Update. The Great Debate: Is it the incubator or the egg?

[HatchCraft]

In my experience consistently bad hatches are usually caused by temperature issues. I know the 1588 has a good reputation. If you are serious about hatching, a good quality, accurate thermometer is a must . Without this incubation tool you will always be guessing. A mercury thermometers designed for incubation is best to eliminate this variable. I have a pair of the robbins thermometers from Philadelphia instruments. Totally takes the challenge out of hatching eggs. Also learning to takr wet bulb readings will prevent humidity errors. I like the digital type thermometers but I trust the mercury.That being said, the best hatches start with the best eggs.

 

[yinepu]

Try putting it in a closet. My hatch rates went up on shipped eggs once I had them in the closet, in the dark. I don't have problems hatching my own eggs. if I set 12, I'm getting 12. Found out the hard way, After many bad hatches of shipped eggs. I put way too many of my own eggs in and got the craziest looking, bunch of birds and all hatched that I set, wasn't ready for that one. I'm doing an all dry hatch right now as a test, hens don't add humidity. I will add a little for lock down but only the 2 wells in plastic tray, just like in directions. We'll see, have 2 more weeks left. No they aren't shipped eggs, those are expensive.
Michele

actually.. a hen does add humidity... moisture from her skin and feathers.... so it is more humid in a nest under a hen than a nest without one

 

[yinepu]

I have about had it up to here with this. I have done everything everyone has told me and nothing works. It has to be the eggs. What else could it be?

that's why I suggested getting local eggs from a friend.. heck.. even off of craigslist or something similar... that would take shipped eggs completely out of the equation and would test your eggs against someone else's local eggs

it's possible your rooster has too many hens to cover ... by setting 6 of yours.. and 6 of a friends in the same batch you would know for sure if he was having any issues

 

[Nikkipar]

So for those who monitor their humidity what levels do you use?

 

[Jungleexplorer]

that's why I suggested getting local eggs from a friend.. heck.. even off of craigslist or something similar... that would take shipped eggs completely out of the equation and would test your eggs against someone else's local eggs

it's possible your rooster has too many hens to cover ... by setting 6 of yours.. and 6 of a friends in the same batch you would know for sure if he was having any issues

My rooster might be the problem. He just got replaced today. This new rooster mated two hens as soon as I dropped him in the pen. We will see how he does. I will look for some local eggs from someone else.

 

[yinepu]

So for those who monitor their humidity what levels do you use?

it really depends on the humidity where you live..

for me in the winter I dry incubate (the hygrometer measures around 30% in the bators when I bother to measure it)
during the summer it gets really hot and extremely dry here.. so i add water and incubate at around 40% give or take a bit.. (without any water in the bator it drops to around 10% which dries the eggs out too much for me)

the main thing is experimenting and seeing what works for you in your home and with your bator.. a little drier is always better than wetter since most people make the mistake of having their humidity too high during incubation and have the chicks drown as a result

if in doubt, weigh the eggs at the beginning of incubation and monitor the weight loss (% lost depends on the type of egg that is being incubated) then adjust your humidity accordingly


and remember .. humidity during incubation is different than humidity at hatch

 

[yinepu]

My rooster might be the problem. He just got replaced today. This new rooster mated two hens as soon as I dropped him in the pen. We will see how he does. I will look for some local eggs from someone else.

hopefully he's your main problem... I did notice where your hatch rates were better with your own eggs.. but still not where they should be (I get around 90 to 100% hatch rate on my eggs... a little lower on shipped eggs)
Once you figure out for sure that he was the problem.. then it's just a mater of tweaking everything else to get the hatch rates you want

 

[Nikkipar]

Weeel I hope long-term I haven't killed my batch going now. Ive had it 55-65, and they are still moving so I'll dry it out.....

it really depends on the humidity where you live..

for me in the winter I dry incubate (the hygrometer measures around 30% in the bators when I bother to measure it)
during the summer it gets really hot and extremely dry here.. so i add water and incubate at around 40% give or take a bit.. (without any water in the bator it drops to around 10% which dries the eggs out too much for me)

the main thing is experimenting and seeing what works for you in your home and with your bator.. a little drier is always better than wetter since most people make the mistake of having their humidity too high during incubation and have the chicks drown as a result

if in doubt, weigh the eggs at the beginning of incubation and monitor the weight loss (% lost depends on the type of egg that is being incubated) then adjust your humidity accordingly


and remember .. humidity during incubation is different than humidity at hatch

 

[enel 1]

I think that humidity and temps go up and down in nature so I don't concentrate on keeping things exact just with in the parameters of 98.5 to 101.5 and humidity between 30 and 50 during,incubation and 60 to 80 during hatch. I live in the very south east corner of Washington state. the area I live in is called "Hells canyon" if that give you any Idea of how hot and dry it is here.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Well, some of my hens went broody about 18 days ago, so we will see how good they do with the eggs from my flock this weekend. The one factor that everyone seems to have missed from the OP is that eight good eggs went into the hatcher and only three hatched. If all those eggs would hatched, it would have given me a 60% hatch rate. Not great, but acceptable. Of the 15 eggs, 8 were from game hens and a game rooster in one breeding pen and seven eggs were from my Barred Chochin Bantams (BCB) in another breeding pen. All seven of the BCB eggs developed and went into the hatcher. Seven of the Gamefowl eggs were clear, and only one was developed. Of the three that hatched, one was from the Gamefowl and two were from the BCBs.