Opinions please

[raisedinabarnes]

I had 6 Auracana and 6 Golden Comet eggs. Only 1 of each egg has hatched (even pipped). The Auracana came out with curled toes and the Golden Comet is still laying in the incubator with a very round and black belly, not sure if it is going to make it.

What did I do wrong?

 

[countrygoddess]

Are the toes curled under like club feet to the point the chick can't stand up on them? Or are they simply crooked and the chick CAN walk on them? I'm looking at the What Went Wrong? chapter in my Hatching and Brooding Your Own Chicks book and it says "mushy hatchlings", like your Golden Comet can be caused by temp too low during incubation, humidity too high during incubation or hatching, inadequate ventilation, or contamination in the incubator from dirty eggs or from not cleaning and sanitizing after the previous hatch.

If the Araucana's toes are CURLED UNDER, then it's likely a riboflavin deficiency in the breeder-flock diet. It's definitely a riboflavin deficiency if you also can see that its down is clubbed, or bulges out at the shaft base (a result of the sheath to fail to rupture, causing the down to bend a bit). If the toes are simply crooked, then that can be a result of too high temps early in incubation, too low temps throughout incubation, or excessive activity too soon after hatching. The author (Gail Damerow) says it can also be a result of nutritional deficiency, injury, and heredity.

Yes, I got my answers from a book and not experience, but I've been trying to learn as much as I can about incubating and hatching my own eggs because I'm going to be doing just that for the first time this year, in the next couple of weeks.

So, if I were to put both problems together, I'd say the likely culprit was the temp in your incubator was too low. But I'd certainly like to hear from more experienced people on this...

 

[Fred's Hens]

Did they take longer than 21 days to hatch?

 

[stefan333]

I love that book. I suggest EVERYONE get that book, and all the other ones Gail Damerow writes. They all have very valuable information that every chicken owner should know. I've found that those of us who incubate while reading and researching are more knowledgable and successful than those with experience who just keep doing it wrong. So, countrygoddes, I'd say your knowledge gives you an advantage over even experience.

My question would be: How long ago did these chicks hatch? If they just came out, I'd give them a few more hours to see if there's a difference. Also, you might have a staggered hatch, especially if you're using a still air (no fan) incubator. Sometimes the other eggs can hatch a couple days later. But if they've been out for a bit, countrygoddess gave you some very good advice. I've found that too low temp causes lots of problems. My biggest piece of advice when incubating is: DON'T trust the thermometer that came with the incubator (unless you have a Brinsea or other digital high price incubator), and don't trust any other thermometer until you check it. Buy at least 4 thermometers and compare them to each other. In my opinion inaccurate thermometers are the #1 reason for bad hatches.

 

[raisedinabarnes]

Thank you so much everyone!

I have been using a fan incubator with a constant temp between 99 and 102. The spike was less than 24 hours long, but occured on day 10. The humidity was always 50% to 65%, the higher the humidity during lockdown. There was a period of time that I did not turn the eggs for 18 hours on day 15. Could that have an effect?

The hatchlings are about 5 hours old. I'll wait until tonight and see if I need to straighten out the crooked feet. The toes aren't really curled under on the Auracana (I've seen some images on Google that are down right crazy) the feet are more like clubbed, but maybe just because it is so young. I'll try and post a video later.

 

[stefan333]

Sounds like you did everything correct, but I would try to keep the temp a constant 99.5 next time. Easier said than done, though. Swings between 99 and 102 aren't the best. Was the 102 the spike on day 10? If that's when it got to 102 it shouldn't affect things too bad. Not turning on day 15 shouldn't have affected anything. The first week is the most important with turning. At five hours my last batch still had curled toes, but they straightened out after a day. Some chicks will take just 30 minutes to walk around normal, others I've hatched have taken a little longer.

 

[raisedinabarnes]

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10200347983774741" width="568" height="320" frameborder="0"></iframe>

I hope you can see this video. It is of the Auracana chick. Not sure when it hatched, sometime between 11 PM and 7 AM. When I found it at 7 AM it was still pretty wet in the incubator. I left it there until I was sure that he was warm and strong enough and then set it in the brooder. This is after it is about 90% fluffed I'd say.

I'm worried about it's feet being so janked under it's body and not standing up straight.

 

[countrygoddess]

The video is unavailable due to your privacy settings. Also, some people may not be on Facebook. Can you post pictures?

 

[countrygoddess]

Stefan333, thank you for your information and advice! I'm a nervous wreck with my eggs arriving next week.

 

[stefan333]

You're welcome. I was a nervous wreck my 1st time incubating, and I had 19 out of 22 hatch. Thank God that's how my first time went, and I was expecting everything to go just as smooth the next time. Unfortunately, I've had some issues since then -unabsorbed yolks, chicks getting stuck to the shell, staggered hatches, wobbly air cells, receiving infertile eggs (at least that wasn't my fault). Sometimes things go great, sometimes they don't. It's just part of incubating, and every difficulty is a learning experience. In life I always try to be greatful, because someone always has it worse. My sister just had her first hatch, and while she was at work the dog got to her poor chickies as they were hatching. Now that's a really BAD hatch.