Dead in egg update second hatch 100% update on pg 3

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Ok so I set the very first eggs my silkies laid 22 days ago, and none were over 5 days old at setting. Incubators were spot on the whole time. NOTHING! No spikes no drops no anything. I lowered the humidity to 35% during incubation since my first hatch I only had 8 of 16 hatch. I did keep the humidity at 70% for hatch. I also kept my hands of the eggs except for candeling one time. My air sacs looked good and I thought they all were developing. I heard one egg chirping for over 24 hours but woke up this morning expecting chicks but all I have is a very quiet bator. NO PIPS NO CHICKS NO NOTHING! What am I doing wrong? I have ask Bobbi to hold off on shipping the eggs I ordered becasue if I can't hatch non shipped eggs I darn sure can't hatch shipped eggs. I really am trying so very hard and this is so depressing. I HATE INCUBATION! Way to many what if's for me. Does anyone have any tips for me. I have 10 more going into lock down on the 26th. I would love not to kill them as well. THIS JUST STINKS! I want to thow the stupid bator across the field. I have Hovabators one is a 1602N the other a 1588 which I use for the hatcher. I use a bleach solution to clean and allow them to dry in the sun. I do not think it is the bator it is either me or the eggs. My chickens get a blanced diet of flock raiser mixed with a conditioning feed, and get fresh veggies a couple times a week and have free access to calcium and grit.
Thank you for looking.
Tisha

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi Tisha! Sorry you are having 'incubator woes'.
You mentioned "...I set the very first eggs my silkies laid...", sometimes (not always) pullets eggs are not strong/vigorous enough to hatch. I got all-excited when my Silkie girls first started laying and set the eggs. The eggs developed fine, hatched, then died. Not necessarily the case with your eggs, but something to consider.
The only thing I notice out of the ordinary is your humidity. 35% seems low even for 'dry incubation'.
They may be developing slower if your temperature was slightly low.
I wish I could offer more advice, but that's all I know.
Keep trying. It seems like a great part of incubation is 'trial and error' to find what works in your location.
Good luck!

Lisa

 

[PunkinPeep]

I can't identify anything you're doing that just isn't right. Like Dipsy said, it's sometimes a matter of trial and error.....not to mention the role your location, elevation, and current weather can play.

I will tell you that i would strongly recommend not raising your humidity to 70% for hatching. It really doesn't need to be higher than 55%, in my experience. I've never raised silkies, so if they're different from other chicken eggs, i don't know about it.

I really think that there's a really good chance that using the girls' very first laid eggs might have something to do with it too. Their bodies are just getting revved up at that point, and things might not all be "right" in there.

Don't give up. Make sure all your eggs are fertile and try again in a few weeks. That's what i would do.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

I lowered the humidity during incubation because last time on the shipped eggs I had some chicks that never untucked their heads to pip and thought maybe they drown. I thought humidity at lockdown was 70%. Or would have ran it lower! I have 10 more I will need move into the hatcher that are from the same chickens the week after these eggs. I was putting everything in that was laid trying to get more experience. I know 3 of the eggs were smaller and was told they most likely would not hatch. I am just learning what to set and what not to set. But at this rate it looks like I don't need to set anything and am very tempted to toss the eggs in there now. It just stinks!
Thank for your input I do hope to stop killing chicks at some point.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Ok so I have a plan! I have a friend who has kindly offered me some eggs from her flock, that I will pick them up Black Friday and set on Saturday. That will tell me if it is me or the eggs. In the mean time I will contact others in my area and see what humidity level is working for them. I ran the humidity at 35 because last time with the shipped eggs when I was running it higher I had fully developed chicks that made no attempt to pip and most died at the time they should have pipped according to the level of yolk sac absorption I saw when I opened the eggs! I will try and find the thread on here on eggtopsy and double check. I still have 11 going into the hatcher on the 26th and then 10 more moving over on the 30th. Surely I can figure this out I did bump the humidity on the incubator up to 45 range. Original 7 still in the hatcher not much hope at this point. I plan to open them tomorrow. I can't give up I have to figure this out hopefully sooner rather than later. I have brand new HovaBators, only ever had one hatch in them, and I am not using cheap instruments, so I trust them as well. It is either me or the eggs.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I hope it goes well!

 

[ultasol]

Keep trying with your own eggs too. I live in a very dry area, so I keep my humidity around 45-50% until hatch, which I aim for 60%. Don't give up... but I would wait on paying for shipped eggs until you get a couple hatches under your belt.


Ihatch in a sportsman,.. which was ancient so I updated it with digital controls and I also added a layer of styrofoam insulation around the outside (careful not to block ventilation) and it works well... can hatch everything but geese so far and I've been using it for a year now.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

This is the thread on eggtopsies! Post 20 could have been my pics!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=363717&p=2
That is exactly what my dead babies looked like from the shipped eggs and also why I lowered my humidity this time. I have ask Bobbi to hold off shipping till I get to the bottom of this. I just really wanted to have a few SG eggs to put in next year. I don't want to mess things up by putting my very nice showgirls with lesser quality silkies cause you know I am going to want to keep them all. I am not sure how anyone can sell them! They are just too cute!

P.S. They are doing so good I couldn't be happier Jen!

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

I'm sure you'll get varying opinions, so here's mine~~~all I raise are Silkies, nothing else ever goes in my bators. I've found that I get the best hatch rates by 1) setting the temp to 100 degrees 2)I don't turn them the first three days 3) I keep my humidity at 42% for the first 18 days 4) I bump the humidity up to 65% during lock down 5) I candle the eggs on day 7, day 14 and day 18 (don't want any dead ones going into lockdown)
Also, I wouldn't use eggs from a pullet til after she has been laying for about 2 weeks.

Hope this helps... Best of luck and DON'T GIVE UP!!!

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Bat Cave Silkies why do you not turn for the first 3 days? I opened the eggs today and the first 2 very small eggs that were laid by 2 diffrent pullets (I thought had stopped earlier) were acutally fully developed but very small chicks inside. They were only taking up 1/2 of the egg. The one that pipped internally I did not see any reason it should not have hatched. The other 2 were normal sized chicks with over half of the yolk sac absorbed. I will put pic up on my facebook today or tomorrow, but I hate uploading on this site. With my camera I can directly upload to facebook. I had one which did not have a nice clear internal membrane the rest looked normal. None appeared to be shrink wrapped even the one that was not clear was still moist. I am more confussed now than before. I will keep trying till I figure this out.
Thanks everyone I am really trying to figure this out!

I am on page 8 of this thread I do hope it helps me before I kill anymore chicks. The 2 people I have ask so far do dry incubation and they are also located in TN.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113681&p=9