Not sure what's gone wrong... A few questions...

[WalnutHill]

Not unless you are incubating in a rain forest. The loss of humidity inside the incubator can make it impossible or difficult for the rest of the chicks to hatch, since they have absorbed the fluid in the egg by the time they pip. They need the moisture in the incubator to keep the membranes delicate enough to break through.

It's best to leave the chicks in the incubator until ALL the eggs you expect to hatch have hatched. That's why staggered hatches in a combined incubator/brooder are not a good idea. You risk eggs soon to hatch by removing chicks just hatched.

There are exceptions, but they are few. The chicks need time to rest, dry, fluff up, and explore their newly-freed body parts.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Is it safe to remove them (open the incubator) when I have pipping chicks?

It depends what your humidity is at. I keep mine around 75% and opening the bator to pull the chicks out does not lower it enough to cause problems. Once they are hatching you will have noticed that the humidity increases with the hatching and release of moisture from the egg. I prefer to NOT have 7/8 chicks bouncing around in my bator and getting hurt. Removing chicks or not is a personal decision. Opening the bator does NOT mean that anything bad will happen. When you open the bator the chances of the humidity falling and a pipper getting shrink wrapped increases, just like when you get in a car the chances of having a car accident is greater. Yes, there is a chance. I do always suggest a person take into consideration their humidity levels and how fast their bator recovers humidity when making the decision. Like I said, I remove mine periodically throughout the hatch without any ill effects. Removing them is not wrong and waiting until the end of the hatch is not wrong. They are just two different ways of doing things and a person needs to go with what is more comfortable for them and what is going to work-for them. (If you have the least reecommended humidity for hatch or have problems getting humidity back up after loosing humidity, then no, of course it would be better to leave it closed and wait.)

 

[Jrose]

10 chicks extracted. 1 of the remaining 5 eggs has hatched since. 3 have pips. 1 doesn't appear to have activity, but I won't lose hope just yet!

Wooohooooo! I forgot how much I love EE beards on chicks

 

[Jrose]

Well, 1 egg never made an internal pip. Candling I could see 'stuff' floating freely around in the sac. No movement. It was a floater. I didn't crack it open to see.

1 egg still hadn't pipped this morning. I candled and it appeared to have internally pipped, but no movement. I opened the air sac up (went very slowly and cautiously) and the chick's membrane hadn't actually been pierced, but the beak was in position and pressing into the membrane. Looks like the membrane didn't pierce or the chick died before piercing? Absolutely no life, but looked healthy and normal in its little sac. I buried both the rotten egg and the dead chick.

The last chick in the incubator is struggling. It pipped over 24 hours ago, just barely cracking the shell. Rare cheeps coming from within. No progress. Over the course of several hours I progressively removed more shell. I started with opening the pip hole to find his breathing beak- alive! The beak looked smushed funny behind to a leg, I thought it was a second beak for a moment. I made a zip for him when it became apparent he wasn't making effort. Still no effort. So I removed the air-pocket 'cap' end of the shell. His inner membrane is clearish-brown, no veins or blood left, no bleeding, very sticky. I didn't mess with it, just took the outer membrane and shell off. Still no effort. So I cautiously pulled back the membrane off his face and legs and he unfolded and stretched out. I left the bottom of the shell on in case he's not done absorbing. Hope he makes it! If no progress in a few more hours I may help further.

All other chicks are thriving. Several of them have wiry feathers, especially around their necks. At first I thought this was because some might be turken rooster crosses, but a few of the chicks I know for certain are NOT turken crosses and still have sparse wiry feathering. Thoughts? One chick's back is almost bare. The chicks my broody is hatching right now don't seem to have feathering issues, so it says incubation problem to me, not egg or parent issue.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Well, 1 egg never made an internal pip. Candling I could see 'stuff' floating freely around in the sac. No movement. It was a floater. I didn't crack it open to see.

1 egg still hadn't pipped this morning. I candled and it appeared to have internally pipped, but no movement. I opened the air sac up (went very slowly and cautiously) and the chick's membrane hadn't actually been pierced, but the beak was in position and pressing into the membrane. Looks like the membrane didn't pierce or the chick died before piercing? Absolutely no life, but looked healthy and normal in its little sac. I buried both the rotten egg and the dead chick.

The last chick in the incubator is struggling. It pipped over 24 hours ago, just barely cracking the shell. Rare cheeps coming from within. No progress. Over the course of several hours I progressively removed more shell. I started with opening the pip hole to find his breathing beak- alive! The beak looked smushed funny behind to a leg, I thought it was a second beak for a moment. I made a zip for him when it became apparent he wasn't making effort. Still no effort. So I removed the air-pocket 'cap' end of the shell. His inner membrane is clearish-brown, no veins or blood left, no bleeding, very sticky. I didn't mess with it, just took the outer membrane and shell off. Still no effort. So I cautiously pulled back the membrane off his face and legs and he unfolded and stretched out. I left the bottom of the shell on in case he's not done absorbing. Hope he makes it! If no progress in a few more hours I may help further.

All other chicks are thriving. Several of them have wiry feathers, especially around their necks. At first I thought this was because some might be turken rooster crosses, but a few of the chicks I know for certain are NOT turken crosses and still have sparse wiry feathering. Thoughts? One chick's back is almost bare. The chicks my broody is hatching right now don't seem to have feathering issues, so it says incubation problem to me, not egg or parent issue.

Yes, it sounds like an incubation issue, either temp or humidity. The one that had positioned to internally pip- was it very wet? Was there a lot of moisture in the shell or was it shrink wrapped?

 

[Jrose]

Yes, it sounds like an incubation issue, either temp or humidity. The one that had positioned to internally pip- was it very wet? Was there a lot of moisture in the shell or was it shrink wrapped?

The membrane was not dry, but it was sticking to the dead chick. It didn't look like the few photos of 'shrink wrapping' I've seen, with a white dry membrane. It didn't seem unusual otherwise, I took a long time 'unwrapping' the egg and chick, literally expecting to see life because it looked so normal, but alas, it was truly dead.

 

[Jrose]

I wonder if it has to do with the temp spikes influencing their feather growth. I really am shocked that 12 of the 15 made it! I thought I had toasted the whole batch with the warm weather!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I wonder if it has to do with the temp spikes influencing their feather growth. I really am shocked that 12 of the 15 made it! I thought I had toasted the whole batch with the warm weather!

It would be something to research. How the temp fluctuations and temperature highs/lows effect developement. Chicks are a lot tougher than people give them credit for, that's for sure.

 

[Jrose]

The last chick is out and alive! Very, very weak though. I removed him from the incubator and put him in a brooder. That incubator is starting to stink and is super soiled, I feel like there's going to be a bigger bacterial exposure risk leaving him in there for the next few hours. He's in the brooder alone with a little fluffy stuffed hedgehog for company. Soon as he's dry he'll join the others.

Is there any hope of keeping incubators clean? Or is this a consequence of having staggered eggs a day apart and dragging the hatching process out longer?

 

[Jrose]

I do appreciate all the feedback! I'm so full of curiosity! I'm glad my first ever hatch has gone well, all things considered! I can't wait to fill the incubator up again

And do I need to sterilize the bator specially before setting new chicks? Or a general thorough clean and dry will suffice?