What causes a chick to get shrink rapped inside of an egg?

[Chris Herzog]

I’m hatching chicks for the first time and I had 38 eggs make it to lock down. For the first 18 days I kept the humidity at an average of 40%. Sometimes it would drop down to 35% and sometimes up to 45% but it was consistently in that area. On the night of day 18, I ran the humidity up to about 70%. I noticed one egg had started to peep and was thinking oh wow, this is early. By the next morning I had a chick in the incubator. On the evening of day 19 I had a second chick. Then, on the morning of day 20, a total of 5 chicks with a bunch of eggs peeping. Two of the eggs that had peeped last night made very little progress (like none at all) in the last 24 hours. So because I could not take it any longer, I gave in to helping them out. They were both very stuck to the membrane inside of the eggs and I am assuming that this is what you all mean when you say a chick got shrink rapped. I very gently got one of the chicks free and the other one still has some membrane stuck to it (I left it on for the time being). I didn’t want to pull it and have it tear the chicks skin and I figured I would let him be for now. My first thought is that the eggs shell stayed broke for to long and the inside of the eggs started to dry out before they could get the eggs cracked but both chicks were still wet looking except where they were stuck. I’m worried about this because I still have other eggs that have peeped, well the egg is broken off a little but the membrane is still not broke that’s still in the incubator. The chicks are moving inside of the eggs so I left these eggs alone. If there is something that I can do like crank up the humidity even more (it’s at 82% right now) please let me know.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Every time the incubator is opened during lockdown with other pipped eggs, you risk shrink-wrapping all of those that have pipped. We all do what we gotta do though.

 

[al6517]

It is a common problem in the styrobator models, not much of an issue with real incubators, the problem stems from the huge and fast loss of all of the relitive humidity in there, the fact that they are so small doesn't help with that. There really isn't any way to prevent it except never open it all for any reason what so ever, and that may not work for most people for one reason or another. good luck with the rest of the hatch.

 

[Chris Herzog]

Quote:
Thanks for the reply. So is that because of the drop in humidity when you open it? If so, mine has not been below 60% since I started lock down. Since the first egg hatched, it’s been closer to 80% or above. I have three eggs left with chicks moving and I’m thinking about trying to get the humidity up as high as I can get it until they hatch, or Monday….whatever comes first.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Quote:
Thanks for the reply. So is that because of the drop in humidity when you open it? If so, mine has not been below 60% since I started lock down. Since the first egg hatched, it’s been closer to 80% or above. I have three eggs left with chicks moving and I’m thinking about trying to get the humidity up as high as I can get it until they hatch, or Monday….whatever comes first.

Yea I think it's due to the rapid loss of humid air when the lid is opened. It's kinda like a vacuum in there and when the lid is raised, it sucks out the humid air as room air rushes in. Our humidity gauges often cannot register fast enough when this happens. Some folks choose to open during lockdown while in the bathroom with a hot shower running.

 

[al6517]

Chicks that begin to zip can drown and die from excces humidity once the air cell is penetrated and it's filled with water instead of air caused from high humidity also. if you are at 80% this may certainly do that. Hatching isn't rocket science but some basic guidlines must be adhered to for cosistant success. once they begin to zip the humidity will rise naturaly and shouldn't be a worry but if it's high to begin with, risk are higher. If you have set a high humidity level that is too high it's really hard to lower it in those stryo-bators without shrink wraping the eggs.

 

[DMRippy]

Granted I am new to hatching, but I have noticed that once a chick pips if they don't zip soon they will be shrink wrapped no matter the humidity. I think 80% might be too high, I have read that the drowning happens in the first 18 days. That is when the water accumulates in the air sack and when they pip the water drowns them. If they pip and don't make progress over night, I help now. I have lost one after a pip and no zip. Another shrink wrapped then died at 2-3 days old from splayed leg because I didn't help soon enough. I don't like to do it but I don't like losing chicks either.

 

[Chris Herzog]

Man this is nerve racking!!! OK, since I started this thread and right after I helped the two stuck chicks out, the remaining three eggs have really woken up. All three of them look like their making some head way all of a sudden. The humidity is again up at 80% and nothing is getting opened again until all three are out. Again this is my first time doing this so I have plenty to learn. So I had 38 eggs go into lock down. I had 18 that had hatched on their own and I had two assist that seem to be doing well right now. Three chicks (eggs) are still fighting and 15 eggs that probably should not have gone into lock-down in the first place after having a second look at them. So maybe this hatch, being my first time that is, isn’t so bad after all. I just hope I didn’t screw things up for these last three chicks.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
I've had hens hatch chicks and found some shrink wrapped so I wonder if it's really opening the incubator that causes this. Also there are air holes in the bottom of my incubator and based on that I also doubt it. It seems to me that there are times when the membrane is just to tough for the chick to peck through. I think this based on the fact that sometimes when cracking an egg into the fry pan , I have a hard time of it. However that's only my hypothesis.

take care,

rancher

 

[Chris Herzog]

The humidity was at 65%-70% until they started hatching then it wet up to 82%.