Why Curled Toes?? And When Will The Rest Hatch??

[hereford_girl_01]

Hello everyone!! I’m hatching chicks for the first time. I already have a flock, but I ordered 10 Rhode Island Reds and 4 Easter Eggers off of my pet chicken. We are just finishing up Day 23, and I’ve only had 2 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Easter Egger hatch. I am beginning to worry a little about the remaining 11. (If you can tell we when they will hatch/when to just call them duds I would greatly appreciate it!) Anyways, one of my Rhode Island Reds is about 36 hours old, it isn’t completely dry still and it has curled toes on one foot. I went ahead and put her in the brooder because she’s just damp and I think she needs some nourishment/water. The other two are 2 days old and are doin great!! They are also in the brooder. Thanks for your feedback!!

 

[staceyj]

This is a very helpful thread on how to treat curled toes
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-fix-curled-toes-in-chicks.1250947/#post-20068689

 

[007Sean]

36 hours and it still hasn't dried? That can only mean one thing....the humidity in the bator is way to high. Should only take about an hour after hatching to dry and fluff up.
Do you have a calibrated hygrometer in the incubator?
Too high humidity can also cause curled toes in a round about way. The chick can not turn inside the shell when trying to 'zipp' it becomes stuck, thus it takes longer for the chick to hatch. In my experinces with these conditions, the longer it takes a chick to get out of the shell, the more likely it's toes will be curled but not always, sometimes it's a genetic defect.
The first thing I'd check would be the humidity with a calibrated hygrometer.

 

[hereford_girl_01]

36 hours and it still hasn't dried? That can only mean one thing....the humidity in the bator is way to high. Should only take about an hour after hatching to dry and fluff up.
Do you have a calibrated hygrometer in the incubator?

The incubator has a built in hygrometer, the directions said that the humidity for the last 3 days should be 70-75% and it has been from 70-80%. (For some reason when the chicks were still in there after they hatched the humidity got a little higher than 75% at some times but no higher than 80%.

 

[hereford_girl_01]

36 hours and it still hasn't dried? That can only mean one thing....the humidity in the bator is way to high. Should only take about an hour after hatching to dry and fluff up.
Do you have a calibrated hygrometer in the incubator?
Too high humidity can also cause curled toes in a round about way. The chick can not turn inside the shell when trying to 'zipp' it becomes stuck, thus it takes longer for the chick to hatch. In my experinces with these conditions, the longer it takes a chick to get out of the shell, the more likely it's toes will be curled but not always, sometimes it's a genetic defect.
The first thing I'd check wowould be the humidity with a calibrated hygrometer.

Calibrated hygrometer?

 

[007Sean]

Calibrated hygrometer?

That's a humidity meter.

 

[hereford_girl_01]

That's a humidity meter.

I thought so but I didn’t know if it was a specific kind of hygrometer.

 

[007Sean]

The incubator has a built in hygrometer, the directions said that the humidity for the last 3 days should be 70-75% and it has been from 70-80%. (For some reason when the chicks were still in there after they hatched the humidity got a little higher than 75% at some times but no higher than 80%.

The built in hygrometers on most incubators are unreliable. Your humidity is probably at saturation point. I don't go above 65% humidity in my bators when I hatch for the reasons i already stated.
The reason you noticed an increase in humidity when the chicks hatch is because they are wet and when drying the moisture given off of them will increase the humidity by 1 to 2%. depending on how many hatch at any given time.

 

[hereford_girl_01]

The built in hygrometers on most incubators are unreliable. Your humidity is probably a saturation point. I don't go above 65% humidity in my bators when I hatch for the reasons i already stated.
The reason you noticed an increase in humidity when the chicks hatch is because they are wet and when drying the moisture given off of them will increase the humidity by 1 to 2%. depending on how many hatch at any given time.

Thank you!! The only way to control the humidity on my incubator is to open a vent, it’s all the way open right now, and the humidity is still at 77%. There are no chicks in there right now either, just unhatched eggs and cracked open eggs.

 

[007Sean]

Thank you!! The only way to control the humidity on my incubator is to open a vent, it’s all the way open right now, and the humidity is still at 77%. There are no chicks in there right now either, just unhatched eggs and cracked open eggs.

Humidity is related to the amount of surface area in the bator. You regulate the humidity by the amount of water you have in that area at any given time.
What brand of incubator do you have?