chicks die on day 18

[cwesson]

chicks die on day 18 why

 

[loveourbirds]

this can be caused by a lot of things, so i need to ask some questions.

what is your brooder setup? and what kind of bedding?
medicated or unmedicated starter, where do you buy it?
are you hatching yourself, or buying from another source?
do the chicks act cold?
what does their manure look like?

 

[cwesson]

I am sorry I did not make my self clear day 18in the incubator

 

[loveourbirds]

im assuming your talking about chickens.

what kind of incubator? automatic turner?
are the eggs shipped, or your own?

 

[cwesson]

Gqf1502 with turner eggs are shipped

 

[loveourbirds]

ok, i know the incubator well.... are all the shipped eggs coming from the same place?
have you calibrated your thermometer? even if you have the digital model, they sometimes arent accurate.

how are you controlling your humidity?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might look through this article. It’s got some good stuff in it.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html

One possibility is that you have them upside down. If you incubate with pointy side up so the air cell is on the bottom, they are not likely to make it.

Did you turn them the first two weeks? If they are not turned properly they can die in that third week. Body parts may not form in the right places and when they have to depend on those body parts, they die. Turning affects other things too, like membrane development. I know you said you have a turner so this is almost certainly not your problem, but I’m not afraid to ask a silly question.

I’m not familiar with that incubator, forced air or still air? If it is still air, another possibility is that they could not breathe. They need a fresh supply of oxygen through that porous shell. If you have the plugs in so there is no air circulation, they may have died from lack of oxygen. This is not important the first week or so, but late in incubation it becomes very important.

Did you calibrate your instruments so you are sure the temperature and humidity were right? Don’t trust the thermostat that came with the incubator. It could easily be off and you may need to adjust it. Humidity is important too.

That’s all I can think of right now. Good luck figuring it out.

 

[loveourbirds]

i can answer the incubator question some. seems they went offline its a forced air cabinet, 3 turning trays, hatching area on bottom. it turns every 2 hours. i have 3 of the older units with wafer thermostats. with the wafers they all hold temps very well as long as the ambient temp is above 50. if i remember right the 1502 is a fully digital unit and i hear of problems every now and then with the readouts. im thinking its temperature.
they do have some issues with humidity, especially with the automatic humidity system (optional). i use 7x10 cake pans in mine, i add about 3-4 cups of water each day around 5 pm - 3 on rainy or wet days, 4 on dry days. it usually dries out around 3 pm. this fluctuates the humidity between 50% and 35% with our average summertime conditions. if i add more water it jumps above 60% pretty easily. i didnt mention, this is with all vents open. when i add the water, i use the manual turning switch and turn the eggs one full rotation stopping back where they were originally.

if all the eggs came from the same farm, it could be the way they are shipped; or a nutritional issue on that farm. possibly even illness.

ridgerunner - here is a closeup of eggs set in one of mine, its the only pic i have to help you on the incubator. - i hadn't thought about them being set upside down- Great call!


i call mine sportsman cabinets if that helps you to know the incubator.