Please HELP: Chicks die at end stages of hatching

I had three late quitters just this morning.
I'm pretending I introduced bacteria to my bator.

I don't like guessing games but this is my best guess...for me.
 
Usually (DIS) in late stage of incubation is due to the nutritional deficiencies of the parent stock. If incubator problems have been eliminated, temp/ humidity then here are some of the nutritional issues that can cause death in late and early stages of incubation. Here are some of the vitamin and mineral deficiencies more closely associated with parent stock that can be attributed to (DIS). Both late and early deaths.

Vitamin A: Death at about 48 hours of incubation from failure to develop the circulatory system; abnormalities of kidneys, eyes and skeleton

Vitamin D: Death at about 18 or 19 days of incubation, with malpositions, soft bones, and with a defective upper beak prominent.

Vitamin E: Early death at about 84 to 96 hours of incubation, with hemorrhaging and circulatory failure (implicated with selenium).

Thiamin: High embryonic mortality during emergence but no obvious symptoms other than polyneuritis in those that survive.

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): Mortality peaks at 60 hours, 14 days, and 20 days of incubation, with peaks prominent early as deficiency becomes severe. Altered limb and beak development, dwarfism and clubbing of down are defects expressed by embryo.

Niacin: Embryo readily synthesizes sufficient niacin from tryptophan. Various bone and beak malformations occur when certain antagonists are administered during incubation.

Biotin: High death rate at 19 days to 21 days of incubation, parrot beak, chondrodystrophy, several skeletal deformities and webbing between the toes. Perosis.

Pantothenic acid: Deaths appear around 14 days of incubation, although marginal levels may delay problems until emergence. Variable subcutaneous hemorrhaging and edema; wirey down in poults.

Pyridoxine: Early embryonic mortality based on antivitamin use.

Folic acid: Mortality at about 20 days of incubation. The dead generally appear normal, but many have bent tibiotarsus (long leg bone), syndactyly (fused toes) and beak malformations. In poults, mortality at 26 days to 28days of incubation with abnormalities of extremities and circulatory system.

Vitamin B12 : Mortality at about 20 days of incubation, with atrophy of legs, edema, hemorrhaging, fatty organs, and head between thighs malposition.

Manganese : Deaths peak prior to emergence. Chondrodystrophy, dwarfism, long bone shortening, head malformations, edema, and abnormal feathering are prominent. Perosis.

Zinc: Deaths prior to emergence, and the appearance of rumplessness, depletion of vertebral column, eyes underdeveloped and limbs missing.

Iodine : Prolongation of hatching time, reduced thyroid size, and incomplete abdominal closure.

Iron: Low hematocrit; low blood hemoglobin; poor extra-embryonic circulation in candled eggs.

Source / Reference: gallus.tamu.edu/Extensionpublications/b6092.

Thanks for this interesting info! Now I will check the "quail breeder layer feed" I have been feeding our adult birds and maybe something will be discovered! Thank you!
 
I had three late quitters just this morning.
I'm pretending I introduced bacteria to my bator.

I don't like guessing games but this is my best guess...for me.

Darn, sorry to hear that. (I had to cut open 50+ eggs of dead chicks, it was literally the worst!)

Now I wonder if bacteria was an issue! There were a few eggs that aren't supper "clean", and I typically just pop them in anyway since i had no issues before. Occasionally I'd give some really dirty ones a quick quick rinse despite the protective layer might be washed off... next time I will maybe keep the not-so-clean eggs out of the incubator!
 
Darn, sorry to hear that. (I had to cut open 50+ eggs of dead chicks, it was literally the worst!)



Now I wonder if bacteria was an issue! There were a few eggs that aren't supper "clean", and I typically just pop them in anyway since i had no issues before. Occasionally I'd give some really dirty ones a quick quick rinse despite the protective layer might be washed off... next time I will maybe keep the not-so-clean eggs out of the incubator!
Did you happen to take any pictures?
 
Did you happen to take any pictures?

No, but I can describe it if it will help...

I'd say about 30/50 I opened had chicks fully/almost fully formed, but for whatever reason died. These 30 eggs were not gooey, in fact they were healthy looking (not that I am an expert, but they look normal/fine).

10 of them were gooey; looked and smelled bad! About 3~4 of them pipped. And about 5~6 of them were less developed, probably died at around day 15 (?).
 
No, but I can describe it if it will help...

I'd say about 30/50 I opened had chicks fully/almost fully formed, but for whatever reason died. These 30 eggs were not gooey, in fact they were healthy looking (not that I am an expert, but they look normal/fine).

10 of them were gooey; looked and smelled bad! About 3~4 of them pipped. And about 5~6 of them were less developed, probably died at around day 15 (?).
I am going to post a picture in a minute of my dead ones from this morning.

Is that ok?
 
oops totally missed this post! Yea please


One is clearly not as developed as the other two.
I think one quit a few days before the other two.
The other 2 I think quit a day or two before hatching

What I also think is that some how they'll sacs bust open.
I think.
I don't really know.
IMG_20190517_071120.jpg
IMG_20190517_071034.jpg
IMG_20190517_071030.jpg



I also notice the smaller one on the left (when the heads are on top) the juice seemed more greenish.
 
One is clearly not as developed as the other two.
I think one quit a few days before the other two.
The other 2 I think quit a day or two before hatching

What I also think is that some how they'll sacs bust open.
I think.
I don't really know.View attachment 1786902 View attachment 1786903 View attachment 1786904


I also notice the smaller one on the left (when the heads are on top) the juice seemed more greenish.
Thanks for the photos. These look like the ones the late quitters I have as well.

This is what we found out: when we hatch in smaller batches (ie. 30-40 eggs in one incubator), we get great hatch rates, around the 90% mark! When we hatch in larger batches we get terrible rates, at around the 60-70% mark.

We only compared our last 3 large hatches vs our 2 last small hatches, so this doesn't exactly confirm anything but we will keep trying and figure out what works best....
 
Hi, we have been hatching quail eggs for about 2 years now. In our past two hatches we found that there were MANY (30 out of 100 ish) chicks that die at the very last stages before hatching. We got 2 pipped and zipped but died before hatch, and about 28 that did not pip but seemed fully ready to hatch but didn't make it.

We didn't do anything different than what we were doing before - keeping the humidity between 35~40% before lockdown and around 65-70% during lockdown.

Our previous hatch rate hovers around the 75%-85%. But the past two hatches dropped to around 60%.

The past two hatches we incubated some shipped eggs and some eggs from our own quail, but doesn't seem to be a factor as it happened to both types of eggs.

Can someone please help? It's the worst thing to have to open eggs and see dead chicks inside :(
When mine don't hatch well, it's because the humidity has been too high up untill day 14. They can't move their chunky buts inside the shell. Don't open the box to get early hachlings!
 

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