Any ideas?

[b2c2chicks]

Here are the facts:
-We set 12 Mosaic eggs on 12/6.
-set 12 Marans on 12/10
-set 12 Mutts on 12/14
-set 12 Marans on 12/17

All in a gqf 1502. Humidity has stayed consistent at 45%, temp at 99.8.

All eggs were shipped. We let them rest for 12 hours before setting, then placed on stationary racks for 5 days, adding to the turner at the end of the 5th day.

We just “finished” the mosaic hatch yesterday, and the 1st Marans are scheduled to go into our separate Hatcher today.

Yes...separate hatcher...which might be our problem. It’s a gqf 1588. We have yet to have what I would consider a successful hatch in it. I would leave them in the 1502 however I don’t want to up the humidity for the Marans when the mutt eggs would only have 1 day to recover from high humidity before they go on lockdown. (The last Marans won’t matter I feel because they’re spaced out enough to where they’d have a few days for us to tweak humidity and re work the air cells should it become too much.)

We ultimately ended up setting 9 mosaic eggs into the 1588 on 12/24. I candled beforehand...3 were iffy (didn’t see movement but saw chicks in 2, one was just a black blob it appeared). The other 6 looked splendid. Moving, all appropriate air cells. Temp set at 99.9, verified with another thermometer 99.8. Incubator humidity at 65%, hygrometer verified said 67%.

After all of this, I did change something up (since I’ve never had a great hatch in it) and placed the eggs in a paper carton with holes poked in the bottom. I don’t like the idea of chicks beating each other to death and thought maybe that might affect the hatch rate.

**unrelated but may provide insight as to what I’m doing wrong** my last hatch in the 1588 was around 30% successful, with the last 3 chicks going to day 24 and pipping, and then getting stuck to shells. I assisted, saved the 3, but had to cull one because it was so far gone (weak, couldn’t walk, crooked toes...lesson learned: never assisting again). It’s like the other two were lacquered to where she’ll was stuck to their backs and it took forever to fall off. Not even water could loosen it up enough to come off. This led me to think it could be a humidity issue/shrinkwrapping.

Fast forward to now. One mosaic pipped on day 20, hatched on 21. Three more pips on day 21, another hatched great. The 3rd was found this morning with its beak hanging out, lifeless. I watched our camera (we video them sometimes), and it doesn’t appear to have put up much of a struggle for long. Like it just died less than 12 hours after pipping. My husband touched its beak and said it won’t even move, like the chick is glued inside of the egg. As for the 4th chick, it hatched about 15 hours after pipping, came out this morning and appears to have a ball of yolk/intestines protruding from its belly. We aren’t sure if it’s going to make it. We took the 2 wild ones out for the brooder, so they didn’t pick at it, and there was obviously no other pips. The rest of the eggs are just hanging out Incase they aren’t dead. It’s day 22 so I’m leaving them alone until 24.

I would like to figure out what could be wrong before I add the Marans to the hatcher tonight. Does this sound like too low of a humidity at 65%? Should I up it? I read there should be slight condensation but I have never had condensation appear in the 1588. Maybe that’s my problem?

Or does this sound like the temp was too low considering the one little guy hatched with a partially unabsorbed yolk? They were all great going into lockdown!

There are signs that point me toward too low humidity, but then again there are signs that have me thinking maybe 45% for 18 days was too high of humidity (for example, the sticky goo gluing the chicks inside the shell, should that even be there?)

Thanks in advance for any input! I don’t want to kill a batch of Marans with a stupid mistake.

 

[Mosey2003]

If they were truly at 45% all through to day 18 and then they were stuck in their shells in the hatcher, that implies to me that the hatching humidity was too low. Or the incubating humidity is much higher than you think.

I have a 1588 too, and I could not get the thing to rebound up to temp and stay stable, which was unusual considering it sits next to my 1602n that is rock solid. Figured something out a few months ago. Take the lid off and look at the underside. Amongst some of the yellow parts there are holes and such, hold your vacuum hose flush over all of them and suck them out, they seem to get clogged with chick dust/fluff. Been working bang on since I did that.

Personally, I won't hatch in cartons at all. Nor incubate. They disrupt the airflow around the eggs and the cardboard ones suck up moister. Are you SURE the 1588 is at 65%? Have you calibrated the hygrometer you're using to check that? Myself, I use a calibrated thermometer with a wick on it as a wet bulb and then consult a wet/dry chart.

 

[Mosey2003]

Long story short, I would advise you to recalibrate all of your thermometers and hygrometers and vacuum the lid of the 1588 (unplugged). Then see where you stand. The unabsorbed yolk could imply lower temperature, or it could just be a stunted individual.

Oh! Another thought, how is your ventilation? The cabinet should be open around the width of a number two pencil. I hope you don't have any plugs in the 1588?

 

[Mosey2003]

I also wouldn't have left them sitting still for 5 days, 36 hours is usually what I see recommended as a rest for shipped eggs. Not sure if 5 days would end up with some of them sticking, but it's longer than I would advise.

And at the end of the day, it's still shipped eggs, with all the trouble those entail. What were those breeders fed? How were the eggs handled and stored until they shipped? Would not surprise me to have a lot of quitters on shipped eggs period.

 

[b2c2chicks]

If they were truly at 45% all through to day 18 and then they were stuck in their shells in the hatcher, that implies to me that the hatching humidity was too low. Or the incubating humidity is much higher than you think.

I have a 1588 too, and I could not get the thing to rebound up to temp and stay stable, which was unusual considering it sits next to my 1602n that is rock solid. Figured something out a few months ago. Take the lid off and look at the underside. Amongst some of the yellow parts there are holes and such, hold your vacuum hose flush over all of them and suck them out, they seem to get clogged with chick dust/fluff. Been working bang on since I did that.

Personally, I won't hatch in cartons at all. Nor incubate. They disrupt the airflow around the eggs and the cardboard ones suck up moister. Are you SURE the 1588 is at 65%? Have you calibrated the hygrometer you're using to check that? Myself, I use a calibrated thermometer with a wick on it as a wet bulb and then consult a wet/dry chart.

I’ll check all of this when I get home. I did notice some chick fuzz and dust on top of the yellow fan but we’ve only used that one twice. I had the same model before that arrived from Amazon with a forklift puncture in the side, and I didn’t have time to replace it so I used it then sent it back...I had a better hatch with it than the replacement they sent (which is the one I have now). All of this could be factors as to why something is off. I will definitely calibrate the therm/hygrometer tonight just to rule that out. Thanks for the info!

 

[b2c2chicks]

Well....after examining the remaining eggs (I candled first), it looks like growth was stunted at some point. I was thinking low temp or too high humidity. LO and behold the styrofoam thermometer was lower by 1.5°, and my backup was running 1.0° higher (but I knew that and accounted for it). Normally I wouldn’t think it would affect it that much, but we had to place the 1588 in our hallway stairwell (since we had people coming over for Christmas and needed counter space in the kitchen) going to the basement. We plugged up a heater that kept it 72°, but the wall stays cold and I’m sure there was fluctuation. We will try it this way and see if there’s any changes with this next hatch.

I’m thinking it’s temp related because all development was perfect in the 1502 up until they went into the 1588. And they all died around 19 or 20. A couple had pipped the internal membrane. There seems to be quite a bit of fluid so if the temp change doesn’t fix it I’ll know it’s humidity related.