New to incubating.. Hatch time... First chick died.. What went wrong? (UPDATE: spradle leg??)

[rheo]

I have a few dozen eggs in my new Hovabator. I'm on day 19 now and already seeing and hearing the first signs of life.

The first pip came through on the first egg. it had cracked through the shell and was peeping from inside.

I left for the day looking forward to coming home and finding perhaps a hatched chick....

But to my dismay I came home to find the chick had died. It seems what happened was the gooey stuff caked over its beak and dried out suffocating it.

Incubator says the humidity in there is at 66% so I am surprised this could happen..

I feel like i should have opened up the incubator just to make sure the little beak had as much access to air as possible..

Should I be helping these chicks get out of their shells somehow?

If the mom were present would she be helping the hatch somehow?

 

[happyhens1972]

So sorry you lost your first chick but no, do not help your chicks out at this stage. You should refrain from assisting the hatch until the eggs have either been pipped for more than 24 hours with no further progress or they have started zipping and then stopped with no further progress for an hour or so. These are indicators that they MAY be in trouble but even then, you need to move slowly and only ever assist to the least level required for the egg to hatch. If you start messing with the eggs before they are ready, you can cause lethal bleeds and chicks who have not yet absorbed their yolks so will still have them externally.

If you had been there for the hatch of your first chick, a quick wipe of its beak may have helped but if other eggs are pipped, you run the risk of them drying out when you open the incy to do it so it's always a judgement call.

I would up your humidity to 70% to keep everything moist and then sit on your hands for now!! xx

 

[spotsplus]

I'm sorry to hear your chick didn't make it. I think it was an unfortunate hatching. With the humidity at the level you mentioned it should have helped with hatching but I think this one was just unusual. My advice would have been to up the humidity but you already have it where it needs to be. I'd give the other eggs a chance to do it on their own as opening up the egg too early causes all sorts of problems.

 

[rheo]

Ok. I let the others do their thing and then removed the dryest and more vital ones to the brooder...

About 15 or so of them have been moved to the brooder now.

Another issue..

This one is looking particularly bad.

.

The others seem to want to peck on it. It kicks and flops around but can't stand up.

Anything I can do to help this little one out?

 

[3riverschick]

Hi !
I don't believe in helping chicks out of the eggs either. That said, there is one thing you can do. Go to Tractor Supply ( cheapest) or your feed store and get a small bottle of either Pet Nutri-Drops ( for pets 25 lbs. and under and their babies) or Poultry Nutri-Drench ( for poultry) . They can be used interchangeably with the same usage and dosage instructions per a conversation I had with the science techs at Bovidr Labs.
Go back to the eggs. If you can see a beak ( not opening up the egg to get to one) But if you can see a beak, drop one drop only on the end of the beak or in it. These two emergency nutritional supplements made by Bovidr Labs don't need to be digested. They mainline directly into the bloodstream. Giving the exhausted chicks extra energy to keep trying to hatch.
The formulas are very concentrated. One drop only. When the chicks hatch and are dry, you can give them each one drop only. Any chicks you supplemented in the shell, wait 6 hours to give a second dose. Then put 2cc's per gallon ( maintenance dose) in their water for the 1st 2 weeks to get them off to a strong start. No need for any other supplements in their water. I have been using these 2 products on my collies and poultry for over a decade. Very highly thought of in the animal breeding world. Here's a website where you can learn more about them: http://nutridrench.com/
Best Success,
Karen and the Light Sussex
in western PA, USA

 

[happyhens1972]

Ok. I let the others do their thing and then removed the dryest and more vital ones to the brooder...

About 15 or so of them have been moved to the brooder now.

Another issue..

This one is looking particularly bad.

.

The others seem to want to peck on it. It kicks and flops around but can't stand up.

Anything I can do to help this little one out?

How's the weak one doing?

If the others are picking on it, you can make a 'fence' from cardbaord to put round it INSIDE the incubator so it can dry off in peace and warmth. If you can get the drops mentioned above, they really are a lifesaver! Once it has had a time to dry off a bit and recover, you can assess the situation. It may be that it has spraddle leg and that's why it can't stand, in which case it will be fixable but give it a chance to regain some energy after the exhaustion of hatch before you start making it a set of manacles. Then google 'spraddle leg' and read up on how to deal with it. It is very simple but the chick needs enough energy to cope with it first.

 

[rheo]

The weak one is still just laying on its back.. cant get up but seems otherwise very much alive. I am not sure if it is spraddle leg but i suppose it very well could be.

Compared to the rest it seemed it was quite immature.

I'll read about spraddle leg.. could it be something else?

Could it be something else?

 

[happyhens1972]

Some pictures may help.....especially if you think it may be immature/under developed.

If it is spraddle leg, it can usually be fixed quite simply with a 'manacle' left in place for a couple of days, HOWEVER, the chick needs to be strong enough to cope with it so might need a bit of a boost with some Nutridrench first.

 

[rheo]

The chick is standing now. Not getting around very well yet but at least it's standing.

I've been removing all the more lively ones out of the incubator and into the brooder so they don't overcrowd it and it seems to be a little better every time I check in.

I'll check out that Nutru-drench stuff when i go to town today...

Do i just drop it on it's beak? maybe I should put some in the water of the other ones as well.

 

[happyhens1972]

Are the chick's feet and legs normal? Most of the spraddle leg pictures on the internet show the worse cases where their legs are stuck right out to the side of them and they cannot use their legs at all but often chicks have a much milder case of spraddle which still interferes with their ability to stand. If you pick the chick up and look at its leg position head on, do the legs hang straight down from the pelvis or do they splay out to the side at all? If they are anything other than straight down, it may need manacles.

As for the Nutridrench, if you hold the pipette to the side of the beak where it 'hinges' and squeeze the drop out gently, the chick will usually take it in by gulping. You only need a drop as it is highly concentrated. I don't know about adding it to water as I am in the UK, where we have Nutridrops....which states it is for direct oral administration. Maybe someone else can help with that?