Candled today - bummer!

[Bantam Chase]

Set 24 eggs 10 days ago, lost 2 to the stinkies.

12 homegrown eggs - 10 Americana X RIR, 2 ?? X RIR. Older hens, ancient rooster, some refrigerated, some fresh. 1 brown egg stayed in the incubator today.

12 craigslist eggs - refrigerated and ?? on the age of the eggs. 8 got to stay in, though I think one has a blood ring.

Mid-egg temp has been hovering right around 100 degrees, humidity is in the 40% range (some days high 30s, some days low 50s) - I know because I've been charting daily. LG with an auto-turner, only minor temp spikes/dips. That's a 37% development rate and SUPER discouraging! The plan was to order hatching eggs online after this 'test' batch, but I"m thinking of coughing up the big bucks and having chicks shipped.

Thoughts?

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I think it has something to due with the heat outside. Some roosters get "lazy" when it's hot and therefore you won't get as good of a hatch. If you want to try again with eggs, wait until the Fall or order those chicks.

 

[anaiyuk]

37% is pretty good considering you are not sure about the age of the eggs. You should order double what you want as far as shipping eggs. Also, one stinker can ruin a whole batch of good eggs. This is why i candle and throw out any deseased eggs as often as I can! The one with a blood ring should be recandled tomarrow and tossed if need be. it sounds like you are doing pretty good with your incubation process and i assume that the ones that you lost were due to the stinkers you mentioned.