Catastrophe! 100 % Failure! graphic pics

[silkiechicken]

Double check the thermometer and lower humidity the next round. The cross beak is a genetic defect. My best guess is that there is a temperature variation in the bator more so than the humidity issue by day 23. Reason be, is if the humidity was too high, I'd expect more to have pipped and drowned rather than arrest in development. With the way the yolks are starting to go in, those are closer to 19/20, with the smaller ones closer to 14-16 day range. This variatoin in development hints that there is a temperature gradient, and you may want to rotate the locations of eggs though incubation next time too.

Edited: Didn't read all the posts, but if that is a still air, you need the temp to be 101.5 at mid top of the eggs, not 99.5 (forced air), and that is probably what did them in.

 

[redsmum]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. Kedreeva, your point about the oyster shells, Yes I am feeding oyster shell free choice also grit. Do you think I should stop?

 

[Kedreeva]

I can't tell you one way or another to stop- if you believe your shells are too thick to pip, then the calcium from the oyster shells may play a part in that and removing them from the chickens' diet should help. If this bad hatch was due to humidity monitoring on your part, then removing the oyster shells will not make a difference. Keep in mind that a well fed backyard flock will more than likely have thicker shells than grocery store shells because they are healthier birds - they will also tend to make for stronger chicks.

Since our birds are free range, we do not give them added grit of any sort. If our birds were penned where they could not free range for grit, I would probably provide them with insoluble granite grit or washed big-grained sand.

 

[silkiechicken]

I wouldn't remove the oyster shells, even if the shells are hard, a chick can still get out of them if all goes well in incubation. In the developing chick, in addition to using the yolk, they leach calcium from the shell for themselves so they do get brittle even if thick.

 

[SportChick]

Quote:
Where do you buy that? My feed store doesn't have it. Right now I am feeding them grit I bought at the pet store. They free range for an hour or so every afternoon when I get home from work so I figure that was not likely enough. They certainly seem to eat their grit all the time, so I figure if they are eating it, they must need it.

 

[Elite Silkies]

I run my humidity around 40% during the first 18 days. I don't up the humidity until they start pipping.

But, my last hatch was the best I have ever had. We were all trying to cope with the death of our Best friends 13 year old daughter, and I completely forgot about the eggs that were suppose to go into lockdown.

I opened the bator to find several pipped and one zipping, so I put them in the lockdown bator and the next morning they were all hatched. The turner was never turned off, and the humidity was never increased. I'm not recommending you do this, but it worked great for me. Might just have been a one time luck of the draw

On day 18 I check to see how much of the egg is filled up, if it's not completely full, then I do not put them into lockdown. I started doing this after another member suggested it. It has been working out really well for me.

If the temps are not correct it could slow down the growth or increase the growth of the chick. But, I would rather have the temps too low rather than too high.

Hope you next hatch goes well for you.

 

[Kedreeva]

@ Sport: If they're being fed it in a food dish, they may not need it, they may be eating it because they think it's food. The granite you can buy (or maybe have shipped to you from) any tractor supply company for about $5 a bag.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/livest...feed/manna-pro-reg-poultry-grit-5-lb--1003027

 

[Warfrost]

All I want to suggest is not to panic too much about the shell thickness. My girls lay eggs with thick shells, and our chicks hatched just fine. I cannot make any comment son the incubator, as our hatches have been under a broody mama.

 

[crossedwires]

i am going to go for a temp spike. you can get away with humidity drifts, and to be totaly honest very very few people have accurate humidity equipment, most pay under $50 for hygrometers and as accurate sensors alone start at around $50, those generaly used have a good 12% margin of error. so i doubt its humidity. if it was me i would double check the thermometer with a good accurate one.
normaly with humidity problems unless its very exstreme you normaly get at least a couple hatch from a batch. but a good temp spike can kill all. i would be suspicious of the thermostat

 

[BillJ]

I'll start a hatch in a day or two after upgrading my incubator with a lazy susan approach and constant rolling. Researching CO2 and incubation it seems that it's the CO2 levels that prompt the chick to pip. Higher CO2 levels earlier and more pipping. So, I wonder if putting a hole in the egg reduces their chances of piping. The extra high humidity the last few days may make the CO2 less easy to pass out of the egg. I looked because I wondered if I closed my incubator too tight can I suffocate the incubating eggs?