They've Stalled

[VTGIRL]

It's heartbreaking. The B/B/S eggs I have in the bator have peeped and piped but never progressed (they started on Friday morning) It's now saturday evening. My husband and I just helped open up the three that seemed to be stalled. They are all alive and breathing... I want to cry, I was so looking forward to the possibility of hatching some Splash. I hope they make it

We opened them part way around the areas that they had tiny pip holes. The membrane (white layer under the shell) was dry so I moved some of that out of thier way. There was blood not sure what that means. The temps are around 99 to 100 degrees, not sure of humidity but the water troughs are all full. Its an LG still air with no turner. All the other eggs (whites and Partridge) have hatched with no problems. what could be the problem?

 

[austinhart123]

the blood means that they are still relying on being in the egg (veins and etc are still attached) i would have personally waiting untill morning and tried to only remove the shell and not the mambraine, make sure the humidity is up in there and good luck

 

[silkiechicken]

The blood means that they weren't ready to hatch yet. When they are ready, the blood goes inside the chick. They may have been in a cooler spot, or their genetics has them hatching a day later than the others. The white membrane means the humidity got too low, did you open the incubator a few times? Ideally you don't want to open it at all until the hatch is over because opening it to take the first few out will make it harder and harder on the rest, possibly preventing them from hatching at all. This is especially true in bators without a fan.

 

[VTGIRL]

Thanks everyone. One died in its shell with only one tiny pip mark.

Two have come out with our help and are drying nicely in the bator. One is questionable (the one with the most blood). Now I know why. I've made sure the humidity is up and won't open the incubator again tonight.

 

[austinhart123]

hopefully you find out why they were stalled
im guessing its temps but i dont know what youve been running it at
helping chicks is something that is very tricky
if you help too early, chick can die, wait too long and the chick might die in the shell by the time your ready to help it
but every hatch is a learning experience so you will figure it out soon enough

 

[Mahonri]

Hard lesson to learn. You won't do it again.

LEAVE THE CHICKS IN FOR 24 to 48 hours.

DON'T OPEN THE BATOR or you lose humidity... essential for those that haven't hatched yet.

 

[evonne]

hey

i just had my first hatch in an LG still air the day before halloween.. i was lucky enough to see a post that said for still air the temp needs to be higher.. like 102 i think it said... i kept it between 101-103 and then to up the humidity at the end, it needs more that just the water trough.. it needs a lot of surface area water... i got one of those big car wash sponges, cut it up into about 3" squares, and soaked it in warm water... a little higher than you incubator temp.. that way it doesn't bring down the inside temp... i put the warm sponges in a plastic cup just a bit bigger that the sponge that also had warm water in it
you want to add the sponges when you stop turning.. i have to admit i did open during "lockdown" but i had to to keep the sponges up and the humidity up...
i had to help my last one out of it's shell too.. he made it and he's doing fine... but his membrane had started to dry out... he had a little blood but i was ready for it and doused it with a little flour then put him back in the bator for a bit.... after another hour or so, i got him back out and untangled his head from under his wing.. and then he jumped out of his egg...
you live and learn with this.. i've read a lot of posts.... and that's the one thing i really learned... even people doing it for a long time still learn new stuff...

good luck with your next hatch and your new little darlings...

 

[VTGIRL]

Thanks Evonne, I thought the trough would do it. Next time I will use the sponges as you suggest, that is a good idea. It is a little harder to not have to get into the bator because you need to keep the water full, so a true lockdown is near impossible. I kept the temps at 102 throughout the whole process so I am sure it was a humidity issue. In the end we lost two. ( the one that died in it's shell that prompted me to help the others and a black silkie that we helped out too early).

We ended up with four partridge, two white, three B/B/S silkies and one Plymouth Rock.. So I'm happy with the result.

Here are a couple of pictures of my little "fuzzy nuggets"

 

[dragonchick]

Congratulations on a mostly successful hatch. You ended up with some really cute "nuggets".

 

[kathyinmo]

Ohhhh, so sweet! Thanks for sharing the photos with us!