<sigh> does this sound like a humidity issue?

[KaldakurFarm]

Ok first I have to address what you described with the chick that tried to come out the top of the shell and was stuck bent over, simply because I had the same exact thing happen in my hatch this past weekend. I had to take pictures before I helped him though...lol This is mine:
He had managed to get one wing out..... and as you can see he is bent in half in the shell....lol




Don't be alarmed at all the flesh showing he/she is a naked neck, in his case the naked went down to his shoulders...lol



Now for the humidity. I run 30-35% first 17 days and 75+ for lockdown and hatch. Wet sticky chicks could be a humidity issue. The leg/foot issues (according to the chicken chick) causes are:

CAUSES
One cause of spraddle leg is slick floors that result in chicks losing their footing. The legs twist out from the hip and remain in that position unless corrected.​

Other causes are:

• temperature fluxuations during incubation
• a difficult hatch that makes legs weak
• leg or foot injury
• brooder overcrowding
• a vitamin deficiency

I have never had yellow sticky substances on my chicks so that's a new for me.

The differences in why some do and don't-some hatch fine while others are sticky or wetter often has to do with different eggs releasing different levels of moisture. Size of egg and egg porosity are two big factors that affect this. I HIGHLY (it's what I base my whole hatch method on) advise monitoring the air cells to know and confirm that your humidity levels are right for your eggs.

YES, that is exactly what happened to my chick. How they heck do they get the top off!?!?!?

Mine didn't have spraddle leg, it was one bent toe on each chick, except for the gooey chick which had two bent toes (one on each foot, always the middle one on all chicks with issues). The toe was curled under like it was contracted. The difficult hatch does make sense though. I read something about taking them out of the bator too fast causing the toe issue too. I use paper towel in the brooder (and bator) for traction.

The substance was like glue, it was crazy sticky. There was a glob the size of two quarters stacked up in the bator that another chick fell in and got glued to - it was that sticky. It was clear, but with a yellowish tinge. I ended up putting another wet paper towel over it so nobody else got into it. Both gooey chicks had the same stuff. Turns into cement when it gets hard. It was like rubber cement almost.

I did check the air cells, they all seemed similar when I candled, I will pay more attention next time to see if I can see anything odd. One shipped egg that quit did have a saddle cell. The porosity of the shell is an interesting topic - I will definitely note that next time too. I do remember seeing an egg that was unusually more porous than the rest, I do remember it was a shipped egg though.

All good things to think about. Thanks for the input!

 

[KaldakurFarm]

My very first hatch rate was 6% (no lie) and my very last hatch rate was 100%, so have faith that perfectionism pays off....lol

I'm stubborn, I'll get better, I just need to know what to investigate!!! I guess I could be worse than 50%. It's just sad when you see viable eggs at day 18 then they crash on you. I'll get this!!!!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

YES, that is exactly what happened to my chick. How they heck do they get the top off!?!?!?

Mine didn't have spraddle leg, it was one bent toe on each chick, except for the gooey chick which had two bent toes (one on each foot, always the middle one on all chicks with issues). The toe was curled under like it was contracted. The difficult hatch does make sense though. I read something about taking them out of the bator too fast causing the toe issue too. I use paper towel in the brooder (and bator) for traction.

The substance was like glue, it was crazy sticky. There was a glob the size of two quarters stacked up in the bator that another chick fell in and got glued to - it was that sticky. It was clear, but with a yellowish tinge. I ended up putting another wet paper towel over it so nobody else got into it. Both gooey chicks had the same stuff. Turns into cement when it gets hard. It was like rubber cement almost.

I did check the air cells, they all seemed similar when I candled, I will pay more attention next time to see if I can see anything odd. One shipped egg that quit did have a saddle cell. The porosity of the shell is an interesting topic - I will definitely note that next time too. I do remember seeing an egg that was unusually more porous than the rest, I do remember it was a shipped egg though.

All good things to think about. Thanks for the input!

I use the rubber shelf liner in my bator, but I remove my chicks to the brooder as they hatch and they go straight on pine shavings. Never have had a problem with leg issues. (I think it's a bunch of blooey myself, but then, I think a lot of "what they say" is....lol

Mine zipped that high in the egg, I was wondering how he was going to get out when I saw him zipping, I found out he wasn't, at least not w/o help. I giggled when I saw him stuck with wing out and head down.

I'm stubborn, I'll get better, I just need to know what to investigate!!! I guess I could be worse than 50%. It's just sad when you see viable eggs at day 18 then they crash on you. I'll get this!!!!

I'm sure you will!!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I wish I had answers for you. I run my bator virtually the same as you have described (except I run 30%-35% during days 1-17). Most of my deaths are also during lock down (and usually the ones that don't make it never internally pip). On my last hatch I had 2 chicks that got stuck during zipping and ended up getting "glued" into their shells. Then a couple of others had the same yellow gooey stuff you were talking about. To me it almost sounds like too little humidity in the case of my "glued" chicks and too much humidity in the others. My hatch rate did end up being 87% but if there is something that I can be doing better I too would like to know. Sorry for your troubles. I will be following this thread to see what others have to say.

Chicks who pip internality but then die in my opinion are weak sisters who would never live anyway. Poor diet, poor choices of brood stock, and in-breeding are my excuses of choice. Too those reasons add improper egg storage.

An 87% hatch rate is pretty good in a back yard flock. Shipped eggs however are a crap shoot. I have hatched 90% plus with shipped eggs but hatching shipped eggs is an early Spring project, best done when the brood stock and eggs are at their freshest and the temperature cool and steady in the early spring. Over all my success rate on shipped eggs is somewhere South of 50-50 maybe way South.

 

[RubyNala97]

These might be silly questions but I'll ask anyway: is your hygrometer calibrated? And are you marking air cells, tracing them with a pencil, throughout incubation (like, on days 7,14, & 18)? I'm like you, I just want to improve my methods!

 

[KaldakurFarm]

These might be silly questions but I'll ask anyway: is your hygrometer calibrated? And are you marking air cells, tracing them with a pencil, throughout incubation (like, on days 7,14, & 18)? I'm like you, I just want to improve my methods!

I am currently questioning my hygrometer - I ordered a new one to try. I know my temps were good, I used 4 different thermometers. I have never had any moisture build up like people talk about on the window of my incubator - even at 75% humidity. I have forced air incubator so I'm wondering if maybe that just happens with still air bators.

I did mark the air cells the first batch (as well as weighing them), and everything looked good. They appeared similar this time when I candled so I didn't mark them.

I put 4 eggs under the broody today and will add another 4 or 5 more tomorrow. I will see how she does. If she can't hatch them at a decent rate either, I'm tempted to just cull everything and start over.

Chicks who pip internality but then die in my opinion are weak sisters who would never live anyway. Poor diet, poor choices of brood stock, and in-breeding are my excuses of choice. Too those reasons add improper egg storage.

An 87% hatch rate is pretty good in a back yard flock. Shipped eggs however are a crap shoot. I have hatched 90% plus with shipped eggs but hatching shipped eggs is an early Spring project, best done when the brood stock and eggs are at their freshest and the temperature cool and steady in the early spring. Over all my success rate on shipped eggs is somewhere South of 50-50 maybe way South.

I agree that if they can't make it out they aren't a good candidate for living. I just feel like it might be my mistakes that are causing them harm. I feed my chickens layer pellets, corn as treats, oyster shell and kelp free choice, and they free range during the day. When I collect my eggs I keep them around room temp (65-70 degrees) and turn the open cartons twice a day. I don't use eggs over 5 days old. I think I'm doing things right in that category.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I am currently questioning my hygrometer - I ordered a new one to try. I know my temps were good, I used 4 different thermometers. I have never had any moisture build up like people talk about on the window of my incubator - even at 75% humidity. I have forced air incubator so I'm wondering if maybe that just happens with still air bators.

Type and size of incubator will effect how quickly the incubator will show condensation. At 75/80% I do not show any condensation. I had a girl trying to hit 75% in her little DIY cooler bator and it looked like a rain forest in there. lol

 

[KaldakurFarm]

Type and size of incubator will effect how quickly the incubator will show condensation. At 75/80% I do not show any condensation. I had a girl trying to hit 75% in her little DIY cooler bator and it looked like a rain forest in there. lol

OK, then that is a bit less worrisome!

 

[WVduckchick]

There is a simple way to test a hygrometer. Pour regular table salt into a small container (soda cap lid, shot glass, small cup, etc) and add just enough water to make it slurry. Not too wet, not too dry. Put this salt mixture and your hygrometer inside a zip-loc bag or air-tight container. (do not let the hygrometer come into contact with the salt) Wait a few hours (depends on how much salt slurry you use in order to stabilize) and your hygrometer should read 75%. Its a scientific fact that the salt slurry should produce 75% humidity. My hygrometer only read 72%, so I stuck a piece of masking tape to it, and wrote 3% low on it. So I know to add 3% to whatever my hygrometer reads. I use 2 hygrometers (one was 10% off), that when I adjusted them, gave me the same reading. After 3 weeks of no incubating, next time I turned the incubator on, they were a few percentage points more off. So I tested one of them again, and it was different. So test well, and test often. I don't know what it is about those things, but they can fluctuate.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is a simple way to test a hygrometer. Pour regular table salt into a small container (soda cap lid, shot glass, small cup, etc) and add just enough water to make it slurry. Not too wet, not too dry. Put this salt mixture and your hygrometer inside a zip-loc bag or air-tight container. (do not let the hygrometer come into contact with the salt) Wait a few hours (depends on how much salt slurry you use in order to stabilize) and your hygrometer should read 75%. Its a scientific fact that the salt slurry should produce 75% humidity. My hygrometer only read 72%, so I stuck a piece of masking tape to it, and wrote 3% low on it. So I know to add 3% to whatever my hygrometer reads. I use 2 hygrometers (one was 10% off), that when I adjusted them, gave me the same reading. After 3 weeks of no incubating, next time I turned the incubator on, they were a few percentage points more off. So I tested one of them again, and it was different. So test well, and test often. I don't know what it is about those things, but they can fluctuate.

use this type of instrument to determine humidity.

It works best in a forced air incubator. The chart below allows you to determine the humidity.