What went wrong with this hatch?

[Sunny Side Up]

This spring I've been supplying local schoolteachers with fertile eggs for incubating in their classrooms. It's a time of year when many of them are doing a life cycles study unit. They use a variety of types of incubators, all of which I am unfamiliar with since I only hatch eggs under broody hens here at home. I always tell these teachers that they should come to this forum with any of their incubating & hatching questions to get the most expert advice.

I just picked up some of the chicks that recently hatched at one of the schools. The teacher said that they had one chick that hatched out yesterday and several others that were pipping & pecking all day long. But this morning the hatched chick was dead & the others failed to get out of their shells. What would be the most likely cause for that?

There are 2 other chicks who have severely splayed legs and are very weak & lethargic. What would be the most likely cause for that?

I have those & 3 other hatchlings at home now, in a brooder box under a lamp. I'm giving them sugared water, chick crumbles, and minced scrambled egg. I also taped the legs of those 2 chicks, using a band-aid to hold their legs in the proper position. They've had their beaks dipped in the sugar water & drank a bit, and have been placed in front of the dish with the scrambled egg, from which they've eaten a few tiny bites. What else would you do for them?

 

[jerseygirl1]

Maybe, jus tmaybe, they opened the incubator way too often during the hatch.................and removed the chicks before they were ready...................
Any splayed leg chick I have had was from removing from the incubator too early.................

 

[Rebel Rooster]

Sounds like the bator was loosing heat & humidity... quite possibly from opening too soon and too often... lack of heat, the chicks get lethargic, and lack of humidity the chicks will get shrink-wrapped in the egg and suffocate.