swollen heads again! why?

[fowlwoman1]

I am hatching buff orpingtons. This is my second batch. they have just started hatching in the last few hours and one of them has a very swollen head. the last batch I hatched most of them had swollen heads or necks or both. I posted about it then too, but nobody had heard of that before. as far as I know(I sold them), the chicks with the problem grew up to be healthy and the swelling went down within several days after hatch. I suspected that perhaps I didn't turn the eggs enough, so this time I turned them more regularly. Could it be a genetic problem? could it be viral or bacterial? It just looks like extra liquid in the tissue. it doesn't look healthy. any explanation would be appreciated. thanks!

 

[MissPrissy]

How are you sterelizing your incubator between hatches? What is your relative humidity during incubation and hatch?

Soggy chicks can be caused by a bacteria.

 

[fowlwoman1]

when my hatches are over, I clean out the bator, scrub at it with a sponge and soapy water, then spray bleach water on it and let it dry in the sun. I admit that I can't get at all the yuck and it smells like an incubator as soon as it heats up for the next hatch. I have a cabinet incubator that I incubate in, and a LG for the hatcher. humidity during incubation was around 30-45% and while in the hatcher, I don't have a gauge in there all the time but I make sure there is a little condensation on the windows, probably around 70% or higher.

 

[MissPrissy]

If there is a smell there is likely a bacteria growing in there.

Condensation would indicate the humidity is well above 70%.

 

[lchickengirl]

I had the same thing happen!

 

[venymae]

That sounds terrifying