Struggling chicks

[samantha88]

I successfully hatched 8 out of 18 eggs. All of which were candled and actively moving on the 18th day. The 8 that are doing well are now out in the brooder. This marks day 23. Three eggs pipped and were unable to unzip (they look like they suffocated.. maybe). Yesterday two eggs had been pipped for 20+ hours but did not make any progress. After feeling poorly about the previous three that did not unzip, I helped them. No blood, and all seemed fine. However they have been out for about 12 hours and still are not moving around. They just lay on their side, breathing, and chirping now and then. What's wrong with them? What may I have done wrong to compromise their success? I have 6 eggs left that show no sign of pipping. I did a float test on them and two were actively moving, two appeared that the air cell has not been pipped yet, and two I was unsure of. All are back in the incubator. Any help or advice is appreciated!

 

[Chickgirl3]

Hi, sorry to hear the eggs are having problems. I can't tell exactly what's up to cause them to have such problems, but one possible reason is low humidity. My incubator has dropped humidity before, and several chicks dried to the side of the eggs. We've also had chicks who just grow inside the egg wrong, so they aren't able to hatch correctly. As for the sick chicks, they're probably sick because of being helped. As sad as it is, if anyone helps a chick too much, they end up too weak to survive on their own. It is possible to help chicks hatch, but they need to be able to do most of the work themselves. Personally, I've never had a chick survive this problem, but someone else may know a way. I hope this helps, at least a little.

 

[samantha88]

I figured it was a possibility of them not making it. I just had three prior die inside the shell after pipping, so I figured it would be worth a shot. My humidity during the last 3 days was 65-70% (and has continued to be since I have more eggs). The first 18 days I kept it around 45%. Could have been a drop during the day that I was unaware of.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Sorry to hear your having problems with your hatch. There are many factors as to why your eggs are not hatching. And may not even be related to incubation conditions Allthough they do play the major part. It could be to do with how the eggs are stored and for how long prior to setting. Parent bird health and breeding. How the parent birds are fed. Quality of the egg being incubated. There are many things that could be causing your problems, here is a great article on incubation problems https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

Hope you find the link useful it's a great read. Wishing you the very best of luck.