CHICKS TURNING ROUND & GETTING STUCK IN EGGS!

[hodgsonhorse]

HELP!

Has anyone had any chicks that turn around while hatching & hence getting stuck?!!

I've started breeding off some LF Light Sussex chicks i bred last year & have never had any hugely noticeable hatching problems with either strain, until recently! Info about the breeding group i'm having problems with in particular - I'm getting alot of fertile eggs (nearly 10 out of 10!) that about 9 out of 10 are turning into full term chicks! The hens are from a quality champion winning show strain that we've had for alot of years, are all full sisters from the same hatch, hen & cocky & i've never had any problems from this line. The cocky that is the father to these chicks is from a strain i bought in about 3 years ago, again top quality show winners & again i've had no huge problems! As for feed, the hens are on a very basic diet of layers pellets & get to scratch for corn on an afternoon, they're well wormed etc & live free range, so have an ideal living arangement for chick producing! & these chicks are coming from an incubator that i've used with huge success & was new back in October!

As for hatching...they all start correctly, making a small crack in the top & then after a few hours appear to start chipping their way out until they're at this stage -



& then it goes a bit wrong from there on! They seem to turn around & get stuck!!!!!!!!!!

The egg & chick in the picture still hasn't hatched at 9.30pm...it started hatching early yesterday morning! But it's still breathing & cheeping & i've pealed off over half of the egg so that it just has to pop out backwards...we'll wait & see what happens!

But i keep having this problem! So any ideas would be greatly recieved!

Amy.

Oh, 1 more thing! I've had alot of hatching problems with hens that are fed on oyster shell grit, but these hens don't get any grit as are completely free range & are locked in for as little time as possible to keep them fit & healthy! & their shells don't seem overly thick at all, so it's not as though the chicks can't get out!

 

[Davidd]

Hello. what's your humidity like at hatching? is it high enough? I have never seen chicks turn around in the egg- they can pip at the wrong end- this can be cured by placing the eggs either point down or on a slight slope for the first 7 days of incubation- even chicks that pip the wrong end usually hatch ok. When you say they are getting stuck- do you mean they are stuck to the shell or getting stuck in the pointed end of the egg?
regards David

 

[hodgsonhorse]

Many thanks for your quick reply!

The good news is that the chick hatching in the picture has finally made it's way out this morning, after at least 48hours! :roll: & seems to be doing ok! But the bad news is that i've been doing the pecking job for the chick since yesterday & have literally had to chip away most of the egg for it to wriggle out backwards! :?

The humidity seems to be fine, there's an average size air space in every egg & i'm not having any hatching problems with any other breed! But from 17 eggs in the last week, only 2-3 of them have had a straight forward hatch! All of the other breeds & LS strains that i've got in the incubator are taking maximum 12 hours & are coming out fighting! & this is the 1st time i've had this problem EVER!

These little guys are genuinely turning round! At the very start (sorry i'm not very technical!) you can see their beaks, they get to the stage in the picture when just about all of the hard work is done! & then they seem to turn around & the next thing you see their bums! It's as if they're confused!

When chicks are due i usually take them off the egg racks 2-3 days in advance & sit them on a little space at the side of the rest of the eggs, were they won't bash into the other eggs, & this seems to have always worked great! So when this problem started i tried leaving a couple of due eggs on the rack to see if a bit of gravity would help pull them out & also to see if being held in the rack would help the eggs stay still while they're working away chipping out! But this doesn't seem to have helped either!

Are these chicks just thick & get lost???!!! :lol:

Amy.

 

[Davidd]

So, you hatch and incubate in the same incubator with eggs set at different times?
You really nned to hatch in a different incy or hatcher so you can up the humidity to help them break the shell and not get stuck.
regards, David

 

[Tim]

It's important to get the humidity up as Davidd says and I guess this is the problem but also from a bacteria point of view, there are millions of them in ideal temperatures being thrown around when the chicks hatch which after a while may effect your other eggs.

I've never seen this before... but maybe they get so far and decide it's too difficult and try to turn around to attempt the other end... What is the shape of the egg like? Egg shape or more rounded at the pointed end?

All very strange!

 

[hodgsonhorse]

Many thanks for all the advise!

I'll add a picture of our "ideal" sussex shaped egg later this evening, but when picking them out it's literally the larger the better & we don't bother with any smaller eggs (& obviously never try with anything too small!) as i've had big problems with hatching chicks out of them before now! :roll: With the thinking that it gives the chicks plenty space to develop in

Back soon!

 

[Tim]

Personally I would pick the bigger eggs - but not any abnormally big eggs for the breed..

Tim