Chicks not in hatch position

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Colleen Kinzie
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Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Colleen Kinzie » Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:37 pm

Hi everyone
7 live chicks out of 20. Only one of which hatched totally on its own
Over half of the remaining chicks that didn’t hatch were not in proper hatching position
The head was at pointy end of shell???
I have had them pip sort of on the side once in a while.
Is this because the eggs were brought here as I’ve read somewhere about the air cell on shipped eggs
Or is this my error somehow
Hatch last time on own eggs 29 out of 30 healthy chicks
I didn’t change anything with temperature or humidity
Thanks for any ideas of what went wrong
Sorry I should add I do dry hatch now
I add a bit of water on lockdown but not much.
Room humidity is approximately 57%
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Jaye
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Jaye » Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:45 pm

These may be obvious questions, but here goes anyway, just in case ...
Did you let the eggs rest, pointy side down ,for 12-24 hours (not in the fridge, but in a cool spot) after they arrived, before popping them into the incubator?
Did you incubate them sitting pointy side down in your incubator?
If the answer to all of the above is yes, then I don't think there is anything that you could have done that would have made any difference: Probably the air sacs became became detached during shipping and/or sat pointy side up in a post office distribution centre for "awhile".
Last edited by Jaye on Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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thegawd
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by thegawd » Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:39 pm

What a bummer Colleen! it dosent really sound like you did anything wrong. so for me I have these automated incubators and a hatcher. while I was learning what works for me I had to keep very detailed and complete notes and I ended up making these excel spreadsheets. what these actually helped me do was repeat or alter ever so slightly what worked or to figure out a problem. once I got my incubator and hatcher dialed in with different sized water trays I started to get very good hatch rates.

sometimes shipping is brutal on hatching eggs but i have received eggs from Alberta in the middle of that polar vortex -30°C a few years back and had very good hatch rates. you just never know because there are so many variables and you can only control what you do.

good luck!

heres a turkey example
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Kbr42
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Kbr42 » Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:41 pm

Not much help now...here's how I handle shipped eggs and typically I get about an 75 to 80% hatch rate.
Put on gloves.
Unpack the eggs, check the air sacs..mark the ones that are detached.
Don't touch the eggs again for 24 hours.
Cut out my egg cartons because I don't use a turner for shipped eggs.
Put the eggs in the incubator and close the lid. Make sure humidity is 45-50%
Don't touch the eggs again for 3 days. That's 72 hours.
After 3 days, I will tilt the eggs to the other side of the carton and twist slightly.
That what I do for the next 10 days 2x a day only....making sure humidity stays constant. And I never touch the eggs without gloves.
I will candle with a hand held candler.
I do move them around in the cartons so incubation is even.
At lockdown I raise the humidity to 63-65%.
This method has worked for me for years.
Sometimes I have to helped shipped egg chicks out depending on the air sac.
Shipped eggs are a gamble always. If you got them from CP, they have not gotten they poop together since COVID-19.
Sorry you had a troubled hatch. I hope that helps.
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Jaye
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Jaye » Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:09 pm

:good post: really really useful "how-to" instructions, @Kbr42 ! I have made a note just in case I do wind up incubating shipped eggs again.
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Colleen Kinzie
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Colleen Kinzie » Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:18 pm

Hi everyone
Thanks for all the pointers
The eggs were not “shipped”. They are my brothers eggs and he brought them down in his truck. The drive is just a little over 1 hour
I did not let them rest. I put in incubator immediately. I had it all warmed up waiting
The air cells looked ok at 10 day mark
They were pointy side down
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Jaye
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Jaye » Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:26 pm

Sorry for the cr*ppy outcome, @Colleen Kinzie . Very strange, given that they appeared to be okay at day 10.
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RIP Scooby, AKA Awesome Dog. Too well loved to ever be forgotten. "Sometime in June", 2005 - January 24, 2017.
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Colleen Kinzie
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Colleen Kinzie » Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:21 pm

Well I’m convinced I did something different to have such a drastic change in hatching success. Just don’t know what. Lol
Unless it’s something with his one hen and not good breeder?
Time will tell he said she is setting now.
So her success will tell the tale
Thanks again everyone
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Killerbunny » Tue Jun 08, 2021 5:59 am

I have one tureky hen that this year has laid eggs with a side air pocket. They develop normally but die around Lockdown both wtih incy and broody. IMO it's just been a weird year.
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Re: Chicks not in hatch position

Post by Shnookie » Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:16 pm

Here's a document I have saved that has a lot of information about hatching problems. A lot of things can affect hatchability. Too bad you had poor results.

Hatchability Problem Analysis.docx
(32.51 KiB) Not downloaded yet
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