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- Sep 21, 2022
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This is a great thought....That hatch rate is lower than it should be. I'll include some troubleshooting guides that might help you figure out what the problem is. This part is not always easy, there are too many different things that could cause it.
Incubation Troubleshooting - Incubation and Embryology - University of Illinois Extension
Trouble Shooting Failures with Egg Incubation | Mississippi State University Extension Service (msstate.edu)
Common Incubation Problems: Causes and Remedies (ucanr.edu)
I don't have any photos to help you but some people cut out egg cartons to hold the eggs pointy side down during hatch. They trim out a lot of the egg carton so they don't block the chick pipping and zipping.
This probably takes up too much room, but some people invert baskets over the eggs to keep the chicks separated from the unhatched eggs. Something like those mesh plastic baskets some fruit can come in or make some out of hardware cloth. This is especially helpful if you have different breeds you want to keep separated and the chicks look similar when they hatch but it could help solve your situation.
I could perhaps use that plastic “grid” and instead of making “grids” or “baskets”, just make take the idea from the post below about the jar lids- mix it with this- and make “rings” so I can still check on things from the top- and they can’t roll the others....
My ‘bators can “technically” hold up to 40-42 eggs (in the turner....so, vertically. I couldn’t / wouldn’t want to hatch nearly that many at once in these units). Roughly 20” x 20”.
As they are on rotation, we typically have 10-15 ish moving to the lockdown bator at a time. So.... for the time being / our current (hopeful) hatch rates.... the rings may be an option
@Ridgerunner - thank you so much for the links.
I will check them out before proceeding in any direction.
Atm I have 2 turkeys (that hatched Saturday night in the early am) in the brooder.
They were dry enough to move yesterday mid day.
All of the other eggs were “upset”/ the marks I put on top were no longer on top - no other external pips.
I re set them so the top marks were up again.
All eggs were laid within 2 days of initial set.
No issues in the normal ‘bator w temps (100*) or humidity (~40-43 keeps the air cells / weight loss on track here)
I currently have one turkey who has an external pip on the wrong end; it appears to be significant enough of a pip that I am pretty sure it is able to get actual air, but it is just far enough toward the “bottom” that I can’t really see for sure.
Im hesitant to roll it....since I know they have all been rolled so much.... I’m inclined to leave it at least for now and watch for (slow) progress :/
I know that can be a very long and hard hatch :/ but it’s nice to see another pip.
There are also 3 duck eggs and 2 more turkey eggs that do not appear to be wobbling.
(Started this lockdown round w 8 total eggs. Next rounds will be more eggs....although less turkeys....)
I have not candled them since lockdown.
I have only quickly cracked the ‘bator to grab the poults and empty eggs.
All but 1 of the duck eggs (when candled) had babies actively moving when going into lockdown, and that last one had healthy veining and looked good- it just wasn’t moving....
This is a frustrating adventure, but I look forward to resolving this problem and getting confident enough to help other people in the future :/