bad hatch rate

[kelsochicks]

View attachment 1296710 hi i made a home made incubator made out off old wine cooler.i based it off a sportsman incubator fan, heat , and water on top shelf. i have a double wall in the back .the air i believe is coming from the false back and into the fan that then passed along the heat element and across the water supply. i place the thermometer on the tray were the eggs should hatch ( don't know if that's the correct place to put the thermometer) .

i been having horrible hatch rate, i candle the eggs at 7 days and 15 days all are fertile and growing , on day 18 i remove from incubator and place on hatcher , i set eggs on the 22 of Feb and on day 18 witch was March 12 i set them on the hatcher, same temp i only increased humidity, its now day 14 and only got 7 eggs to hatch and i place 22 eggs in the hatcher .

could it be that my thermomether is not showing correct temp.

any help thank you . i have the following items on the incubator

 

[JaeG]

That's quite possible. You can calibrate it against a medical grade one (digital or mercury etc) and then just compensate for an difference in temperature when reading yours.

Here's an article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

If none of the others have pipped you can candle them to see what's going on. A live chick will still fill up the egg under the air cell. I've found a dead chick sinks towards the narrow end of the egg, looks very black and there will be a watery layer between it and the air cell. Just try to keep the egg in the same position it's lying in so you don't confuse the chick.

 

[feedman77]

What humidity are you trying to achieve thru incubation?

The thermo is at the correct spot. As stated check against a known to be accurate thermometer.

Did the ones that hatched hatch on time, early or late?

If hatched on time guessing it' probably humidity issue.

 

[kelsochicks]

thank you JaegG i will check thermomether for correct reading . i will candle the other eggs , thank you .

feedman77 trying to get humidity to around 60% +- a few, the chicks hatched a day late and some are still trying to come out of the shell i will give them another day and candle the eggs. thank you .

I forgot to take 4 eggs marked the day the same day those we still in the incubator. could it be them the temp is not correct or humidity , im running the incubator at 37.5 c and 60% humidity .

 

[feedman77]

Humidity is very area specific. If I tried to incubate at 60 I would have a lot of late death and drowned chicks.

I found keeping my humidity between 20 to 30 percent during incubation then raise to 70 plus for lockdown and hatch. Gave me my best hatch rates.

A day late on hatch maybe a degree or 2 low. But within a day is pretty good.

Good luck with one' still trying to hatch