Can't Seem to Catch a Break

[Impatient]

Hey guys,
Some of you have probably been watching my thread about the assisted hatch I just had where out of 9 eggs, I got one miracle chick, but this post isn't about him lol. If you're curious, you can read about it here:
Hatch from Hell

Tuesday (8/28, 11pm) I started another batch of 8 eggs given to me from my friend with a backyard flock. Everything had been going well regarding temp and humidity in the incubator. Because of the relative humidity where I live, I run my incubator "dry", but really the humidity hovers between 35-50%.

Today, my city got hit with a storm, not even a bad storm, but a surge went through my house and it blew ALL my breakers, fried 3 of my $100+ surge protectors w/back up batteries (yes, even the batteries fried!) and of course, got the incubator.

So my incubator is still trying to work, I've flipped all my breakers and am hoping maybe the incubator will be okay, though I lost power for a bit and it's currently reading at 90F and attempting to reheat. Luckily, I had just moved my chick to a brooder and unplugged my other incubator before the storm hit, but I haven't sterilized and cleaned it yet, so now trying to quickly do that in case the other one is indeed fried. I'd rather give it a chance to work before messing with the eggs because power wasn't out for long and it shouldn't be too bad I'm hoping....Just so fricken annoying


Anyhow, these are the eggs:

5 from various Easter eggers, should produce olive eggs since friends only roo is a Maran. 3 Mixed blue/copper and black/copper Maran eggs.

Edit:
Forgot to mention the incubator I'm using. It's a Magic Fly (Chinese incubator, multiple names, Janoel 12 is it's common reference) w/auto turning and forced air. Not the best incubator, but for the price and what I was looking for it serves its purpose and I did get a live chick against all odds while using it, so there's that.

 

[Leaguinea]

Aww, I feel so bad for you. Hope all works out okay. I think you and I have got the same luck when it comes to hatching. my last set, out of 26 eggs only 13 were fertile, and only 3 hatched then 1 died a couple days later leaving me with 2 Keets.
The currant batch is not looking good at all, it's day 21 (7 more to go) and I am not seeing any movements when I candle them I am not expecting much from them.

 

[geina]

I would like some blue eggs to hatch but can't afford the on line prices and ideas on how to get eggs without killing my finances? Thanks

 

[Impatient]

Aww, I feel so bad for you. Hope all works out okay. I think you and I have got the same luck when it comes to hatching. my last set, out of 26 eggs only 13 were fertile, and only 3 hatched then 1 died a couple days later leaving me with 2 Keets.
The currant batch is not looking good at all, it's day 21 (7 more to go) and I am not seeing any movements when I candle them I am not expecting much from them.

Wishing you luck! With that kind of hatch rate (3/13fertile) I'd worry that there are issues with incubation fluctuations. Do you have multiple thermometers in the unit? If you know temp and humidity are fine, then it may just be the eggs. Are you using shipped eggs or are they from your own flock or a local flock? If the layers aren't getting the right nutrition that can lead to poor hatch rates as well. Fingers crossed though!

I would like some blue eggs to hatch but can't afford the on line prices and ideas on how to get eggs without killing my finances? Thanks

Well there are a few breeds that fall into the "Easter egger" spectrum varying from blue to green to olive colored eggs. My best suggestion would be to see if anyone near you has a flock with those breeds. I can't think of them all off the top of my head, but if you google "Easter Egg chicken breeds" you'll get a list. Also sometimes farm supply stores will custom order chicks for you if you wanted to go that route. There's also sections of the forum where people sell and trade eggs/chicks/item's, so always worth a shot there. You could also try making a post and seeing if maybe any members are near you who would be willing to sell some eggs. Just know shipped eggs, no matter where you get them from, tend to have a lower hatch rate due to the conditions the eggs go through during shipping. I don't know how many eggs you're looking for, but many hatcheries will charge less the more you get.

 

[Leaguinea]

Wishing you luck! With that kind of hatch rate (3/13fertile) I'd worry that there are issues with incubation fluctuations. Do you have multiple thermometers in the unit? If you know temp and humidity are fine, then it may just be the eggs. Are you using shipped eggs or are they from your own flock or a local flock? If the layers aren't getting the right nutrition that can lead to poor hatch rates as well. Fingers crossed though!

Incubator is pretty steady in holding the temperature from what I have been monitoring. (recording at least 2xs a day) I do have 2 additional thermometers in there to measure and they all are pretty steady.
The eggs are from my own hens and I think some of the problem lies there. I have made some changes to their diet and have noticed a difference in their laying so might also see a difference in their hatch rate.
I really appreciate everyone who gives assistance on this site as I am so new to this world of incubation.
Are some breeds easier to hatch than others?

 

[Impatient]

Incubator is pretty steady in holding the temperature from what I have been monitoring. (recording at least 2xs a day) I do have 2 additional thermometers in there to measure and they all are pretty steady.
The eggs are from my own hens and I think some of the problem lies there. I have made some changes to their diet and have noticed a difference in their laying so might also see a difference in their hatch rate.
I really appreciate everyone who gives assistance on this site as I am so new to this world of incubation.
Are some breeds easier to hatch than others?

You said keets in your first post so I'm assuming we're talking guineas? I've honestly never had them so I don't know how much help I can offer, especially in regards to breeds. I've only had chickens, but I assume certain basics hold true such as proper hen nutrition, keeping the incubator regular, making sure the eggs are turning. How old are the guinea hens you're collecting from? Age plays a factor in egg viability in regards to too young or old, same can be said for your fertilizing male. Since with your last hatch only half were ever fertilized, it's very possible your male is having issues, could be as simple as trimming the female tail feathers for easier access, or maybe you have too many females for him to service reliably, or he's very young or old? Again, I'm going off what I know about chickens as to causes I would investigate.

 

[Impatient]

Woot! I'm excited and worried at the same time. So my incubator seems fried, swapped it out, but it looks like the outlet itself might be fried and there's still power surges going on throughout my house (the wiring is from 1920 and really sucks). So moved it to a different outlet, fingers crossed. Good news, 7/8 eggs definitely fertile and developing!!! I even saw a heart beat in one (I've never had light enough eggs to see it clearly). However, 2 eggs look like they're not turning properly in the Turner as the embryo is stuck to the egg side. So I've repositioned the eggs and am hoping that helps. Seems like everything will be fine if my incubator can get back to temp.

 

[Impatient]

Well incubator is back at temp and holding, fingers crossed!

 

[Impatient]

Alright haven't updated for a bit, was preparing all week for Hurricane Irma, now we're only getting a tropical storm, however I still may lose power for an extended time. Luckily I have friends on a different power grid than I and when hurricane Mathew hit us last year, they never lost power and I lost power for 10days. So today I've dropped my incubator off with them and fingers crossed the same holds true for this storm and Mathew, best I can do lol.

Before dropping them off, I candled all the eggs. One was infertile (maran), one was an early quitter (EE), but I had 6 with healthy veining and moving embryos

The early quitter:

 

[Impatient]

My babies are back home!!! It was AWFUL being separated from them, luckily I have good friends and they updated me twice a day while they had them to let me know the temp. Candled as soon as I got home because I was super worried they would've cracked during the bumpy ride to and from my friends place, but nope, everyone intact and kicking. I've put the eggs into lockdown, it's day 14, but I've read some people initiate lockdown early and have really successful hatches. So trying it and we'll see what happens