Multiple questions re: bad, delayed hatch

[Rena]

I will start with the long version of the story and end with my specific questions- feel free to skip to the questions!

I have a fully automatic 3-egg incubator that I keep specifically to loan out to my kids' schools each year for hatching projects. It has been used a number of times with no issues. However, the last two times someone tried to use it, they were not successful in getting any chicks. I assumed a mix of user error and bad luck, but decided I should try the incubator myself before loaning it out again to ensure it is working properly.

All was good this time around until day 17. I smelled something- not a bad smell, not rotten eggs- it smelled like eggs cooking. I candled each egg and discovered the smelly one. As I was looking at it, I noticed a drop of clear liquid appear on the shell. I held it up to my face (why???) and I could hear gas and liquid hissing out of a tiny pinhole in the egg. I can only assume this meant the egg was infected and pressure was building. I threw it out promptly and thankfully it did not explode in my face.

The other eggs continued as usual but at the end of day 22, still zero action. As I was already fearing they had been infected by the other egg, I felt it was best to throw them out before they became grenades.. but I did candle them at that time. Both had live moving chicks inside, one with an internal pip. So, I put them back in the incubator.

This morning, at the very end of day 23, the first chick hatched and seems fine. This incubator is so small and the last egg is white, so I can candle to a degree without opening the incubator. The chick is clearly still alive/active but has not internally pipped. We are now in day 24.

Questions:

1. At what point (day) is an egg absolutely NOT going to hatch, even if it is alive in the shell, and should be thrown out? I understand there is no point in assisting a chick to hatch if it has not internally pipped, so I have no intention of trying to help- just want to know when to call it quits.

2. Usually I leave all chicks in the incubator until every egg has hatched that is going to hatch, but since my living chick hatched so late, would that mean he has less energy reserve and needs to be removed sooner? Who knows when or if his buddy will ever hatch...

3. What health problems should I watch for due to the chicks hatching late (almost certainly due to faulty incubator)?

4. What health problems should I watch for if these chicks may have been infected with some kind of bacteria by being in the incubator with another egg that almost exploded?

I had not planned to keep these chicks, but I don't want to give them to anyone else if they are going to be sickly or have problems.. Just want to know what to watch for so I can help them as much as possible.

Thanks for any input!

 

[kuchchicks]

I think if this were me I would remove the chick from the bator. If you do it quickly you should not have problems with your humidity dropping (which is why in theory you don't want to open the bator until everyone is done hatching). If your humidity does drop have a small sponge standing by (it needs to be clean - I have new sponges that I hold aside for hatching) or a small wash rag that is moist with warm water. You can add that to your bator to help get the humidity back to where it needs to be. And if the chick has not externally pipped then you have nothing to really worry about with the humidity dropping a little anyway. People who leave all of the chicks in there until the end are guarding the well being of those chicks that have externally pipped.

As for the egg left unhatched, I myself would leave it in the bator until it shows no signs of life. I could not turn the bator off knowing that there is a little chick still trying. I know that there are others that will say the chick is going to hatch with health problems, but there is also a chance that it will hatch fine. I think this is a decision that you personally need to make. I would continue to candle the egg daily until it pips (if it pips) or until you do not see signs of life.

As far as health problems I think it is going to be a waiting game. There are a few people on here who have described special need chicks that never can be placed with their larger flocks and require a little more attention. Personally I have always felt that if I were the one responsible for bringing an animal into the world it is my responsibility to care for those animals for their entire lives or to make sure someone else was willing to give them what they need. Obviously if these chicks turn out to be sickly you are not going to want to use them for breeding. If they are not suffering then I don't see the harm in keeping them and providing a little extra care for them to live their lives... again this is just me and I know that there will be others out there that will disagree with me and that is fine.

How is the little chick doing that you currently have that has hatched? That is going to be an indicator (to some extent) how the other chick may do after hatching. The other thing to keep in mind is that this little chick by itself will be a little more needy for attention unless he has a roommate. You may want to get him a buddy (or if you are planning on giving him away find someone who also has very young chicks to introduce him to).

Please update us. I always like to hear how these situations turn out.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I think if this were me I would remove the chick from the bator. If you do it quickly you should not have problems with your humidity dropping (which is why in theory you don't want to open the bator until everyone is done hatching). If your humidity does drop have a small sponge standing by (it needs to be clean - I have new sponges that I hold aside for hatching) or a small wash rag that is moist with warm water. You can add that to your bator to help get the humidity back to where it needs to be. And if the chick has not externally pipped then you have nothing to really worry about with the humidity dropping a little anyway. People who leave all of the chicks in there until the end are guarding the well being of those chicks that have externally pipped.

As for the egg left unhatched, I myself would leave it in the bator until it shows no signs of life. I could not turn the bator off knowing that there is a little chick still trying. I know that there are others that will say the chick is going to hatch with health problems, but there is also a chance that it will hatch fine. I think this is a decision that you personally need to make. I would continue to candle the egg daily until it pips (if it pips) or until you do not see signs of life.

As far as health problems I think it is going to be a waiting game. There are a few people on here who have described special need chicks that never can be placed with their larger flocks and require a little more attention. Personally I have always felt that if I were the one responsible for bringing an animal into the world it is my responsibility to care for those animals for their entire lives or to make sure someone else was willing to give them what they need. Obviously if these chicks turn out to be sickly you are not going to want to use them for breeding. If they are not suffering then I don't see the harm in keeping them and providing a little extra care for them to live their lives... again this is just me and I know that there will be others out there that will disagree with me and that is fine.

How is the little chick doing that you currently have that has hatched? That is going to be an indicator (to some extent) how the other chick may do after hatching. The other thing to keep in mind is that this little chick by itself will be a little more needy for attention unless he has a roommate. You may want to get him a buddy (or if you are planning on giving him away find someone who also has very young chicks to introduce him to).

Please update us. I always like to hear how these situations turn out.

Xs 2 in just about every way.

I would move the chick to the brooder, but I don't believe in leaving chicks in the incubator 2 or 3 days anyway. I also could not pull the plug on a living chick either. BUT I do acknowledge the longer the chick takes before hatching the higher probability of development/health problems and the higher chance it might have to be culled after hatch. My latest hatcher was from my very first botched hatch (bad thermometer) hatched day 24. I had another hatch day 25 but he was weak from the get go and died in the night. My day 24 chick seemed healthy and as long as he was out with us he was pretty happy. It wasn't until he started maturing and putting on weight that I noticed his balance was way off and he couldn't roost. Closer inspection revealed his "knee joint" was turned inward toward his body. I didn't think he'd ever be able to be in a coop with others. When I moved my teens out to their new coop I moved him to just to see how it would go and low and behold, he's doing great so far. I might have to bring him in during winter because he can't roost with the rest, but he has surprised me and I'm so glad that he did hatch.

 

[Rena]

Thanks for the info.

I did remove the chick last night. He seemed to be having trouble walking (not that he had much space) and the inside of the egg looked bloodier than I am used to, so I wanted to check. I didn't see any yolk or anything else weird about his underside related to the blood. He actually seems to be doing fine and is very spunky. He had trouble getting his legs under him at first and I suspected spraddle leg, but now he is walking normally and eating. He's not any particular breed.. came from a brown egg and I assume dad was maybe the cochin rooster because this guy has feathers down his legs (though not on his feet).

I checked on the last egg again this morning- at this point what's the harm? No internal pip but the chick is still moving. It's now the very beginning of day 25. I'm sure he won't hatch, but- like you all- I feel like it's more humane to let him quit on his own.



I will update when I end up tossing the other egg just in case anyone is wondering how it all goes down

Thanks!