Anyone want to help me figure out how I killed my chicks?

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Day 22 with one hatched chick and the rest dead prior to internal pip... I'd check your thermometer again and up the temp by half a degree and try again. Every new incubator in a new situation takes a few tries to get it perfect. Don't sweat it. Just sounds like temp was a bit lower than ideal.

x2, and I'd use at least 2 thermometers, just to make sure one isn't messed up.

 

[mstricer]

My incubator has 2 infront on in the back. The hovabators have 2 on top and lots of small holes in bottom. You should put some holes at the top and some more around bottom edges

 

[runswithchicken]

Thanks for the ideas. I'm going to put a couple more vents in it and try raising the temp slightly and see if that helps.

 

[yinepu]

carbon dioxide poisoning

if the humidity and temp were correct throughout incubation 9and air cells were the correct size).. chances are the problem would be that the chicks didn't get enough oxygen

think of it this way
hot air holds less oxygen than cool air
humid air holds less oxygen than dry air
developing eggs and hatching chicks need oxygen

so when you increase the humidity at lockdown you are lowering the oxygen holding capacity of the air


I always recommend that all vents always be open.. but especially at lockdown

with a homemade bator you have to experiment and see how many vents you will need... more eggs incubating at one time means you will need more air exchange than if you have only a couple of eggs incubating

 

[runswithchicken]

I think you're right, when I told DH it was hatch day he even asked, will they have enough oxygen? I said yeah, there's a hole in the bottom and a little gap where the wires come through the top. Duh, I should have realized... Live and learn I guess.

 

[SallysCrazyFarm]

carbon dioxide poisoning

if the humidity and temp were correct throughout incubation 9and air cells were the correct size).. chances are the problem would be that the chicks didn't get enough oxygen

think of it this way
hot air holds less oxygen than cool air
humid air holds less oxygen than dry air
developing eggs and hatching chicks need oxygen

so when you increase the humidity at lockdown you are lowering the oxygen holding capacity of the air


I always recommend that all vents always be open.. but especially at lockdown

with a homemade bator you have to experiment and see how many vents you will need... more eggs incubating at one time means you will need more air exchange than if you have only a couple of eggs incubating

Yes, I agree. Sometimes you can even smell that stale incubated egg smell when you open the bator, even when you have a fan. I always keep most of my vents open on my bators. Eggs expirate carbon dioxide and waste. And check to make sure the air cells are large enough for them to hatch. They need to lose moisture during incubation. If the air cells aren't large enough, the chick will develop, but then die before they even pip.

 

[phoenix912]

http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf I hope this link works. It is a PDF that you can save to your computer. It has really good info about hatching eggs. It also has a chart you can print out to keep track of all 21 days. It is from Texas University. Hope this helps answer some of your questions. Tell me if the link doesnt work so I can try to fix it.

 

[runswithchicken]

Link worked, great resource.