This is my 2nd year of hatching. Brinsea w/ autoturner. Last year I struggled in the beginning - turned out I was putting too much water in & there was not enough evaporation. Once I began to "dry hatch" this all cleared up & we had great hatches. At times 100% of developing eggs hatched.
This year, the issue has been that the chicks pip & begin to zip but I notice no additional progress. I would say this has been maybe 20% of the eggs. I take the egg out & find the chick is essentially glued in place, unable to move because the membrane is dried and the chick is unable to move. I do keep about 1 tsp. of water in the incubator during development and then I add about 2 Tbs of water 3-4 days before hatch. We live in WV and the incubator is in the basement. The humidity is very high here naturally.
I honestly can not for the life of me figure out what it is that I'm doing differently that is causing the problem. We do not lift the lid or do anything with the eggs other than to candle them at about 10 dys and again at 3-4 days before hatch. The chicks that I have helped (as little as possible) have all been fine and healthy once out of the egg.
This year, the issue has been that the chicks pip & begin to zip but I notice no additional progress. I would say this has been maybe 20% of the eggs. I take the egg out & find the chick is essentially glued in place, unable to move because the membrane is dried and the chick is unable to move. I do keep about 1 tsp. of water in the incubator during development and then I add about 2 Tbs of water 3-4 days before hatch. We live in WV and the incubator is in the basement. The humidity is very high here naturally.
I honestly can not for the life of me figure out what it is that I'm doing differently that is causing the problem. We do not lift the lid or do anything with the eggs other than to candle them at about 10 dys and again at 3-4 days before hatch. The chicks that I have helped (as little as possible) have all been fine and healthy once out of the egg.
