Hatching Problems

[jamesbwood]

I received 12 Silver Sebright eggs. 3 of them hatched normally. 2 had were not able to hatch on their own - after 30-36 from when they pecked the first hole through their shell. I assisted these 2 in hatching but breaking the shell for them. They seemed to be glued strongly to the shell. One was small and seemed to have deformed feet which corrected over time. I left the other 7 eggs in the bater for an additional week and observed no more signs of hatching. Today I took the eggs out and cracked two to see if they were fertile. Both had little chicks in them that were fairly well developed but still had some yolk. The little chicks didn't move or show any signs of life. It seems odd that they would make it that far but not hatch.

This is my 5th time using the bater and I still have a lot to learn. I'm posting this to see if this is normal or if there is something I can do to help more chicks hatch.

 

[DraigAthar]

How do you monitor your humidty during incubation?

 

[sumi]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a hard time with your hatch. Have a look at this troubleshooting guide, maybe it will help you figure out what went wrong:

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8127.pdf

 

[jamesbwood]

I have one of those digital min max thermomiters that also records humidity. It was around 30% for most of it but 45% to 55% for the last 3-4 days. Im not sure how accurate the device is.

 

[sumi]

You've done what we call a "dry" incubation. Humidity round 30% and then you should aim for 60%+ during lockdown. Here's an article on it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-incubate-hatch-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method

I think the humidity may have been a problem there. What was your temperature and is it a still or forced air incubator?

Here's another article on incubation and hatching that's also very good. Sorry it's a lot to read! But it just explains all these technical things so well. Sally keeps adding new things to it as she finds more info:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

Best of luck with your future hatches and I hope it goes better for you!

 

[jamesbwood]

Temp was 37.5 C plus or minus 1 C. I installed a computer fan run off a 12 v battery to keep the air moving in the bator - this also helps keep the temp more stable.