Bad hatch, need advice/help what to do

[envious]

I am really at a loss. My cousin gave us an incubator for free. It recommends to fill the first slot with water the first seven days, then increasing at it goes on. I found out adding one slot bumps it all the way to 75%, so I decided to just fill it a tiny bit as it will alarm you if your humidity drops below 40%. I kept it around 38-65% the first 18 days. During lockdown, I increased it to roughly 75%. Unfortunately, only one of the eggs made it. The others that went into lockdown died, and I don't know what caused it.

Now, to my cousin. She lives an hour away from us, so our humidity is pretty similar. She followed the instructions with the water. Not only that, she opens the incubator three times a day to turn it (machine is automatic) and spray water on it. By lockdown, her humidity was close to 100%. Her incubator had a lot of condensation and it was dripping down to the eggs. Everything I read online would leave me to assume that the chicks will drown due to the excessive humidity. Yet... out of her 11 eggs, 10 hatched. She even took out the chicks before they even fluffed up so they can't disturb the other pipped eggs.

We live in southern Louisiana, so humidity is decently high. My parents bought a new incubator, the Maticoopx, but now, after hearing about my cousin's success, they want to raise the humidity to 75-85% the first 18 days and all the way to 100% during lockdown. Everything I read online is misinformation or doesn't pertain to them, according to them. Is anyone able to help me on figuring out how my cousin eggs hatched and why mine didn't? I have images of them at Day 25, but it's a bit messy because my dad was careless when opening it to figure out why they died. All of them seemed to have developed till maybe Day 18 (according to a friend) and died with unabsorbed yolk. He isn't sure what killed them, but thinks it's likely temperature or humidity issues, but I would like a second (or even more) opinion if possible.

 

[Debbie292d]

I would first get yourself a separate hygrometer/thermometer. I have four incubators and not one of them is accurate. You can find some under $10 or spend a little more and get a good one like Govee brand.

Who knows how she was successful doing that, as sometimes the strangest things happen and chicks will still hatch.

I've hatched close to 500 silkie chicks this year alone, and have always done it the traditional way.

99.5F the entire time
40-50% the first 18 days, then 70%.

I candle after 7 days, then again prior to lockdown.

Don't lose hope. You'll get better at this as you go.

 

[envious]

I would first get yourself a separate hygrometer/thermometer. I have four incubators and not one of them is accurate. You can find some under $10 or spend a little more and get a good one like Govee brand.

Who knows how she was successful doing that, as sometimes the strangest things happen and chicks will still hatch.

I've hatched close to 500 silkie chicks this year alone, and have always done it the traditional way.

99.5F the entire time
40-50% the first 18 days, then 70%.

I candle after 7 days, then again prior to lockdown.

Don't lose hope. You'll get better at this as you go.

I bought a Goabroa, but when I read the instruction manual for our new incubator, it suggests not to use a digital one like that. I tested it in our Maticoopx, and it showed the same humidity but at 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Tested it with our food thermometer and it showed 100 degrees. So I decided to run with it... I'm just worried.

Our humidity right now is around 55-58%. I would love to try dry hatching, but my parents refuses to do it because my last "advice" was bad since I didn't add enough water. But... that isn't too much higher, so it should be fine, right?

 

[Debbie292d]

I bought a Goabroa, but when I read the instruction manual for our new incubator, it suggests not to use a digital one like that. I tested it in our Maticoopx, and it showed the same humidity but at 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Tested it with our food thermometer and it showed 100 degrees. So I decided to run with it... I'm just worried.

Our humidity right now is around 55-58%. I would love to try dry hatching, but my parents refuses to do it because my last "advice" was bad since I didn't add enough water. But... that isn't too much higher, so it should be fine, right?

That should be okay, but I'd watch to be sure it doesn't stay on the high end all the time. Humidity is an average, unlike the temperature is. If the temperature varies, it could kill an embryo. Humidity could be 40, then 12 hours later it's 60, then 40, etc., and you're averaging 50, so that's fine.

 

[envious]

That should be okay, but I'd watch to be sure it doesn't stay on the high end all the time. Humidity is an average, unlike the temperature is. If the temperature varies, it could kill an embryo. Humidity could be 40, then 12 hours later it's 60, then 40, etc., and you're averaging 50, so that's fine.

It is staying at a constant 55-58% right now.