Worried about my little guys

[freemare]

I got my self a incubator that I know now is not the best and will need to get something else. However I have a few chicks hatching and I am worried. I cant seem to get the humidity higher then 64% no matter what I do. The little guys look a bit dry and I am not sure if this is right. The first batch I tried in my incubator all died shortly after pipping little holes. Coming to find out the humidly reader was super wrong, so i have one in side that seems to be right. Help?

 

[JaeG]

Can you add another container of water in addition to the wells? It's surface area of the water that ups the humidity so the more water surface you can add with cups etc will help. Or add a soaking wet sponge or cloth. 64% isn't too bad but I like it quite high so that I can open my incubator (which is just a cheap one that isn't easy to get into) while chicks are hatching - I'm usually hatching button quail which need to start eating quite soon after they hatch. Good luck!

 

[Pyxis]

64% should be fine And if it is a little low, that won't kill them. It might cause the membrane to dry to them making them need a little help to hatch, but they would not outright die.

But 64% should be fine. Like JaeG said, you could also add another container of water to boost it

 

[Abriana]

Hope everything turns out all right!! Good luck on your hatch!

 

[freemare]

I just checked on them. One sounds strong with his little chirps. Why do chicks die after piping?

 

[Pyxis]

I just checked on them. One sounds strong with his little chirps. Why do chicks die after piping?

There are many reasons it could happen. The humidity could have been too high during the first 18 days and they could aspirate fluid and die. They could strike a blood vessel while pipping and bleed out. They could have a yolk sac infection and die from that. They could need help getting out of the egg and if they don't get that help they die. They could be malformed. They could be too big to turn and zip. Etc etc. The only way to tell for sure is to open the egg up after they die and look at it to try to determine why.

 

[freemare]

I have one baby out so far. The other one is working on it a little bit. Once they are fluffy they can be taken out and put in to brooder?

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes.