Sticky Chicks

[Pinx]

So I have been having problems with sticky chicks. My batch last week I had 2 hatch normally, then another completely zipped and died. I noticed it had amber colored liquid coming out of the shell and it was literally stuck to the bottom of the bator. At the same time I had another chick that had pipped. eggtopsies showed two completely normal looking chicks but they were stuck to the inside of the egg and sticky all over.

This batch is due today. I woke up to a chick that had hatched over night and was dry but not completely out of the shell. The smaller part of the shell was stuck to his back and the larger part of the shell was stuck to his rear end. Everything was out of the shell except for his hind end. It took a lot of work getting that off of him. The next chick hatched fine and in record time. The 3rd chick is partially out of the shell but it is stuck to him also. The 4th chick is working on zipping now so I haven't messed with the 3rd chick so I don't shrink wrap the other.

My not so trustworthy hygrometer is reading 55%-70% at any given time depending on if something has just hatched etc.

What caused sticky chicks? Is my humidity to high... to low?

 

[yinepu]

if you had amber colored liquid coming out of a shell it would indicate that your incubation humidity had been a bit too high

 

[SuperChickMama]

Stupid question..... I've had chickens for a year and incubating this year for the first time. What is a "sticky chick" and what is "zipping"? thanks
My second batch this year will be hatching on Monday.

 

[kjt135]

Don't know about sticky but zipping is breaking all around the shell so chick can get out. First they pip or poke a single hole in the end then zip or break all around in a circle to get out. And no question is stupid, I know I ask quite a few myself as I am new to all this.

 

[yinepu]

there's two kinds of "sticky".. one is a dry type.. where the chick isn't really gooey but can stick a little to the membrane.. usually upping the humidity at hatch will correct it.. I've only encountered it in bators with a fan where the chicks takes their good ol sweet time hatching and gets a teeny bit of the membrane stuck to them from the fan drying them out... if they lay there for too long they can get stuck more.. but usually a quick spritz with a spray bottle of warm water or a q-tip moistened with water and applied to the "sticky" bit will release it

a "wet sticky" chick is one where the humidity was too high during incubation and there is a lot of the amber liquid in the shell.. a lot of times those chicks would drown in the goo.. but sometimes they manage to break the shell and the goo begins to harden on them like a bug in amber.. they can be saved if you catch them in time and give them a bath in warm water (holding them under a running faucet works well for most) while gently rubbing the goo off. upping the humidity at hatch may or may not help (there are a lot of differing opinions on this).. however I believe that if the humidity is kept under control during incubation you won't have to worry about very wet gooey chicks.. personally I never found upping the humidity to help in these types of sticky chicks.. since the fan in a bator seems to thicken the amber goo regardless of the humidity (years ago I had to help a neighbor with gooey chicks .. even upping the humidity to 90% at hatch did nothing to help them.. the only thing that saved them was a warm bath)

 

[Pinx]

Thanks. I read the replies earlier but was on my phone and it wasn't wanting to let me reply.

I have a still air incubator. I'm not quite sure about it because I have yet to have a chick hatch on the left side of the bator...

So I need to lower my humidity. Maybe that is why I only have about a 50% hatch rate with eggs from my own flock with almost 100% fertility.

If I lower my humidity now could I possibly salvage any eggs? Or is whats done is done no matter what I do?

 

[yinepu]

Thanks. I read the replies earlier but was on my phone and it wasn't wanting to let me reply.

I have a still air incubator. I'm not quite sure about it because I have yet to have a chick hatch on the left side of the bator...

So I need to lower my humidity. Maybe that is why I only have about a 50% hatch rate with eggs from my own flock with almost 100% fertility.

If I lower my humidity now could I possibly salvage any eggs? Or is whats done is done no matter what I do?

you're actually better off since you are using a still air for hatching (no fan is a plus during hatch in my experience).. lowering the humidity now won't stop any from drowning if they don't pip.. since that damage would have already been done.. I would say to just keep an eye on these guys and be on the lookout for any sticky chicks so you can help them as they start to hatch.