100% hatch rate on shipped eggs!

[EyeKeyYou]

Check the size of your air cells but I bet humidity way too high and chicks can't turn. 45% humidity turn on sides at least 7 times per day up the humidity to 70% 3 days prior to hatch so they don't stick

 

[casportpony]

Is it a forced air incubator? If so, I'd say your temp is fine, but humidity might be too high for where you live. Was there lots of fluid in the eggs with the fully formed chicks?

-Kathy

 

[texpainthorse]

Oh my. I will certainly give that a try. I am picking up 8 eggs this Sunday.
Thank you so much!

 

[casportpony]

If it's not a forced air incubator I think the temp is top low.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Oh my. I will certainly give that a try. I am picking up 8 eggs this Sunday.
Thank you so much!

Try asking some people In your area what temps and humidity they use.

-Kathy

 

[texpainthorse]

Is it a forced air incubator? If so, I'd say your temp is fine, but humidity might be too high for where you live. Was there lots of fluid in the eggs with the fully formed chicks?

-Kathy

My incubator is a still air. I live in hot Central Texas. There really wasn't a lot of fluid in the eggs that I opened. I waited awhile before opening them though. They were all fully developed chicks. The quail were all perfect. I don't have an issue with chickens or pheasants either. Just peafowl. I'm so frustrated. I have 4 adolescents but didn't hatch them myself.

 

[Cindysid]

First off, I don't consider myself any kind of expert, but I had lousy results with the hova bator too. I don't trust a hygrometer. I have a good candler and I candle my eggs every few days and take a look at the air sac. You want it to increase in size approx 15% over the incubation period. If it seems to be getting too big too fast I add water to the reservoir. If it isn't getting bigger then I don't add water. I don't believe that candling ur eggs often hurts anything. I have learned so much by candling and I have had many 100% hatches with chickens and recently one with peas. Your humidity could be too high, drowning the chicks at the end of the hatch or it could be too low and the chick is trapped in the membrane..(shrink wrapped). Hygrometers are notoriously faulty IME. If you're going to hatch a lot of expensive eggs like peafowl, I would invest in a Brinsea or some other forced air incubator. I also hatch pea eggs laying on their side. Don't know if it makes a difference, but that's how I do it. I also turn them by hand whenever I think about it, especially the first week. I don't do a real lock down either. I try not to disturb them too much the last 3 days, but I will candle to see if they have internally pipped. If they have, I give them 24 hours to externally pip. If not, I make an air hole in the air sac area, and if they haven't zipped in another 12 hours, I try to help them out. There's a great thread on assisted hatching that tells you how to do this. I recently lost a chick that I had made an air hole for. Another chick hatched and rolled the egg so that the air hole was against the floor of the incubator. When the chick shifted it's position the hole was covered and the chick suffocated. It could have probably been saved if I had turned the egg over with hole side up. It's a constant learning process. Did you do egg topsies on the failures? Was the chick really gooey and sticky or was it shrink wrapped? Opening up an egg with a dead chick isn't pleasant, but you can learn a lot.

 

[DylansMom]

My incubator is a still air. I live in hot Central Texas. There really wasn't a lot of fluid in the eggs that I opened. I waited awhile before opening them though. They were all fully developed chicks. The quail were all perfect. I don't have an issue with chickens or pheasants either. Just peafowl. I'm so frustrated. I have 4 adolescents but didn't hatch them myself.

I think your temp may be a little low for still air, but I've never used one so that is just what I remember reading. I do agree with the others that your humidity may be too high, I try to keep mine around 50%. I am nosey and candle all the time, it's never adversely affected my hatch rates and I like to know how they are developing and if there are quitters I remove them. I also hand turn but only about 3 times a day, again this has never been a problem, none have ever been stuck to the membrane. A lot of people have experienced this same issue this year, so it may not be anything you have done wrong, a lot of eggs going the whole way and then never hatching. I think I would give up on the 37 day old ones now, I can't imagine they are still alive, the day the one was rocking is the day they probably should have hatched. Very sorry you are having such a hard time.

 

[casportpony]

Is it a forced air incubator? If so, I'd say your temp is fine, but humidity might be too high for where you live. Was there lots of fluid in the eggs with the fully formed chicks?


-Kathy

My incubator is a still air. I live in hot Central Texas. There really wasn't a lot of fluid in the eggs that I opened. I waited awhile before opening them though. They were all fully developed chicks. The quail were all perfect. I don't have an issue with chickens or pheasants either. Just peafowl. I'm so frustrated. I have 4 adolescents but didn't hatch them myself.

I am no expert, but I do remember reading that still air bators require the temp to be set at 102-103, but don't quote me on that.

-Kathy

 

[PeepsCA]

In a forced air incubator (one with a fan) the heat is constantly being circulated and maintains the recommended incubation temp of 99.5° around the entire egg, but in a still air incubator the hot air rises, the cooler air settles to the bottom. So there's usually a difference of around 2° degrees between the middle of the eggs and the top of the eggs when using the typical/common tabletop style styrofoam still air incubators and it's advised to aim for maintaining a temp of 101.5-102°F (make sure it never gets higher than 103° F), measured by laying one or more accurate thermometers on top of the eggs.


ETA...
Edited because the suggested still air temp info I provided previously was a degree too high... sorry