# Help!!!! please



## nicolepardo (Jul 27, 2014)

Hi , i have to say i hve incubated chiken eggs many times but always in small number like 4-6 eggs . and mostly one r two chickhatched this time i putted 30 eggs and hatched 10 but 2 of them past away because they were weak , right now i have a newborn with his belly button very big and opened and he is very weak , doeststands just peeps , i gave him pedialite andittries to move but cant , it has 4 hours of life , and besides i got two chickens with spraddling legs i dont know what to do please help.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Sounds as though your incubation set up has serious problems. It would be helpful to know what you're using, how you're measuring temps and humidity and where you have the incubator set up. Maybe we can give you some insight to make your hatching experiences much more positive. 

On the peep with the open navel, you can put some betadine on it but I doubt peep will survive. The spraddle legs can be hobbled together to try to draw them in and hopefully work properly.


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## nicolepardo (Jul 27, 2014)

we i havea janoel 48 egg incubator , the temp waslike 37.7-28ªC during the first 18 daysand then i lowered to 37.1ªC humidity was fine it was 55% the first 18 days and it is in 67%now and i have my incubator on mythird floor.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm going to suggest you add a thermometer you know is accurate. I checked reviews on this unit and found a lot of complaints about the unit's accuracy regarding temps. One actually mentioned the digital readout remained the same while an added thermo would go down several degrees and later way above the set temps. 

There can be some small lower and upper temps between times the unit is heat cycling but this one was too far out to be acceptable. Another found that the unit was was spot on for temp digitally but several degrees lower in actual temps using another means for measuring. 

Same would go for the humidity. 

I saw several complaints about low or no hatches. One actually said he had better luck with a 50$ incubator, so he was not new to hatching. 

Look for higher end reptile thermos that measure both temp and humidity to compare the reading to what the digital readout says. 

Your initial humidity setting is a bit too high. It should be about 40%.


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

Also to prevent spraddled leg , you can put a paper towel on the floor of the brooder until they get a week old or so. It gives them a better grip.


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## nicolepardo (Jul 27, 2014)

Well ,today the chick with the opened belly died, and i was throwing the eggs because it is day 25 and htey smelled terrible and when iopen them i just open the air sac and then i saw that one chick was moving when i opened the egg in hte air sac i runned and putted back in the incubator .


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You've obviously got a temp problem in the incubator. That should not be happening.


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## jamestnoe (Jul 1, 2014)

I am on my first hatching with my new incubator. The first 3 chicks hatched this morning at 19.5 day. 
Should I open and take the new ones out immediately or wait until more are hatched? There are 18 eggs in the incubator now. Don't want to mess with the humidity since as soon as I open it will drop


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If I had a staggered hatch it necessitated removing eggs to the hatcher. I never witnessed it having an impact on the final hatch rate. 

Yes, humidity that we can measure drops but does not stay down long enough to cause the atmosphere in the shell to be affected.


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

I stagger my hatches also and take them out after they disconnect from the shell. I live in a humid area so I haven't had any problems with humidity dropping.


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## cgmccary (Jun 25, 2012)

fwiw, I wait until the hatch is complete. I never remove them piecemeal, why? Many hatches have been ruined by taking chicks out early causing those left to get a draft of dry air & drying the shell at a critical time in the hatch. Chicks live easily without food or water for three days. Let the chicks hatch & all dry out and then remove them. In large hatches (>50), I will have some real late hatchers (or when the power goes out during incubation) -- if I am shipping chicks, I remove all the dry hatched ones only hours before shipping . . . yes, I have seen others continue hatching but rates are better if you do not open . . .


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