Help- I MUST have done something wrong.....

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Kathy48653

Kathy48653

Chirping
10 Years
Oct 22, 2013
19
5
79
Little Switzerland, NC
I would LOVE some advice. I just completed my first hatch. I got 11 chicks out of 19 fertile eggs which I believe is about 55%. The thing that is killing me is that I eggtopsied the remaining 8 eggs today and discovered all we full grown chicken fetuses but were all dead. I candled and float tested 24 hours after the hatch date and most were still moving in the water as of yesterday but none had pipped or peeped. What on earth could have happened??? I have a little giant still air incubator with heat set at 101degree and humidity increased to 70-75% for the three lockdown days. I float tested a couple of times a day....could this have done it???Did I handle them too much??? OH, I'm just sick!! Kat :(
 
101 degrees is a tad too high. I never float test the eggs. I candle them. I leave the eggs in the bator about a week past their hatch date. Sometimes you have late hatchers. Good luck on your next hatch.
 
Yes, I'm wondering if there may have been a minuscule hole in the eggs and I drowned them. I candled them but only saw large masses without any movement. Do you always see movement when candling (if they are alive?)
 
Not always. Chicks sleep inside the shells just like they do outside the shell and the bigger they get inside the egg the less room they have to move. They eggs will look darker the bigger the embryos get
 
The only thing I'd worry over is the slightly high temps. We run a steady 99, or 99.5. Higher temps seem to cause the chicks to pip their internal membranes too early and they either drown or suffocate from overheating. Still, you managed an great hatch with 50 or 55% of the whole clutch --despite the temp! Something to keep in mind is that no matter what you do, sometimes a chick or two or three or even 4+ will reach full maturity and then suddenly up and "quit." We are almost done with our hatch that started back on Monday. We had 2 early pippers that gave up, and one that had nearly hatched out completely but still had not absorbed it's yolk sack.

One trick we learned is to make a water balloon and put it in the hatcher at lock down. This does two things: releases moisture slowly for a few days, and provides a thermal mass to hold, radiate and maintain an even heat/temp while the babies hatch.
 
Great thinking....with the balloon! I originally started my bator at 99.5 degrees. Then I read somewhere that the still air incubators should be run higher....at 101-102. Is this incorrect?
 
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This is probably a dumb question...
hu.gif
but if you take them out of the bator to candle/float test (after the due date) does it matter if they are put back in a different position??
 
2 of mine are still-air and our 3rd unit has a circulating fan (aka forced air) --we keep em all at 99.5 and so far they've all done pretty well. Having the balloons inside helps out a lot as far ask keeping things at a steady temp. Some people use water bottles or sealed baggies with water in them instead. An elderly friend I knew actually washed up some river stones and used those for "thermal mass."

as far as the position goes... as long as they are not upside down yer fine. (meaning air sac faced down/pointy end up)
 
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