Looking for advice/encouragement

[goldencomets6]

I'm feeling a little down. Today is hatch day 21 for me. I incubated 5 eggs and candled them all before lockdown and they definitely had chicks in them. On day 19 I had one pip and it hatched on day 20.

Yesterday another one had pipped and was so active before I went to bed I thought for sure I'd wake up and find a chick in the incubator. Well to my surprise the egg had zipped and was laying there lifeless. The membrane looked a little dry so I took it out and started working on it but the chick was dead. It looked healthy and it came out of the egg so easily, it didn't seem stuck at all. I'm just at a loss for what's happening.

So far today only one has pipped but nothing more and the other 2 are showing no signs of life. I have a brinsea and it worked perfectly last time I hatched eggs ..100 % hatch rate. I don't know what's going wrong this time I've done everything the same. The temp has been constant, so has the humidity. Just at a loss... I'm worried I won't get anymore chicks & the one who hatched seems very lonely. I know this is kind of long but if anyone has any advice/encouragement I'd appreciate it. I am crossing my fingers that at least 1 more will hatch!

 

[sumi]

I'm so sorry to hear about your chick. That is awful, when they get that far and die... The causes for death at this late stage are usually incorrect temperature, humidity, egg turning and/or rough handling of the egg during incubation, or the problem could lie with the egg/chick itself. You said the first egg started hatching on day 19. What was your incubation temperature? And the humidity during incubation and hatch. Where did you get these eggs, from your own flock or were they shipped? Do you know how old they were before you set them? Another thing: was there adequate ventilation during the final stage of incubation? Sorry about all the questions!

 

[matt1jsh]

What type of Brinsea???

I also hope you hatch a few more =D

 

[goldencomets6]

matt - I have the brinsea eco mini ..thanks I am crossing my fingers

sumi - thanks for replying ...I have a forced air ventilation incubator which takes care of the ventilation on its own. I just assumed it was doing it's job since it did so well the last time?

My incubation temperature was 99.5 the entire time.

Humidity at 50 % .. I added more water at lockdown and it's been at like 70%.

I set the eggs on a Sunday evening with eggs I had collected that morning from my own flock

I turned the eggs 3 times a day up until lockdown.. and I tried not to be too rough with them.. I don't think I was .. It's just so frustrating! And I'm having a hard time being patient waiting to see if this one that pipped will make it. ugh :/ lol

 

[sumi]

No diseases or problems in your flock that you are aware of? Feeding them correctly? Are the hens young/old? Did you clean the incubator between hatches? Sorry, you must be getting tired of me and my questions! Let's see what we can do with the live ones...

The pipling, how long ago did it pip? And the 2 that haven't pipped yet. If you can pull them out of there quick-quick, so you don't lose too much humidity, hold them against your ear and listen for signs of pipping (tapping) from inside the egg. If you don't hear anything, gently tap the egg with your fingernail and listen for a response.

 

[goldencomets6]

I appreciate you trying to help! I am not aware of any diseases in my flock. All of my chickens are happy and healthy as far as I can tell. I have 3 hens a little over a year and 5 hens who just turned 1 year old this month. The eggs in the incubator are 3 from the younger ones and 2 from the older. 1 of the ones from the older chicken is the only one that hatched so far. The one that didn't make it was a silkie.

The egg pipped some time between 12 am - 5 am.. I see it moving but the hole hasn't gotten any further along since 5. If I don't see anything from the others soon I think I will follow your advice and try to listen for noises in the unpipped eggs.

 

[sumi]

Well, I am out of questions and I still can't see it. There's nothing obvious from what you told me, that could've caused this. If the temperature and humidity was correct (did you double check/calibrate?), you turned them enough, though more would've been better , the hens are healthy and not too young old and fed properly, the eggs were fresh, that rules out pretty much all the causes I can think off.

O.K. 05:00am, how long ago was that? (I'm a few hours ahead of you)

 

[goldencomets6]

It's been about 12 hrs so I decided to try and help the chick. It looks like there is a membrane over its beak? There also looks like a lot of blood vessels around it. Should I try to poke a hole in it or leave it be? I'm worried it'll bleed to death if I do

 

[suebgbr]

i know you said that humidity was 70% but if you dip in and out of the incubator the eggs dry out and the chicks get shrink wrapped in the eggs.
have a spray bottle of warm water handy when you open the incubator. give a good misting just before you close it back up.
you could try getting some wet paper towel and wrapping it round the egg of the one that is pipping, if the membrane you saw was dry and papery. if it was ok, leave well alone. chicks can take 24 hours to hatch and every stage is important. when they poke the little hole they rest and learn to breath. with each breath the muscles pull the yolk sac type thing into their body and the blood with it. if you help them they can bleed to death or have a sac half outside their body (laymans terms, i am no expert).
good luck xxx

 

[sumi]

It's been like that for 12 hours, so the chick can breathe o.k. I'd say leave it like that and give the chicks a bit more time. I'm not going to be on very much longer, so if you do get to a point where you think you need to help, please read this first:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

Ditto the 2 unhatched eggs. If you need to intervene, the article I linked above explains the process. Good luck!