Dean,

The problem with mine is not the weather, but what I have done on purpose. I
have the humidity too high for the bigger brown eggs to hatch well since the
humidity needs to be higher for the tiny white eggs.

Mark in NC

--- In bantamchickens@yahoogroups.com, "lafleche49" <hobbyguy@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Mark, Suprise, suprise, no doubt. This wet weather and the unpredictable
humidity have really played havoc with the hatches this year.
>
> I saved several chicks by relieving the pressure in this manner. If I hadn't
when they sat there for an extended period of time and breathed they would begin
to swell in the egg as their cells became oxygenated.
>
> Once the swelling starts the fluids begin to accumulate at the point where the
chick first pipped and in a very short time the chick will drown.
>
> Just before this happens it is up to the individual wether they want to help
or let the chick drown. As I have told you a few times I have left chicks a
little too long and it messed up their legs or feet permanently and I had to put
them down. If you pop the caps too early then the chick will often set there and
dry out but most don't die in this circumstance. They just have to be moistened
and eased out of their egg a few chips at a time.
>
> In a normal year, and I might add we haven't seen one of those in a long time,
I would let nature take it's course. But under the present circumstances the
chicks in question have all been strong and healthy once they were freed from
their confined condition. Dean
>