Official BYC Poll: Which Egg Hatching Problems Have You Encountered?

[BYC Project Manager]

It is good practice to crack open unhatched eggs. This often allows one to determine if the egg was fertilized, at what stage the embryo died, and possibly why. Infertile eggs contain only yellow contents, with no sign of an embryo or blood.

Warning: breaking an infertile egg can be risky. It is likely that the contents are rotten. Even worse are eggs that explode when you touch them, covering you with putrid slime. Wear old clothes and perhaps cover the egg with a bag or towel when you touch it to avoid splashing.

This poll is primarily for people who hatch eggs in an incubator. A good mother hen will do most of the work for you. So in this poll, we would like to find out: Which Egg Hatching Problems Have You Encountered?

Place your vote above, and please elaborate in a reply below if you chose "Other".

Further Reading:

• A Simple Guide To Hatching Chicken Eggs
• The Beginner's Guide to Incubation
• How To Incubate and Hatch Chicken Eggs
• Guide to Assisted Hatching for All Poultry
• Getting Your Chickens to Lay Eggs

(Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Most of my chicks either don't develop or hatch pretty fine when I'm an incubator. 2 that stand out to me were one that had an extra membrane that he couldn't break through and one that had a hernia and severe scissorbeak that prevented him from pipping. Both were shipped eggs

 

[SilverBirds]

Great idea for a poll!

I don't normally have many problems other then delayed or earlier hatchers. There have been a handful of times chicks hatched with the yolk still attached or they pipped but died.

 

[K0k0shka]

Checked some, and have more to add not on the list - 1) shrink-wrapped chicks, with the membrane drying out on them, caused by 2) failure to zip all the way after pipping, and drying out after spending too long half-opened unable to zip out.

 

[WallyG74]

One of my choices was weak chick. Typically the weak ones were assisted and most die within a couple days even though they seemed to do fine initially after the assist.

 

[muddy75]

I wasn’t sure where to classify failure to thrive chicks…..i just had one of those in my EHAL pheasants…….it made it to almost 2 weeks old but still appeared to be only day or so old

 

[chickenenthusiasts5698]

Not sure how to classify this one but he somehow pipped and then poked his leg out. I had to help him but he didn’t end up making it. Everyone else hatched fine and lived.

 

[Chookchicken]

I had a chick with a backwards leg that sadly died at 3 months old. She was a sweet little girl who loved cuddles and hanging out with her sister. Even though she was 3 months when she died she looked no older then 4 weeks.

I had another chick who had heart issues and died at 3 weeks old.

 

[Crazy Chicken Helen]

I am using my incubator for the first time instead of a broody. Day 6, candled and 5 out of 7 look good so far

 

[3KillerBs]

"Quitters halfway through" wasn't one of the options.

I've only done 2 hatches, but I've had a few clears, a few quitters that died between day 7 candling and lockdown candling, and a few that were fully developed but failed to hatch -- one all the way to internal pip, the others without internal pips.

Checked some, and have more to add not on the list - 1) shrink-wrapped chicks, with the membrane drying out on them, caused by 2) failure to zip all the way after pipping, and drying out after spending too long half-opened unable to zip out.

I also had EXACTLY this happen -- but the chick also had a splayed leg and malformed foot, which may be why he couldn't finish zipping.