One hens eggs will not hatch.... why?

[Spazzyyarn]

Hi everyone, we are pretty new to hatching chicken eggs, but we are already running into a problem.

Our easter Egger hens eggs will not hatch. Three times now, twice in an incubator and once under a broody hen.

The chick's form, and after an eggtopsy, we have no idea of why this is happening. We have had chick's perfectly formed, blood absorbed and yolk absorbed, but it never pipped. This was under the broody hen.

In the incubator, the chick's seem to make it to day 20ish. Some yolk absorbed, most blood, but again no popping at all.

We have had approx a 80 percent hatch rate, and 95 percent if we remove her eggs from the equation.

She's a year and a half old if that makes any difference.

 

[MeepBeep]

She simply might not be good breeding stock...

One thing you can try is a different feed, keep her or your entire flock on a different feed for about 2 weeks then try collecting eggs... A hens nutrition and feed while creating eggs can have a huge impact/effect... Insufficient nutrition in the hen while the egg was being made can cause late quitters and/or those that don't thrive once out...

You can also try a giving them a vitamin/mineral supplement in their water or mixed into their food prior and during egg collection...

 

[Spazzyyarn]

MeepPeep, thanks so much for the advice. We will definitely try that. She's a beautiful bird and I hate to not be able to breed her.