little . I would lightly turn the chick over every hour or so in the incubator .. I wonder if sometimes chicks that are in too ling actually defecate in the shell like a real baby having maconnium in their water .. ( just a thought ) But I have not had good luck with new chicks that seem sticky .. Good Luck ! ~

 

[coocoochick]

I went ahead and candled them last night and found that 2 out of the 4 I have left have a chick inside. I got all the eggs on 3/29 and all were incubated a week later all at the same time. I was going to give the other 2 that haven't hatched till this weekend. All the others hatched this past weekend on Sunday. If the other 2 don't hatch by this Sunday, I was going to pull them. What do you all think? Thanks


And the sick chick is doing better. Its eating and drinking on its own, but it is smaller than the rest and can't seem to keep its bottom clean. Other than that, he follows my other chick around in the box.

 

[CorinneP]

I have just Never heard of one taking even 29 days I think it is pretty safe to say it isn't viable now . But certainly by Sunday my guess is it was probably for some reason unable to break out of the shell . This sometimes even happens if they get to big .. they cant maneuver around well enough to peck their way out . I am glad about your other chick hope she keeps doing well. I had one hatch last week from a very small egg I called her pip squeak Now I have a hard time seeing which one she is as shes growing so fast ! Please Let me know what comes of your Eggs after 30 days if they Hatch I will be so hesitant to ever throw one out : )

 

[KLRA]

Glad the little one is doing better! As to her bottom, some people put a bit of organic apple cider vinegar into the water to help prevent that. I haven't had a run-in with this yet, so I can't speak from experience.

If the chicks are still alive in the eggs, just give them some more time. There might be something wrong, and there might not be. The only thing you can do is let them sit in the incubator a few more days. Were they pipped into the air cell when you candled?