all eggs in incubator dead

[bmiller5661]

My first time using a incubator(farm innovators model 4200). I candled eggs at 9 days & nothing, i went ahead & cracked them open & found 11 of 12 with blood spots. What could cause the early death of all eggs...temp?

 

[HickoryHollow]

Do you mean like this?

 

[bmiller5661]

no the yokes were scrambled & watery with just a small blood spot, a few just had a little blood mixed in with the yoke

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Lots of things could cause them to die off early. What was your temperature and humidity? Where did you source the eggs? Were they shipped? Is your incubator forced air or still air? Were they stored for an extended period of time? Is the breeding flock in good condition? Did you sanitize your incubator and instruments before starting? Did you calibrate the thermometer and hygrometer? Were the eggs oddly shaped or have any other defects? Were they pullet eggs (which tend to have thicker shells and membranes, or other problems)?

There are LOTS of things that can affect a hatch, we need more info.

And, for what its worth, I always let my eggs go until the next candling. Sometimes they some eggs will develop more slowly or quickly than others and I've had eggs that I thought were for sure dead go on to hatch after they went their 21 days.

Incubating is for sure a learning experience, it takes practice!

 

[bmiller5661]

temp was 100 according to thermometer i used to calibrate it with, which was deg different that the one built in to the incubator, which read 92 deg, humidity between 50 & 60% the whole time(did not calibrate the hygrometer), the eggs came from my chickens which are in excellent shape, 12 hens 1 rooster(put rooster in about 6 weeks ago). Incubator was sanitized & is forced air with auto turner(eggs were not sanitized). The eggs looked no different (to me) than any other eggs they had layed in the past year & went from laying box to bator. I was thinking maybe i should double check temp with another thermometer(any suggestions on what to use to calibrate it with?)

 

[HickoryHollow]

"(any suggestions on what to use to calibrate it with?)"

Under your tongue. 98.6!

 

[bmiller5661]

pretty clever, but i meant a type of thermometer

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Okay, a couple of things that jump out at me:

When you calibrate your thermometer, you should put in in a Ziploc baggie with some ice and water. You want it to be about the consistency of a slushie. When you put the thermometer in there, it should go down to 32 degrees. If it doesn't, mark the thermometer or take note of how much its off and remember that when you're using it. Not everyone runs 98.6 and if the thermometer isn't reading correctly, it's not going to give a correct reading now matter what you're checking temp on. I never use one thermometer to calibrate another, if one is off, they'll both be messed up. Do them on their own, every time you incubate (if you have more than one, and its a good idea to have more than one in there).

I notice you didn't mention calibrating your hygrometer, so I'll assume that means you didn't

If you're using the hygrometer that came with your incubator (if it came with one), its always a good idea to have a back up. You should calibrate your hygrometer before every incubation as well.. Calibrating the hygro take a bit longer than the thermometer, but its worth it. Put the hygrometer into a Ziploc bag. Add a bottle cap or some other small container full of moist salt to the bag. Just moist, not wet, if there is excess water on top of the salt, sop it off with a paper towel. Once your hygro and container of salt are in the bag, seal it up and let it sit in the bag undisturbed for 4 hours. When you check the hygrometer, it should read 75%. If it doesn't, quickly remove it from the bag and adjust it to 75%. You're ready to go now.

Something else to consider is maybe try lowering your humidity next time. While you're incubating, the eggs should be loosing moisture as they get closer to hatch time (11-13% of the eggs initial weight should be lost during the first 18 days, if you weigh your eggs). Too much moisture might explain why the eggs were watery when you opened them. I run my incubator somewhere around 25-45% the first 18 days, a much dryer hatch than what the incubators instructions recommend. I will raise or lower the humidity depending on how big or small my air cells are. When the eggs go into lock down, I up the humidity to somewhere around 60-65%. Doing it this way works well for me, but you may have to adjust depending on your own conditions. Your relative humidity where you live may be higher or lower where I am, your house dryer or more moist, and that all factors in to how your eggs will do.

What I meant about the eggs having defects were things like odd shapes (super round or torpedo shaped eggs), calcium deposits (those bumpy, sand papery things on the shell), wrinkles, those types of eggs typically have a harder time hatching. I try to hatch those types of eggs though

and other experiments like old eggs or refrigerated eggs. Sometimes they hatch, sometimes not. Its fun to experiment and amazing to see how life can sometimes persevere, even under the most adverse conditions.

It takes a little time to get into the incubating groove, you have to find what works for you but I do hope some of this will give you a leg up for next time. Good luck, happy hatching

 

[bmiller5661]

thanx for your time & the advice Nikki