What is this?

[SteveH]

The first picture is out of focus, but so were my eyes as I looked in the bator one last time before going to bed, and thought I saw a big eyeball staring back at me.

For now it's back in the bator, to see if it reduces over night [if it lives]. Is it a cleft in the skin or skull that never closed as it developed?

 

[XxKiki_Bantam_BreederxX]

ZOMG!

IDK but would like some more pictures in the morning! I need a clearer focus because i gotta see more angles of this. O.O

What breed is it?

 

[drumstick diva]

looks like a big blood blister - chicks can really freak you out

 

[SteveH]

I ended up staying up all night to help chicks. Because of all the wet weather, my room humidity was running 50 to 55% even with the air conditioner on. Once the first chicks were out, the hatcher shot over 70% and the rest of the chicks were sticky and couldn't hatch. The one with the mass was fine for a couple of hours, then fell over on its back and couldn't get back up. When I opened the hatcher to help one hatch, I put that chick back in an egg carton. It rested a bit, then got out and fell over again. The next time I had to open the lid, I culled it. The chicks are Big Medicine's project blue laced red Cornish, some hatched with the recessive white from their grandmothers. While the defective chick was normal sized for a large fowl, it was smaller than its huge siblings. I have three whites and three blue laced reds out, and four in eggs I intervened with and opened after they internally pipped............................ I'm giving them time to absorb the yolk and possibly get out on their own. Besides the cull, three others died before I started interveneing; one completely zipped then apparently got stuck and drowned anyway????????????

 

[Ceinwyn]

It sounds like your humidity during incubation was too high.
Exposed brains are caused by high incubator temperatures during the first three days or improper ventilation.
Here is a link to what can go wrong during incubation to help narrow down what might have happened.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa204
Im sorry this happened and I hope your hatch next time goes smoothly.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

oh that is sad!!!!!!!!!

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
The forced air bator holds temps well {can't say the same for the hatcher}

but I think I do remember a 5 degree spike near the beginning. I usually shoot for 30% humidity because I get good results there, but it stayed at 35% most of the time with no water in the reservoir and the air conditioner running to lower room humidity. However, when I candled for lockdown, many air pockets actually looked too big?????????????

Thanks for the link! Actually the hatch wasn't all that terrible.................... I've sure had worse. I would stop incubating if I couldn't take an occassional disappointment.

 

[Ceinwyn]

I'd love to see pics of the blue laced reds.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Nothing much to see on mine yet, they're just striped back chicks and now that the the goo is gone, I think might be black laced reds, and time well tell if they're double laced, like normal dark Cornish, or single laced....................... they have genes for those patterns/colors plus more. I'm pretty sure one I called white is a splash laced. When they feather, I'll post them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316007&p=1
.......................... or see their parents here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=475185&p=1
I missed two meals today, and looking at two medium rare ribeyes, and some fresh cut asparagus cooked just enough to leave some crunch in them, and swimming in butter, so I'm outta here.