chickengoesmeow
Songster
- Feb 5, 2021
- 40
- 125
- 106
I had a chick hatch yesterday with the most severe cause of an unabsorbed yolk I have ever seen. Calling it an unabsorbed yolk is almost downplaying it. Along with the yolk, there was a good chunk of intestines hanging out. I ended up euthanizing the chick shortly after it hatched. To be honest, I'm surprised it made it to the point of hatching without somehow puncturing the yolk. The best way I can describe it is the day 18 in this picture, but the chick seemed fully developed besides the yolk.
I've heard of partially absorbed yolk caused by fluctuating temps, but this almost seemed like a case of premature hatching. The chick did pip outside of the air sac (Not on the narrow end, but on the side of the wide end where there was no air sac), but it was able to zip and push itself out with no issue. None of the other eggs had any problems, this was my most succesful hatch yet if you don't count this chick. The temp was 100.5 for the first 18 days with a humidity of 30-35%, then I dropped it to 99.5 during lockdown and raised to humidity to 70-75%. All of the chicks hatched on day 21, no stragglers.
Was this just a freak incident or could it have been caused by incubation conditions? Did it have anything to do with the fact the chick pipped in the wrong spot? I haven't seen anything like this before. It's sitting in my freezer right now so I can take some pics later.
I've heard of partially absorbed yolk caused by fluctuating temps, but this almost seemed like a case of premature hatching. The chick did pip outside of the air sac (Not on the narrow end, but on the side of the wide end where there was no air sac), but it was able to zip and push itself out with no issue. None of the other eggs had any problems, this was my most succesful hatch yet if you don't count this chick. The temp was 100.5 for the first 18 days with a humidity of 30-35%, then I dropped it to 99.5 during lockdown and raised to humidity to 70-75%. All of the chicks hatched on day 21, no stragglers.
Was this just a freak incident or could it have been caused by incubation conditions? Did it have anything to do with the fact the chick pipped in the wrong spot? I haven't seen anything like this before. It's sitting in my freezer right now so I can take some pics later.