Why did some do great and others have unabsorbed yolk sacks?

[Germaine_11.20]

I am very confused! I have been using the dry hatch method and having wonderful success. This hatch I didn't do as well because some of the chicks had unabsorbed yolk sacks.

The first ones to pip and zip were BC Marans. Then some other miscellaneous breeds of chickens. Most did great, hatched clean and on their own.

But... the Ameracaunas did not. They never pipped externally. I opened them up and a few of them had internally pipped. I ended up having to help them out or they would have died (and most did anyway)

Why did this happen? ALL the other chicks had hatched. NONE of the Ameracaunas had pipped externally. They ALL went in at the same time and were incubated the exact same way.

Do Ameracaunas take longer to hatch? It looked like they were stuck in a position they couldn't get out of, but I don't know if that is right or not.

Their yolk sacks were not fully absorbed and some were really big.

Could it be an oxygen issue due to the thick green shells? I think their shells are even harder and thicker than Marans.

The temps and humidity were the same for all of them. Can anyone give me some input as to what went wrong with the Ameracauna eggs?

Thank you ahead of time for those who are kind enough to help!

 

[ADozenGirlz]

On which day did you go in to assist the hatch?

 

[debilorrah]

I wish I had something to offer. I will be waiting for answers as I will be hatching my own Ameraucanas soon.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

The eggs started hatching on day 20. I assisted on day 21 but only after all the other eggs were done. Do the Ameracaunas take longer to hatch? I thought they were dying in there or I would never have opened them.

 

[Katy]

What kind of incubator are you using? If you're using a still air you might have pockets of cooler air making them slower to develop.

 

[kennedyscochins]

I had 5 EE eggs in the bator. One hatched on it's own, but took sooooo long! I had to help the other one for fear that it would die. The other 3 did die inside the shell. Wish I would have helped them sooner. They never externally pipped, but all very fully developed. I did have temp. spikes and drops throughout incubation though. It's just strange that this happened with your eggs too.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

No Katy, I have a Genesis 1508 with forced air and auto turner. Honest... everything was the exact same for all the eggs.

I just don't understand. I know Kathyinmo set the special S/A Ameracaunas and on her second batch of them hers died in the shell and also had unabsorbed yolk sacks.

I know I probably panicked, but all the others were done and over for a few hours and not even a peep out of the Ameracauna eggs (at least not until I opened them up)

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Yes, that is what seems to happen with mine too. It happened in the past so I stopped incubating the Ameracaunas. This was the first in over 6 months and it happened again. I am lucky to get one or two out of a dozen.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
I'm no expert, I'll just pass along what I was told after my first incubation attempt last month. I did the EXACT same thing you did when two of my three eggs hatched. I was panicked about the third one, so didn't wait long enough and went in on day 21. I was told I should've waited until the end of day 23 before even considering helping out. Lesson learned. There was a fully developed chick inside on day 21 but it looked like it needed more time to do his thing.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
I'm no expert, I'll just pass along what I was told after my first incubation attempt last month. I did the EXACT same thing you did when two of my three eggs hatched. I was panicked about the third one, so didn't wait long enough and went in on day 21. I was told I should've waited at least until day 22 before even considering helping out. Lesson learned. There was a fully developed chick inside on day 21 but it looked like it needed more time to do his thing.

What kind of chicks were you incubating? I know, I should have waited but I panicked. I guess that is one of my main questions. Do EE's and Ameracaunas take longer in incubating?