Lots of herniated chicks hatching

[Whitney B]

Someone please help me. I'm not brand new to chickens or incubating them. But something has gone very wrong. I keep getting chicks coming out of eggs w terrible umbilical cord hernias. One was so bad my husband had to put it out of its misery. Had another chick manage to peck itself a hole and died w lots of blood in the bottom of the incubator and what looked like yoke. Now I have the 3rd chick come out w a hernia. What happened? We kept water in there, rotated them 2x a day gently, kept a mostly stable heat. The polar vortex made the temp fluctuate. Could that have caused them damage? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Ms Biddy]

The one time I experienced this, I believe it was because of too much humidity during incubation. All of mine made it though and weren't too serious. Some had attached umbelical cords that I had to cut because they were dragging their shells.

Edited to add that I'm not sure what I'm seeing in your photo. That looks kind of like a chick that pipped through a vein.

 

[b2c2chicks]

Mine were doing this over 7 batches the past 2 months. At first I thought humidity, then I thought it’s because they’re shipped. Come to find out (after hatching some of my own with them) I’m almost positive it’s because the eggs were dirty. I think all of the shipped eggs (all from same breeder) had some sort of yolk sac infection that caused the yolk to be slow to absorb and caused swollen bellies. Also, any of my own eggs that rested near the dirty shipped eggs had minor issues with their yolks too. Yet my own eggs on the opposite side of the incubator hatched flawlessly. It’s driven me crazy!!! Next time I will clean the eggs beforehand.

If your eggs are clean, I would think it’s maybe a humidity issue.

 

[chickens really]

Hmmm? I'm thinking the temperature is a bit too high?
I'll tag in @WVduckchick

 

[WVduckchick]

I’m honestly not sure, bad navels have only happened to me a few times. But my theories range from temps just a little too high, humidity a little too high, pullet eggs, old eggs, coincidence??

I bet @ChickenCanoe might have some input?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Someone please help me. I'm not brand new to chickens or incubating them. But something has gone very wrong. I keep getting chicks coming out of eggs w terrible umbilical cord hernias. One was so bad my husband had to put it out of its misery. Had another chick manage to peck itself a hole and died w lots of blood in the bottom of the incubator and what looked like yoke. Now I have the 3rd chick come out w a hernia. What happened? We kept water in there, rotated them 2x a day gently, kept a mostly stable heat. The polar vortex made the temp fluctuate. Could that have caused them damage? Has anyone else experienced this?

Wide temperature fluctuations can cause this.
Any other noticeable off conditions? Like lethargy or rough down feathers?
Read through the following to see if anything sounds familiar.
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/omphalitis/overview-of-omphalitis-in-poultry
Omphalitis is usually caused by dirty eggs, dirty trays or other unsanitary conditions in the incubator. It could also be low temperature prior to hatching, high humidity or inadequate ventilation.
Breeder nutrition is also a possible cause. Bump up nutrition at least 2 weeks before setting eggs.

You could also try to turn more than twice a day the first two weeks. The more frequent, the better.

 

[Whitney B]

Mine were doing this over 7 batches the past 2 months. At first I thought humidity, then I thought it’s because they’re shipped. Come to find out (after hatching some of my own with them) I’m almost positive it’s because the eggs were dirty. I think all of the shipped eggs (all from same breeder) had some sort of yolk sac infection that caused the yolk to be slow to absorb and caused swollen bellies. Also, any of my own eggs that rested near the dirty shipped eggs had minor issues with their yolks too. Yet my own eggs on the opposite side of the incubator hatched flawlessly. It’s driven me crazy!!! Next time I will clean the eggs beforehand.

If your eggs are clean, I would think it’s maybe a humidity issue.

Thank you so much. I've been so worried that I did something to hurt them. Next time I will be sure to clean all eggs and really watch humidity

 

[Whitney B]

The one time I experienced this, I believe it was because of too much humidity during incubation. All of mine made it though and weren't too serious. Some had attached umbelical cords that I had to cut because they were dragging their shells.

Edited to add that I'm not sure what I'm seeing in your photo. That looks kind of like a chick that pipped through a vein.

Thanks I'm seeing a theme of people responding about humidity levels. I will be watching it next time like a hawk

 

[Whitney B]

Wide temperature fluctuations can cause this.
Any other noticeable off conditions? Like lethargy or rough down feathers?
Read through the following to see if anything sounds familiar.
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/omphalitis/overview-of-omphalitis-in-poultry
Omphalitis is usually caused by dirty eggs, dirty trays or other unsanitary conditions in the incubator. It could also be low temperature prior to hatching, high humidity or inadequate ventilation.
Breeder nutrition is also a possible cause. Bump up nutrition at least 2 weeks before setting eggs.

You could also try to turn more than twice a day the first two weeks. The more frequent, the better.

Wow thank you so much for the info. I guess this was caused by the temp swings and humidity levels. Lesson learned. This was supposed to be a fun school project for my kids, but we all learned lots from this. I've had chickens since I was like 9 yrs old, and have never seen anything like this.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've never been overly concerned about humidity. I don't even currently own a hygrometer. I weigh eggs to track weight loss. I add water if loss is too great and let it evaporate if insufficient. I then kick it up the last couple days.
However, temperature, turning and using clean eggs get most of my attention.
You might find a place in your house where temperature doesn't vary as much. Perhaps even a closet. You may even need a space heater to maintain a warm environment for the incubator.
The warmer the ambient air where the incubator is located, the less frequently it will cycle and the more stable the temperature will be.