[Wendy01]

Hello Everyone - Just become a new member, site looks great. Please can someone help. I have just lost 3 chicks while emerging from their shells. One was in the incubator last night - peeping away and made the hole but dead this morning, the other 2 were under a Buff broody hen, all the shell was gone but the membranes had dried out completely around the chick, although their heads were free. The shell seems very hard and the membrane seems very thick - compared to Buff Orpingtons that I bred last year. I ran the incubator dry until the 19th day, added 1 pint of sanitised water to get the humidity up - what else should I have done?

[pushrod]

I often hatch chicks in an incubator and i'm afraid i never let nature take its course. Regularly in the day or so before hatching i listen to each egg and tap it with my nail to see if the chick is alive. Often when you tap it - it will tap or cheep back. Any definite chick that has not hatched by day 21 gets help. Shells can be very thick and sometimes the chicks can't scratch thru them. I scratch the shell with a knife or file to weaken it and will often break pieces off. You have to be careful as the membrane underneath can bleed. If the chick gets out of the shell but the membrane dries on them and goes hard - wet it with warm water then you can pick it off with tweezers. I am very successful now with my interference and do it because i once had just a single egg hatch out of 12  :cry:  When i checked all the other eggs a few days later i found that all but 2 had been viable and were full size but had just failed to get out.  

When you say "ran the incubator dry" do you mean you had no water to start with in it. Or it just dried out. I always keep water in the bottom of my incubator. Humidity is quite technical - too much and the chicks can be too big and not have enough room to move around inside the shell - too dry and the chicks are going to lose too much moisture to remain viable.

[Wendy01]

Hi pushrod...... I had been advised don't interfere in the hatching period - so I tried not to. Trouble is I lost 3 pure bred french marans.  The one that has survived unfortunately looks very weak with it's adoptive mother (I stuck him/her in there with her while her other eggs were hatching hoping to fool her). But it doesn't look too good unfortunately. A further phone call to a breeder said - if they cannot make it out by themselves -don't bother with them coz they will be weaklings!

I ran my incubator dry for 19 days, then filled up all 4 quarters - nearly 3 pints of sanitised water on the 19th day to raise the humidity.  Now I am trying 1/4 of the base filled with the water every other day as per instructions from P & T Poultry.  I have got 17 pure copper blacks in the 'bator & 3 Buff Orpingtons. If this doesn't work  - I'll retire!

[pushrod]

Hi Wendy lots of people say don't interfere but experience has shown that for me at least i get better %hatching when i do assist. The last time i got a dozen orpingtons eggs i got a 11 chicks   and they all turned out to be big strong birds even though most were given a bit of help.

I think it is quite difficult to introduce a chick to a new mother. The only time i have had any success is if it is done straight away - even at a couple of days the hen seems to know and other chicks certainly seem to.
Although i have a broody hen with eggs under her i also have put 9 in the incubator. The hen's chicks are due in two days time but the original 9 are already down to 5 ! She managed to kick one out of the nest after a week, and a couple of nights ago, i don't know what happened, but in the morning when she left the nest i saw that 3 more had been smashed  

Does your incubator automaticatly turn the eggs?

[Wendy01]

Hi Pushrod .......... Yes mine is an automatic turner - If you go on to the p&t poultry site you will see it's the egg shaped one. I had reasonable success with Buffs last year, but as I said the French Marans seem to be a different case altogether.  If need be I will help them out this time (going by your experience) - so wish me luck. By the way - the little one from the incubator that I put to the broody hen is still alive, but is very wobbly on it's legs now, and I'll be surprised if it lasts till tomorrow!

[pushrod]

My 5 eggs are hatching under the hen - looks like there are 2 live ones at the moment but unfortunately she was standing on a third one   , but possibly there could be 2 more tonight (fingers crossed)

Did your Maran chick survive wendy?

[Wendy01]

Hi Pushrod ........ It's still alive this morning even after the terrible storm we had last night. Thunder & Lightning like we haven't seen for months! We had to keep helping it in and out of the ark, I kept putting it by the water and dipping it's beak in it and it seems to have worked. Every day is a bonus with that one! Last night was the first time it followed it's Mum into the Ark on it's own.