100 percent failure

[Airplaneguy57]

Day 24. No movement at all. I read the Tex A&M article and followed the instructions. I candled them all. So I took then out back and opened each one. The majority were very developed but they were all dead. I kept the humidity about 50 percent throughout the first part. I then increased the humidity to 70 for lockdown. I have an expert hatching some right now. So I will just let her. I don't want to give up bit I may make some changes before attempt number two.

 

[cpegram]

if at first you don't succeed try, try again....I am on my first hatch on day 15 today

 

[Josie]

Sorry, I have been there, more than once. Take some time off, and give yourself the option of trying later. (For me the solution was a different bator and putting it in a box to protect from drafts.)

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
your humidity was to high at the end, for some reason its getting to be fashionable to raise the humidity very high at the end, you are not the only one with this trouble, when you raise it that high you drown your chicks, 50% all the way through works fine and you didn't say what your temp was, and still air or forced (fan) that also makes a difference

 

[Airplaneguy57]

Mine is a mini fridge I converted. The temp stays stable humidity good. A small computer fan to keep it all equal. But you are correct. I plan on taking time off.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
your humidity was to high at the end, for some reason its getting to be fashionable to raise the humidity very high at the end, you are not the only one with this trouble, when you raise it that high you drown your chicks, 50% all the way through works fine and you didn't say what your temp was, and still air or forced (fan) that also makes a difference

I agree !!!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
your humidity was to high at the end, for some reason its getting to be fashionable to raise the humidity very high at the end, you are not the only one with this trouble, when you raise it that high you drown your chicks, 50% all the way through works fine and you didn't say what your temp was, and still air or forced (fan) that also makes a difference

I agree !!!

I think its all this 'shrink wrap' talk, its a detached membrane that causes that problem not humidity

 

[Airplaneguy57]

I drowned those babies. I followed the instructions to a tee. Now you are saying 50 percent all the way through. I'll give it a shot. If this doesn't work I'm going back to either buying chicks or lettingthe girls hatch them. I forgot my temps were between 99 and 100

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
your humidity was to high at the end, for some reason its getting to be fashionable to raise the humidity very high at the end, you are not the only one with this trouble, when you raise it that high you drown your chicks, 50% all the way through works fine and you didn't say what your temp was, and still air or forced (fan) that also makes a difference

Thank you!!!! I read about so many people using humidity up to 75% for lockdown and I just KNOW they are going to drown! People need to start realizing it is better to have a live shrink wrapped chick than a dead drown one.

To the OP: You didn't know any better and followed instructions from a trusted source. Don't knock yourself. What humidity you keep your bator at has a lot to do with your climate. Not everyone incubates the same way either.

Please don't give up either. I had many failed hatches when I first started, and eventually found the right humidity level for my climate and have had success since.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
I've been hatching for 6+ years, my humidity never gets above 50%, my last hatch of booted was 100%, my temp is 100.0, so when it gos up and down, its not going to cause a problem, 99.5 to 100.5