Life and death

[nicollee]

out of six eggs, four hatched successfully.

This naked neck chick hatched, the following day, but there was a lot of blood in the shell, she only lived a few hours.. was there any thing I could have done for her?
This picture is four hours after hatch. She passed overnight.

 

[RubyNala97]

out of six eggs, four hatched successfully.
View attachment 1456460
This naked neck chick hatched, the following day, but there was a lot of blood in the shell, she only lived a few hours.. was there any thing I could have done for her?
This picture is four hours after hatch. She passed overnight. View attachment 1456486

Just a couple things I noticed from the pic....I have the brinsea mini but not the advanced, but I believe you remove the turner for lockdown. You can cut out paper towels or I use shelving liner on the bottom for lockdown & hatch. (I’ll post a pic). Also it looks extremely wet in there for 4 hours post hatch. By 4 hours the chicks are pretty dry & fluffy. And the last thing I noticed was the chicks feet are curled. This is an easy fix (if the chick hadn’t passed) and doesn’t necessarily mean any major health problems but could have been caused by a incubation practice or by genetics in the stock. Do you by any chance have a pic of the shell with the blood?

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed with all of the above. Those later hatching chicks are prone to problems. She looks like a big chick. The incubator looks too wet, and the lack of any absorptive material on the bottom would have meant that she was dragging her umbilical stump through the slurry of bacteria left behind by her previous hatch mates.

 

[nicollee]

Just a couple things I noticed from the pic....

Agreed with all of the above. Those later hatching chicks are prone to problems. .

Thank-you. I am crushed she did not make it, but want use this as a learning experience.
I did not know I was supposed to remove the turner ring..
Or put paper towels down, (So I could have changed the towels when I took the first four chicks out)
There were four eggs that hatched the day before, and I was told I could take the chicks out, but be careful not to lower the humidity for the remaining eggs, was that only partially correct?
I knew she still looked too wet, but did not know why, or how to help.
I thought about taking a picture of the shell, about the time it was being crushed. The inside of the shell was lined with blood. None of the other chicks shells had that much blood. I figured that was a bad sign.
out of 8 eggs, four healthy hatchs, two infertile, one hatched and lost, one never hatched

 

[nicollee]

Did that mat come with the Brinsea or did you make it?

 

[lazy gardener]

I often remove early hatches. If it's done quickly, and other eggs are not actively pipping, and the humidity does not drop and stay down, that's ok. The term "lock down" is to prevent folks from needlessly opening the bator during the hatch.

 

[RubyNala97]

Thank-you. I am crushed she did not make it, but want use this as a learning experience.
I did not know I was supposed to remove the turner ring..
Or put paper towels down, (So I could have changed the towels when I took the first four chicks out)
There were four eggs that hatched the day before, and I was told I could take the chicks out, but be careful not to lower the humidity for the remaining eggs, was that only partially correct?
I knew she still looked too wet, but did not know why, or how to help.
I thought about taking a picture of the shell, about the time it was being crushed. The inside of the shell was lined with blood. None of the other chicks shells had that much blood. I figured that was a bad sign.
out of 8 eggs, four healthy hatchs, two infertile, one hatched and lost, one never hatched

Everything with chickens is a learning experience!! I’ve had a ton and new ones everyday! If you get a bloody shell like that in the future check the chicks belly area. The yolk may not be fully absorbed or there may be some umbilical cord left. If the umbilical area is a tiny bit open I usually swab it with antibiotic ointment and then get the chick into low humidity so it can dry out.

Did that mat come with the Brinsea or did you make it?

No, it did not come with the brinsea. I buy shelving liner at the dollar store. I usually put down a layer of paper towel first and then the layer of shelving liner. It gives a nice, cushiony bottom. Then just throw out after hatch. Makes clean up easier too.

 

[nicollee]

Everything with chickens is a learning experience!! I’ve had a ton and new ones everyday! ...

thank you
the last egg did not hatch, it's day 24 and my husband wants to give it another day...
I understand, but if the last chick didn't make it...
I'm just happy we got four healthy chicks. It's sooooo hot though. don't know how they are going to survive the heat,
Can a chick get heat stressed? The room they are in is 85+degrees, and they have a heater on top of the habitat.

 

[Trinitydraco]

I am due to go into lock down in 2 days with my first eggs and the info here has saved me form some potentially lethal mistakes. Thanks for posting about this!

 

[RubyNala97]

thank you
the last egg did not hatch, it's day 24 and my husband wants to give it another day...
I understand, but if the last chick didn't make it...
I'm just happy we got four healthy chicks. It's sooooo hot though. don't know how they are going to survive the heat,
Can a chick get heat stressed? The room they are in is 85+degrees, and they have a heater on top of the habitat.

If it’s that hot they might not need supplemental heat. Maybe only for the first day or 2. Keep an eye on them. When they get over heated they will lay flat and act very lethargic. Babies normally alternate between naps and running around looking for food and water. But if they are all laying flat and don’t seem to get up to find food and water they may be to hot. If you turn the light off and they all huddle in one corner trying to get to the center then they are to cold. You would only need probably a 50 watt red light bulb. Go off of their behavior. Happy chicks sleep, eat, drink, and explore around.