WHY are all my babies dying?!

[LaynaDon95]

I got in my order from Ideal yesterday and all the chicks seemed fine. We had a bit of an emergency last night described here, but when I woke up they were all running around happily acting perfectly normal again. My meat birds however (housed in a separate brooder) haven't been so fortunate. Nothing tragic has happened to them and yet they are dropping like flies! So far 7 have died. 1 layer chick died a bit ago, but I'm hoping the others won't follow. She was very small when she came in (not a bantam, just small.) so I wondered about her from the beginning. The meaties just keep dying! I woke up to 3 dead. I described their behavior here. Does anyone have any clue what's going on? I don't think I can take finding another dead baby! I called the hatchery and left a message. I'll talk to them tomorrow. Can anyone help?

 

[sarahlil100717]

My chicks won't even hatch! This si my first time. We got 15 eggs. I only have 13 left because the other 2 were rotten. They were supposed to all hatch 4 days ago. What did i do rong? The temp. Was fine, they had a warm incubator, i flipped them 3 times a day. I did everything i was supposed to do but im not sure y they didnt hatch. Do u no what i did rong???

 

[LaynaDon95]

My chicks won't even hatch! This si my first time. We got 15 eggs. I only have 13 left because the other 2 were rotten. They were supposed to all hatch 4 days ago. What did i do rong? The temp. Was fine, they had a warm incubator, i flipped them 3 times a day. I did everything i was supposed to do but im not sure y they didnt hatch. Do u no what i did rong???

There are tons of things that could have gone wrong. What kind of incubator are you using? How was the humidity? Did you candle the eggs? (That means to use a light to look inside of them, if you don't already know that.) Don't worry. Everyone has to learn somehow. You can get everything right the first time.

I've had overall very good hatch rates, so I must be doing something right. If you can give me some more info I'd be happy to try to help you.

 

[sarahlil100717]

NEVERMIND! Abt 20 minutes after i posted tht question, my chicks began to hatch. I hav 1 and 4 others are chirping in their eggs. For some reason whn the first chick hatched it was dragging around the eggshell by its imbilicle cord. It eventually disconnected but can we help it get the shell disconnected from its imbilicle cord? Is it dangerous? And my chick keeps on flipping over. Is it dangerous if it flips on its back and no one is around to help it?

 

[LaynaDon95]

NEVERMIND! Abt 20 minutes after i posted tht question, my chicks began to hatch. I hav 1 and 4 others are chirping in their eggs. For some reason whn the first chick hatched it was dragging around the eggshell by its imbilicle cord. It eventually disconnected but can we help it get the shell disconnected from its imbilicle cord? Is it dangerous? And my chick keeps on flipping over. Is it dangerous if it flips on its back and no one is around to help it?

Don't remove the umbilical cord. Yes, it can be dangerous. It will fall off on it's own, like you saw. Just make sure the shell doesn't get caught anything or it can hurt the chick. Chicks can be a bit floppy when they are first hatched. Is the chick able to turn back over when it falls? If it is still falling after it has been hatched for awhile then it may have something wrong with it. Is it still falling?