help with hatching

[Sians quails]

so i have 36 eggs in the incubator
i put them in on the 9th and stopped turning on the 24th ( what the guy i got them off told me)
about 22 hours ago one pipped and i havent seen it try any more ... im guessing this one has died
around the same time another one did also
it broke off a bit more shell over night but hasnt hatched yet and is in a difficult spot to see..
is it ok to open in incubator at this time to look at it? or can i help with it hatching? i thought i read somewhere that you shouldnt help them as they need the strength in life or something

please help!!

i havent noticed any others pipping and i was was soooo hoping to wake up to a few chicks

 

[Sians quails]

so i couldnt help but open it and it had this brown goo that had come out and stuck it to the paper towel
i unstuck the egg and its still chirping but it seems like a hard hard egg to hatch out of ( i took a b=tiny bit of shell off but dont want to rip it open if its stuck to the egg or anything ..

please help!

 

[Sians quails]

i managed to get a photo... i really think its stuck in there.. i hope someone can help me soon

 

[Sians quails]

OK for those who come across this with the same problem...

I got help from my neighbor (he is the bird king..) So we sprayed some (purified) water on the hatching egg and over the other eggs.
The problem was the humidity was too low. it needs to be around 80% not 70% it was way too dry in there... fingers crossed the rest of them will hatch x

 

[FenDruadin]

So sorry I missed this earlier, as I might have been able to help. Glad your neighbor knew what to do! It sounds like you did the right thing. When you've got birds that pip externally (versus an internal pip, which you can't see from the outside without candling), and then stops, the first thing to look for is humidity.

Spraying with clean water and enormously bumping up your humidity is the right thing to do. I don't bother measuring it--I just look for steamed up windows, and that's when I know the humidity is high enough.

You can add sponges, rags, and wet cardboard--as much wet surface area as you can manage--on the day that you stop turning the eggs. I even keep a bottle of water with an aquarium tube attached to add more water without opening the incubator. Just make sure the water is roughly the same temp as the incubator--hot water can raise the temp & cook the chicks. Cold water can lower it and slow their hatching, plus it won't evaporate quickly enough to raise the humidity for a while.

Let us know how the others do. If they haven't pipped externally, then they are unlikely to have been damaged by the low humidity. By raising it now, you'll make it easier for them to get out when they are ready. Good luck!

 

[Sians quails]

Thanks! You are a great help!
You and my neighbor would get along

Well.... no more have pipped that i can see i hope something happens today
The humidity got to 100% (or more) after he put all the water in there but is down to around 85%
I'll just keep my eye on it.

Bad news #1
I moved the incubator last night and it was sitting on some wood which is all mouldy where the water has spilt through the holes.
I hope this doesnt affect them

Bad news #2
The chicks legs are in a bad way its like he is hobbling on the top of his feet. I'll try and get a photo....




He is dry but not fluffy and I'm not sure whether to take him out the bator or not, I might just do it otherwise he will most likely die
He also has the goo stuff at the back still.
Is there any way to fix his feet?

 

[FenDruadin]

Hm. I don't have much experience with feet, but I think it can probably be treated. May be a good idea to post as a new thread, to get someone in who has experience with foot issues. Post age of chick (in hours), details of hatch, and specifics of foot problem, along with any photos (such as those here).

The dry-but-not-fluffy issue, and the attached goo, I've seen before. It's usually present in chicks who have had a hard time in hatching. It isn't usually a problem in the long-term. I agree though--get him out of the incy and into a brooder where you can tend him more thoroughly. How many hours has he been out? If you like, you can run some warm water (be really, really sure to get it right at body temp--you can use a thermometer to measure, or just until it feels slightly warm to the touch) over the chick and then dry him thoroughly to help him fluff out a bit. He'll need lots of heat and careful monitoring since he won't be able to regulate his own temp with his hair not fluffy and without good leg use to move in and out of the heat. He'll let you know if he's cold with cheeping, and if he's hot he'll try to spread his body out as much as possible and move toward a cooler part of the brooder if he can.

Good luck! The first hatch is often tough--there is so much to learn! I hope you're able to get some live chicks out of it. It wouldn't hurt, while you've got the incy open for the chick, to pull a couple eggs and candle them to see if there's movement inside. Only do this if you're sure no others have pipped. Otherwise, leave it shut to keep the humidity up.

Fingers crossed for you!

 

[Sians quails]

I took the little guy out and a couple of hours later he died .. sad but probably a good thing it actually looked like its insides were coming out .. poor little thing

ive done 2 other hatches - the first produced 2 out of 8 eggs japanese
the second was chinese buttons and i only got one out of that but he also died at about 6 days old .. i think he left the heat lamp and fell asleep in the cold part

i think i might ditch this incubator and try and get another... with automatic turning and everything

i will try and candle the eggs now... but its probably too light to do it and we have no curtains

i hope the mouldy thing underneath hasnt affected their health

thanks again.. ive subscribed to u so i can find you when i need your expertise

 

[TwoCrows]

Sorry about all the issues you are having here. Definitely sounds like a lack of humidity and the chicks are dehydrating, sticking to the shell and or dying. Not enough ventilation at lock down can do the same thing...the chicks are lacking oxygen.

Make sure to keep an accurate humidity and temp gauge in the incubator so there is no second guessing. I wouldn't go over 80% humidity at lock down as the chicks can also drown in the shells as well. It is never good to help chicks out of their shells. If they do not have the energy to get out, then chances are, they will not survive long after hatch.

The feet tend to take the brunt of improper incubation and many times there is nothing you can do about it. If the chicks are bad enough, it is usually best to put them down. But for the few that can still crawl around, keep the water close by and sprinkle feed all around them so they don't have to search for food. Sometimes these chicks do survive.

 

[Sians quails]

so i candled some but couldn't see them moving in the egg it was all just dark
there's a hand full that haven't developed...
hopefully better luck next time... i don't think this 40*C weather is helping much either... well its not helping me !