Too big to hatch?

[columbiacritter]

We had 2 chicks pip then stop. We helped one out and it was HUGE compared to other chicks that had hatched from the same size egg. The other one had died before we decided to help and it was just as big.

Were they over sized because our bator temps were on the high end or is it something we couldn't have avoided?

we've had 12 of 28 hatch so far. Kentucky Specks, bantam Barnevelders, bantam Welsummers

 

[gumbii]

gorgeous birdies.... and yeah, maybe they couldn't maneuver in the egg to start zipping...

 

[SarahIrl]

Sometimes a LF rooster with bantam hens can cause this to happen. The cicks naturally take some sizing genetics from their dad but get to develop in a mommy sized egg. Be careful who runs with who! (And yes, bantams and LF will ibreed together, I had a little blue rooster, some mix of several breeds, he was lovely but he adored my hybrids and terrorised them)

 

[Ridgerunner]

These are the possible reasons given by the Florida link. These are more for commercial operations than us, that's why fumigation is in there, but the same principles hold true for us. You might see something in these that might explain it. You were there during incubation and hatch and I wasn't.


3.Sign: Pipped. Full-term embryo, dead in shell. Causes:

4.
a.Low humidity or temperature for a prolonged period.

b.Low humidity during hatching.

c.High temperature during hatching.

d.Nutritional deficiencies.

e.Breeder diseases.

f.Poor ventilation.

g.Inadequate turning during first 12 days.

h.Injury during transfer.

i.Prolonged egg storage.

5.Sign: Shell partially pipped, embryo alive or dead. Causes:

6.
a.See 8.a-i.

b.Excessive fumigation during hatching.

c.Eggs set small end up.
Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting
http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/troubleshooting_incubation.pdf

Florida Incubation Troubleshooting
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa204

I did a quick search as I am not familiar with Kentucky Specks. Seems they are a bantam, though a bit on the large size for a bantam. It may be possible that the problem is caused by mating a larger rooster to a smaller hen, but I am not convinced.

An egg only has so many nutrients for the embryo to grow to a certain size. That's why if you hatch a small pullet egg, that chick is going to start out life smaller than a chick hatched from a regular sized egg of that breed. They have the same genetics but don't have enough nutrients to develop to the same size. You'd think that the amount of nutrients in an egg available to the chick would limit the chick to how big it could grow in the shell before hatch. But I'm just guessing. It is probably a lot more complicated than I think.

 

[Diamond Wire Farms]

I had this happen with some LF Ameracauna. I had to help 2 out. One hatched out looking like a 4 day old chick. The thing had WING FEATHERS. I call it Mongo. It is the leader of this batch of chicks and certainly not a weakling. So it can happen with standard chickens too. It is not solely caused by hen/roo size differences.

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
These bantams are supposed to be show quality so I hope to shout there hasn't beena full size roo in there anywhere. I think they must have had bigger yolks, therefore more nutrition and grew too big.