URGENT!!!! Chicks are dying....

[aurorarose25]

I have lost two so far and maybe another one or two on the way. They pip and cheap and everything, but don't proceed with zipping. But when they pip there is blood. They wait so long that the membrane gets dry and hard. What should I do? I don't want to loose anymore....

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

how high is your humidity? they shouldn't be drying out like that. Are they pullet eggs? Maybe the chicks are too big for the shell.

 

[aurorarose25]

humidity I am trying to keep around 75 but it keeps going to 85. The shell seems really hard to break. Don't think they are pullet eggs.

 

[Katy]

Are you opening the incubator?

 

[aurorarose25]

not till after they died, and cracked it slightly to remove the dead egg/chick. even after I opened the lid I still have chicks hatching fine, so I don't think that is the reason.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

p.s.....we open the hatcher all the time

I am a rebel

how are your chicks doing today?

Hi Katy.

 

[aurorarose25]

Mrs. Turbo :

p.s.....we open the hatcher all the time

I am a rebel

how are your chicks doing today?

Hi Katy.

they are ok, I have lost so many it is not funny. Out of 62 eggs so far I have maybe 20 chicks that have hatched. I have fished out so many chicks that are dead in the shell right after they pip. I had to take out the first set of chicks from the bator, cuz they were rolling all the other eggs around. I think that is probably a high contributor to the death rate. Also the chicks that were dead were HUGE when I opened the shell. Is that normal? I have been opening the bator to clean out empty shells and take chicks out to the brooder. the temp was soooo high 104 and humidity 85 or higher....

some lessons learned, but at what cost..

I will post some pics as soon as they are all fluffed out... They are cute fluff balls..

 

[Katy]

If your temp was 104 that could be the reason they were dying. It's normal for the temps to jump a little when they start hatching, but not that high.

 

[aurorarose25]

Quote:
but the thing was in order to keep it close to 101 if possible, I had to open the bator a lot....

 

[Katy]

Quote:
but the thing was in order to keep it close to 101 if possible, I had to open the bator a lot....

So how long was the temp 104? The best thing in the long run is to leave the lid on until your hatch is complete. Why were you opening the incubator a lot? It would be better for the hatching eggs to be a little cooler than being cooked while they try and hatch.