small crack in chick egg at day 17

Sorry about that.

Hope you have better luck next time... I agree, it's terribly confusing.

spruce creek said:

I thought the air cels looked good, but I have never done this before, I was worried I might have drowned them too. Do you think 50-55% humidity wasn't good? Should I aim for 45-50% next time for the first 18 days?? Next time I will mark the air cels to make sure they are growing to the right size.
Also if a chick starts to chirp does that mean it is through the first membrane? and if so how long can they survive before they make an external pip? would you assist a chick that was chirping and wiggling for over 24 hours or is it likely to be a weak or sickly chick if it can't pip the shell itself? In know lots of questions but I didn't want to assist too early either, and know I am thinking I should have once it wasn't chirping.

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Maintaining 50-55% humidity in the incubator will reduce my hatch rates to almost nothing. Ditto for 65% or higher humidity in the hatcher.

I get the best hatch rates at 35-45% humidity in the incubator, and 45-60% humidity in the hatcher. When I can maintain those humidity levels my hatch rates are 70-80%. I am in southern Arizona where there isn't much ambient humidity. Your mileage may vary.

I have occasionally gone against the old-timers' wisdom and tried assisting chicks. It rarely goes well. The old-timers' wisdom is truly wise. I did help a bunch of shrink-wrapped chicks once when I did an experimental dry hatch. Some of those chicks did okay but the majority had problems. In my experience if the chicks can't get out of the shells on their own there are likely to be problems down the road. Even when they can get out on their own there are sometimes problems and you have to cull them.

Hatching chicks and maintaining a healthy, vigorous flock is not for the faint of heart.

MagicChicken said:

Maintaining 50-55% humidity in the incubator will reduce my hatch rates to almost nothing. Ditto for 65% or higher humidity in the hatcher.

I get the best hatch rates at 35-45% humidity in the incubator, and 45-60% humidity in the hatcher. When I can maintain those humidity levels my hatch rates are 70-80%. I am in southern Arizona where there isn't much ambient humidity. Your mileage may vary.

I have occasionally gone against the old-timers' wisdom and tried assisting chicks. It rarely goes well. The old-timers' wisdom is truly wise. I did help a bunch of shrink-wrapped chicks once when I did an experimental dry hatch. Some of those chicks did okay but the majority had problems. In my experience if the chicks can't get out of the shells on their own there are likely to be problems down the road. Even when they can get out on their own there are sometimes problems and you have to cull them.

Hatching chicks and maintaining a healthy, vigorous flock is not for the faint of heart.

Click to expand...

Yeah I read an awful lot of info on incubating and assisting hatches and decided it was not the route to take. If it had at least pipped I might have. I have raised turkeys, and although I don't like to lose any, and have been pretty lucky with healthy strong birds I do agree with you its not for the faint of heart. I just hate to think I didn't do all I could, but you learn, you do better. So hopefully the next ones will hatch. I will make sure the humidity is much lower next time. I appreciate the feedback, thank you.