14 hatched, 20 more with peep holes, all died?? help

[chick raising]

The first go around 4 hatched but the rest were fully delevoped in their shells full of fluid,
I had the humidity at 80 to 85%, temp at 98.5f -100.5f

2nd try; Day 18; started lock down increased humidity from 40-50% to 60-70% temp maintained at 98.5f - 100.5f
Day 19; one hatched at 8AM and others started peep holes.
Day 20; at 4 AM we had 14 out of their and 20 more with peep holes ( YEAH !! )

at 7:30 AM planning to gather all to fluffed chick and move them to the brooder, we found an incubator with
only one chick alive and all the others dead!

?Please help! Any ideas?

 

[maryhysong]

Was your humidity at 40% the first 18 days? That might be too much. How big are their air cells? The air cells should be pretty big by day 18, that is the first air the chick breathes. Too much humidity in those first couple weeks keeps the air cell too small and they basically drowned trying to hatch. I'm reading that a relative humidity of around 30% is better, but the best plan is to watch the air cells or weigh the eggs before incubating and each time you candle and figure the percentage of weight lost (off the top of my head I can't remember what it should be tho) Look for Sally Sunshines Hatching 101 page; there's links to everything you ever wanted to know about hatching on there

 

[gimmie birdies]

sounds like too much water and not enough heat. air is important too some times to increase the humidity people close the vents, but chicks need breathe. you should not have chicks that wet. I did wreck a hatch that way thinking I didn't have enough fluid. the next hatch I only had fluid at hatching and had a much better hatch.

 

[ozexpat]

The first go around 4 hatched but the rest were fully delevoped in their shells full of fluid,
I had the humidity at 80 to 85%, temp at 98.5f -100.5f

2nd try; Day 18; started lock down increased humidity from 40-50% to 60-70% temp maintained at 98.5f - 100.5f
Day 19; one hatched at 8AM and others started peep holes.
Day 20; at 4 AM we had 14 out of their and 20 more with peep holes ( YEAH !! )

at 7:30 AM planning to gather all to fluffed chick and move them to the brooder, we found an incubator with
only one chick alive and all the others dead!

?Please help! Any ideas?

Did you have the vent holes open? Having hatched chicks die in the bator en mass is pretty unusual.
Something seriously went wrong like a massive heat spike or suffocation. Was the sole surviving chick in distress?

Sorry for your loss

 

[maryhysong]

Did you have the vent holes open? Having hatched chicks die in the bator en mass is pretty unusual.
Something seriously went wrong like a massive heat spike or suffocation. Was the sole surviving chick in distress?

Sorry for your loss

Another thought, especially if your vents were all open, was anything sprayed around in the area? Cleaning products, air fresheners, bug sprays.....any kind of chemical substance at all?

 

[chick raising]

So far the sole survivor is fine,
the incubator is an old chest freezer it has a 1-1/2" vent tube on the top of the back side, with a 1-1/2" fresh air tube in bottom if left side, both completely open. should be enough, But, seems I wouldn't have lost all within 3.5hrs??
Since hatching started on day 19 I'm thinking Temp spike may have been the cause, and I need to figure out a more precise thermostat

 

[maryhysong]

So far the sole survivor is fine,
the incubator is an old chest freezer it has a 1-1/2" vent tube on the top of the back side, with a 1-1/2" fresh air tube in bottom if left side, both completely open. should be enough, But, seems I wouldn't have lost all within 3.5hrs??
Since hatching started on day 19 I'm thinking Temp spike may have been the cause, and I need to figure out a more precise thermostat

If they started hatching on day 19 sounds like it's been running abit warm the whole time and yes, perhaps a spike in temp caused the problem; What type of heating element, thermostat are you using? How accurate is your thermometer?

 

[chick raising]

adjustable bimetallic thermostat turns on 2- 90 watt light bulbs ( on 90 watt bulb will get it up to temp, the 2nd is for back up)
using a hygrometer, (has high and low memory) apparently temp got up to 105.5f during the last 2 days, I reset memory on day 18 at lock-down
I guess, that might explains it.