1st attempt incubating = disaster :-(

[lotz2612]

Well...1st attempt ever of incubating eggs...DISASTER!!! they were in the bator for over 4 weeks and today i plucked up the courage to chuck them and start again. 2 of the eggs were almost developed (that broke my heart!) but the rest looked like they started developed, then stopped.

Any ideas what I did wrong? They were fertilised cos stuff started to develop...but why would they have stopped?

How can I make the new batch that i put in today be more successful?

 

[Jess N Jeff]

Its kind of hard to tell you what you should do better without knowing what you did exactly with this bunch.
Temp
Humidity
Turning
Type of incubator
What type of birds you were incubating
Was the incubator in a drafty spot
Was temp/hum consistant....etc.

 

[lotz2612]

Temp - about 102-103deg F
Humidity - not sure...dont have a guage...but i made sure the water bowls provided in the bater were topped up
Turning - its automatic so i think its twice / 3 times a day
Type of incubator - Corti 25 Auto Incubator
What type of birds you were incubating - Bantums
Was the incubator in a drafty spot - No..they are in the kitchen away from any drafts
Was temp/hum consistant....etc. - consistant as it can be (temp might go down a bit when i take the lid off to top the water up)

 

[Jess N Jeff]

Temp too high! You want 99.5-101 dep on if you use a fan
You HAVE to check humidity!

Did you read the section about incubating chicks? If not, you really should. Also you can check out dry incubation info too. Read up before starting again. Keep your temps down. Good luck!!!

 

[flgardengirl]

Did your incubator have a fan?

 

[lotz2612]

Yer its a fan one. see...there is a temp guage on it, and it says its under what it should be?! Strange! Oh well...better luck new time!

 

[Kedreeva]

I'd make sure your temp is stable around 99.5-100 and your humidity is somewhere between 30-50%; it can be anywhere in there as long as it's consistent. Chicken eggs hatch in 21 days (Bantams sometimes 19-21, depending), so make sure on Day 18 (or before if yours are a small enough variety) you are removing them from the turner to settle. This helps the chicks determine which way is up and pip their shells properly.

It sounds like yours did not make it to that stage, though, which means something was either off genetically or your temp or humidity was wrong. I'm betting temp.