Setting 41 on 6-15, 7-8, 7-31, and 8-23 feel free to join in at any time

[scflock]

Fertility rate was a big issue this time. 67.5% in the Janoel, and 65% in the Brinsea. I expect there's some correlation between that and the nutrition issues. 33 hatches, 2 post-hatch deaths, 8 struggling chicks (including one that is still in the bator, I was doing eggtopsies and mistakenly thought it was dead and when I cracked the egg, it moved a lot!) Assuming all the strugglers die (which I expect most will), then this hatch is a 47% success rate.

Its hard to make a comparison between the Janoel and the Brinsea. Clears were roughly equal in both. 7 pre-hatch deaths in the Brinsea, 13 in the Janoel...but I'd have to see that through several more settings to say its a bator thing. Only 5 of the bator deaths were late deaths, but of course that number could go as high as 13 if the strugglers all die.

Resetting the bators later today.

All of the chicks on their backs would be culls for me. I think the age of the eggs probably contributed to the delayed hatch as well, but sounds like this batch of eggs had several things going against it. I really think your improved eggs and lower humidity are going to yield good results this time.
What is your display temp set at on the Brinsea? I never saw if you found an average temp with the Spot Check. Bumping up to 100.0 stopped my delayed hatches

 

[RubyNala97]

What happens when you put the chicks right side up on there feet? Do they just fall over? Does it seem like they are just weak or does it seem like leg/feet issues?

 

[scflock]

What happens when you put the chicks right side up on there feet? Do they just fall over? Does it seem like they are just weak or does it seem like leg/feet issues?

I'm on the phone, so I can't see as well, but I see at least one with curled toes, so my guess is there are leg and feet issues, but even with those issues chicks that are otherwise healthy will still try to right themselves. Once they start laying on their backs, I don't postpone the inevitable.

 

[WalnutHill]

All of the chicks on their backs would be culls for me.

Here is where my opinion differs from yours in a significant way.

When I am crossing large fowl, or when I am hatching turkeys, it is not at all unusual that in the first 36 hours there are a lot of chicks/poults that flip and can't get themselves up. In the case of turkeys, escpecially my BB crosses, their legs are too weak to get a good grip on the ground compared to the large and heavy bodies. The artificial brooder environment doesn't help either, neither wood chips nor pelletized bedding provide adequate traction compared to dirt and meadow grass.

I will set them upright for two days when they flip, while they strengthen. Once they are using their legs fully extended and running around, I quit picking them up and they are on their own. Sometimes they do a buddy system and pull on the wing feathers of the downed bird, or pull on the toes, which is usually enough to get the upset one back on its belly.

 

[RubyNala97]

Here is where my opinion differs from yours in a significant way.

When I am crossing large fowl, or when I am hatching turkeys, it is not at all unusual that in the first 36 hours there are a lot of chicks/poults that flip and can't get themselves up.  In the case of turkeys, escpecially my BB crosses, their legs are too weak to get a good grip on the ground compared to the large and heavy bodies.  The artificial brooder environment doesn't help either, neither wood chips nor pelletized bedding provide adequate traction compared to dirt and meadow grass.

I will set them upright for two days when they flip, while they strengthen.  Once they are using their legs fully extended and running around, I quit picking them up and they are on their own.  Sometimes they do a buddy system and pull on the wing feathers of the downed bird, or pull on the toes, which is usually enough to get the upset one back on its belly.

I experienced this first hand with the peafowl. But chicks aren't usually as hard to get on their feet, are they?
You can make a narrow cardboard box for them, so it helps them stay in the right position until the legs strengthen. But from the pictures, I'm wondering if they are just too weak?

 

[scflock]

Here is where my opinion differs from yours in a significant way.

When I am crossing large fowl, or when I am hatching turkeys, it is not at all unusual that in the first 36 hours there are a lot of chicks/poults that flip and can't get themselves up.  In the case of turkeys, escpecially my BB crosses, their legs are too weak to get a good grip on the ground compared to the large and heavy bodies.  The artificial brooder environment doesn't help either, neither wood chips nor pelletized bedding provide adequate traction compared to dirt and meadow grass.

I will set them upright for two days when they flip, while they strengthen.  Once they are using their legs fully extended and running around, I quit picking them up and they are on their own.  Sometimes they do a buddy system and pull on the wing feathers of the downed bird, or pull on the toes, which is usually enough to get the upset one back on its belly.

I agree with you on that for the first two days. I won't cull them as soon as they hit the brooder like that, but if they had hatched on Thursday and looked like that today, I would be thinking about it. Especially if they started on their feet then wound up on their backs. That's what happened with my BCM chicks in the last batch. They started dropping off 2-3 days after hatch

 

[NTBugtraq]

I moved 2 of the 7 into the main brooder as they seemed upright and moving about, but they're struggling now in the main brooder too. The remaining 5 are at least 48 hours old, and some are 72 hours old. I have righted them, fed them electrolyte water, and still they end up on their backs in a few minutes. They move around so much they actually make a bowl in the wood chips...which I have to believe then makes it even harder to flip over. OTOH, if I put them into the main brooder where they might get some help, typically, someone ends up sitting on their head. Honestly, its like the healthy chicks go out of their way to sit on the head of a weakling...

I need to move onto my healthy eggs...so, its culling time. I appreciate all the advice, and I wish I could expect them to recover, but I'm sure a Mom woulda left them behind by now.

BTW, @scflock , the Janoel 8-48 manual states that humidity for chickens should be between 55%-70%. I cannot adjust the humidity setting in that bator, only the amount of water I put in. The manual says to fill both channels with water at start, which results in at least 70% humidity. The humidity alarm is set by default to 45%...and the alarm comes on when the humidity is some amount (unknown) above and below that number. That seems counter to what the manual says. Anyway, I'm going to fill only one channel and see what we end up at after a couple of hours. I reset it (so it thinks its day 0 again) and it sets itself to 37.8C, which is 100F.

I've set the Brinsea to the same temperature, and a RH of 35%. I've put a little water (about 1/4 channel depth) in 2 channels to keep the heat pump from working to much. Again, waiting 2 hours to see where it settles at.

 

[WalnutHill]

I am four days into incubation on my up to four week old refrigerated turkey eggs. Some are showing signs of vascular growth. I'll wait a week before candling, but other than three eggs that were set right after gathering, they are all old. I had stuck them in the fridge to make noodles with, but never got started on making the noodles. So sticking them in the incubator just made sense. I will have a couple of stragglers as I set more eggs on Thursday and today.

 

[NTBugtraq]

I am four days into incubation on my up to four week old refrigerated turkey eggs. Some are showing signs of vascular growth. I'll wait a week before candling, but other than three eggs that were set right after gathering, they are all old. I had stuck them in the fridge to make noodles with, but never got started on making the noodles. So sticking them in the incubator just made sense. I will have a couple of stragglers as I set more eggs on Thursday and today.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Now I am stuck. Cleaned and drived bators...the Janoel reads 64% and the Brinsea reads 55% humidity...??? The basement has even higher humidity as I'm curing garlic down there.



A 23.48g egg that I believe is from one of my 13 week old project pullets...;-] WTH, I'm going to set it in this hatch...