Stuck Chick

[Mommy6]

I woke up this morning to find a chick with his head popped out of his pip hole. I peeled around the top of the egg to free his head and put him back, but he still isn't moving. How long should I give him? There were no veins or bleeding from where I peeled and I know he's probably tired from his rough start, but I can't help but worry about him

I have another who is almost half unzipped and seems to have stopped, how long should I give him? Some of unzip path looked a little goopy.

I figure the other chicks may have disturbed them too much, and grabbed as many as I could in a short time since there were 20 or more running around in there while the door was open. There are still around 10 in there. I didn't want to open it at all since the humidity doesn't get very high in that incubator, so I REALLY don't like opening it. Last time I assisted, I ended up with disabled birds... not sure what caused it, but they eventually died at a few months old so I didn't want to help this time.... but I can't stand by and watch a troubled baby.

So one more question, should I get in the habit of taking chicks out at the end of the day or was this just a fluke?

TIA

 

[Mommy6]

I also have this one, don't see any movement in the shell and his face is not at the opening... dead? What can be causing this?

 

[COCKmasters999]

We have had the very same issue. You want to help them but you know it could mean the chick will die at some point. We have had a 50/50 with helping them out, some end up being deformed and we have just excepted it as natures way of weeding out the non-hackers. We only leave the chicks that are unzipped in long enough to dry, while watching the temp and humidity gauges very close because the fluctuations are insane and the more we open that incubator the more environmental stress it puts on the chicks. It was a learned behavior on our part because we do really want to reach in there and assist but now we resist the urge most times. Hope our experience helps answer your questions but I would also love to hear from some seasoned vets about this situation

 

[Mommy6]

We have had the very same issue. You want to help them but you know it could mean the chick will die at some point. We have had a 50/50 with helping them out, some end up being deformed and we have just excepted it as natures way of weeding out the non-hackers. We only leave the chicks that are unzipped in long enough to dry, while watching the temp and humidity gauges very close because the fluctuations are insane and the more we open that incubator the more environmental stress it puts on the chicks. It was a learned behavior on our part because we do really want to reach in there and assist but now we resist the urge most times. Hope our experience helps answer your questions but I would also love to hear from some seasoned vets about this situation

Thank you for responding. I had troubles with shrink wrapped chicks last time I used this incubator only 2 hatched and one of those I assisted since he was stuck to his shell pretty bad and had leg problems. I really didn't expect troubles since this hatch started off so well

. I watched it closer this time, but it looks like I'm retiring this bator after the hatch. My last hatch was perfect in the other bator, no troubled chicks, no humidity problems and only 3 out of 34 didn't hatch.. 31 healthy chicks in my basement

.

What did you do with your deformed chicks?

 

[COCKmasters999]

We tried to separate them for awhile but out in the coop they didnt stand a chance. We have some hens that are bullies and its like they can sense that something is off with the chicks. We found that Some with leg issues are worth helping with ties but if they are dragging their heads or refusing water and food thats pretty much the end of the road.

 

[COCKmasters999]

BTW we just got a new incubator and it has been nothing but problems. I won't say the chain store or brand but it's very poor thermostat is enough to drive me crazy. Our other 5 year old hova still runs perfect

 

[Mommy6]

My hova is the one causing me problems, I ended up assisting 3 live hatches all dried and stuck, then the 4th was shrink wrapped so bad it must have suffocated to death

. My 3rd assisted just finally pushed himself out of the shell, the other 2 look good so far.. I can't tell them from the rest anymore. I have 6 unhatched that I candled and I don't see any movement, so not sure if I should toss them or give them more time, there's some weird shadowing on the shell of the air cell... wondering if they dried out too maybe.

If I didn't miss any heads while counting, this gave me 32 new chicks... so I am really confused what went so wrong over night and caused shrink wrap to happen. The humidity was barely at 60% when I started and climbed as high as 91% over night while chicks hatched then hung around 77% until I woke up this morning. It just doesn't make sense, that they'd dry out at 77% and I didn't open the bator until I saw trouble. Obviously everything was good prior to hatch since so many hatched easily within 24 hours, so I just don't get it. Though 32 of 39 is pretty good, I feel that the losses could have been prevented.

One more hatch due in 2 weeks, then I'm done for the year!