First time incubating...questions on dead chicks that didn't hatch

[wyliefarms]

Ok we cracked open the eggs on day 23. Very proud of DD, she doesn't like this sort of thing either but, they are her eggs so we needed to know why they didn't hatch.

We got 7 chicks that are healthy and doing great! They hatched on day 20.

Out of the 10 lavender ameraucana eggs that didn't hatch:

4- not fertile

2- embryo's who died fairly young

4- fully developed chicks with a jelly bean or two size or so of yolk left. All were dead. Looks like one or two had pooped (green color)or something. No weird colors or anything inside.

Any thoughts as to why the 4 died?

DD wants to try this again, but if we need to do something different, I would like that knowledge before we try again.

We just have the TSC 9200 Little Giant incubator. Temp stayed good throughout, a couple times got to 102 or down to 98. Kept the water wells full with warm water. Had just one of the red plugs in the top(for air flow, can have 2) Took the other one out the last 3 days. Turned the eggs by hand twice a day.

One other thing I noticed was 5 eggs were on the left side of the bator all hatched, the other 2 were in the next row over (we had 4 rows of eggs) Can the heat vary that much? The thermoter was taped to the right side viewing window.

Sarah

 

[gabrielle1976]

I am honsetly not shure , little giants can be persnickety but there good little bators for what they are. Can you buy a fan kit for it or get a little computer fan and cell phone charger to hook up in there , air circulation cant hurt and it may smooth out the temps. (one thing I do in my still air is once a day I switch the eggs around the ones that were at the top go in the middle then the bottom ect)
Do you have a humidtiy gauge? if all the wells were full the whole time its possible that was to much humidity in the begining yet not enough at the end.
I dont know much yet I am new but I am shure someone will know more good luck .

 

[ChickieKeeta]

I am a newby & I don't know much. How was the humidity?
I used the still air LG also. Humidity was mid 40's during first 18 days. I added 3 wet folded cloths/dish towels last 3 days. Humidity 68%.

I am sorry for your loss.

Still air temp shold run 101 to 102. Iwon't blame it on temp.
Mine ran 86 to 106. I had 1 early development, 1 infertile,and 8 hatched.

 

[lakeshorenc]

This is my first hatch too. I did read that you need to turn an odd number of times so that they don't go all night on the same side. I also know that the thermometer in the LG is no good. Mine was 7 degree's off. Get an Acutite Hydrometer/thermometer at Walmart for $8.

 

[wyliefarms]

I hadn't heard that the thermoters don't work well....i will get the one you mentioned.

The water wells would get to about 1/2 way down and then my daughter would refill them.

the directions did say 3 times was prefered, but 2 was ok.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Your thermometer should also be at the level of the eggs, not the window. That will give you a much more accurite reading for a still air. I also agree to ditch the thermometer that came with the 'bator and get a better one.

 

[Jamie821]

If you just kept the water wells filled for the first eighteen days and didnt have a hydrometer to tell you the humidity it may have had to much humidity and evaporation that needs to happen in the egg didnt. Always have your thermometer in a still air on top of the egg in the middle. It sounds to me like maybe to high a humidity for the first eighteen days and positioning of thermometer.

 

[sunnychooks]

I seem to remember on a recent post someone saying that green discharge is a sign of bacterial growth. Did you wash your hands before turning the eggs? If oils (natural, hand lotion or whatever) get on the eggs it could seep through the shell and cause bacteria or they could clog up the pores in the shell and the chick could suffocate.