I put 73 eggs in the incubator and am on day 24 and have 12 chicks hatched. Some of the eggs are bantam so I put them in lockdown on day 16. I candled the eggs too and 47 of the eggs looked promising - mostly dark except for the air cell. But only 12 pipped and hatched. This is the 3rd round. The 1st time only one hatched but I didn't know I had the machine on custom mode so I never changed the temperature. In retrospect, I'm surprised one hatched. The second time, 19 out of approximately 70 hatched, one had a curled in foot, one hatched way late and looked like Sloth from The Goonies, and one I found on her back in the brooder and died quickly after. Sixteen were happy, healthy chicks.
Upon researching after the chick with the curled in foot, the Hubbard Incubation Guide states turning eggs 96 times per day was optimal. My incubator was only set to turn every 90 minutes. So on day 4, I reprogrammed it to turn every 10 minutes (I meant to do 15 minutes but I mistakenly do 10 and read it wouldn't hurt it, so I left it). I also read turning was most important days 3-7 so on a day after day 10 but before day 16, I reprogrammed the incubator to turn every 60 minutes because it seemed turning more frequently wasn't necessary anymore.
I also used some external thermometers to determine my incubator wasn't accurate and known of my thermometers were either. I had a meat thermometer which I could calibrate and it said the incubator was 3⁰F lower than it actually was. I'm unsure of the accuracy, however, considering that thermometer has a probe designed to be submerged in meat so I dont know if it reads air temperature well. Furthermore, it only reads to the whole number (i.e., no decimal places), and the aforementioned guide recommends temps which change by tenths of a point. But I cranked up the heat on day 4 by 3⁰, before adjusting, the meat thermometer said the bottom part of the incubator was around 97⁰. My incubator is a double stack and has styrofoam encasing the bottom layer but nothing surrounding the top so I wrapped it in a blanket but according to unreliable thermometers (before I started using the meat thermometer), it made the bottom a few degrees hotter than the top. So I removed the blanket and the meat thermometer deemed the bottom 2⁰ hotter than the top. On the last day, the bottom said 98⁰ and the top said 100⁰. 1 of 13 viable eggs hatched on the top and 11 of 34 hatched on the bottom.
As for humidity, a local who has hatched eggs suggested we don't put any water in the incubator until the end. It is a very dry winter here so I put water in anyways. The incubator and unreliable thermometers read a humidity range of 43-50% and dropped down in the 20s and 30s as I didn't always add water. I did put water in on day 16 and realized on day 19, I had previously turned the humidifying function of the incubator down and had not increased it. The humidity was around 40%. On day 19 I recognized and corrected the mistake. It was still stuck at 48% humidity. I reset the entire machine and put a humidifier directly next to the incubator to try to raise the humidity. It still only stayed between 50-60% (it was 60-70% on the previous hatches).
Any ideas why 34 of our developed eggs didn't pip? Any and all advice, input, or ideas are greatly appreciated.
Upon researching after the chick with the curled in foot, the Hubbard Incubation Guide states turning eggs 96 times per day was optimal. My incubator was only set to turn every 90 minutes. So on day 4, I reprogrammed it to turn every 10 minutes (I meant to do 15 minutes but I mistakenly do 10 and read it wouldn't hurt it, so I left it). I also read turning was most important days 3-7 so on a day after day 10 but before day 16, I reprogrammed the incubator to turn every 60 minutes because it seemed turning more frequently wasn't necessary anymore.
I also used some external thermometers to determine my incubator wasn't accurate and known of my thermometers were either. I had a meat thermometer which I could calibrate and it said the incubator was 3⁰F lower than it actually was. I'm unsure of the accuracy, however, considering that thermometer has a probe designed to be submerged in meat so I dont know if it reads air temperature well. Furthermore, it only reads to the whole number (i.e., no decimal places), and the aforementioned guide recommends temps which change by tenths of a point. But I cranked up the heat on day 4 by 3⁰, before adjusting, the meat thermometer said the bottom part of the incubator was around 97⁰. My incubator is a double stack and has styrofoam encasing the bottom layer but nothing surrounding the top so I wrapped it in a blanket but according to unreliable thermometers (before I started using the meat thermometer), it made the bottom a few degrees hotter than the top. So I removed the blanket and the meat thermometer deemed the bottom 2⁰ hotter than the top. On the last day, the bottom said 98⁰ and the top said 100⁰. 1 of 13 viable eggs hatched on the top and 11 of 34 hatched on the bottom.
As for humidity, a local who has hatched eggs suggested we don't put any water in the incubator until the end. It is a very dry winter here so I put water in anyways. The incubator and unreliable thermometers read a humidity range of 43-50% and dropped down in the 20s and 30s as I didn't always add water. I did put water in on day 16 and realized on day 19, I had previously turned the humidifying function of the incubator down and had not increased it. The humidity was around 40%. On day 19 I recognized and corrected the mistake. It was still stuck at 48% humidity. I reset the entire machine and put a humidifier directly next to the incubator to try to raise the humidity. It still only stayed between 50-60% (it was 60-70% on the previous hatches).
Any ideas why 34 of our developed eggs didn't pip? Any and all advice, input, or ideas are greatly appreciated.
one zipped all they way around and then nothing. I opened the incubator to set a bowl of water not noticing one had pipped (it was fully zipped around at that point) so I'm thinking I may have zapped the humidity and it shrink wrapped? That was over 24hrs ago. One is fully hatched but seems stuck in the shell halfway in and halfway out. Not sure if I should intervene but there are so many pips, I'm reluctant to open the incubator. Any insight is appreciated. I may start a new thread to get some advice on the half hatched chick; the fully zipped one seems gone 
