dead chicks at lockdown

DukesDucks

Crowing
Oct 6, 2019
1,346
4,434
466
Eastern Ontario, Canada
I have successfully hatched peachicks using incubators for a couple of years. This year I also had chicken and pheasant eggs so I put them together in the incubators. Peachicks have hatched but all the others have died. Seemed fine at lockdown. The eggs are full of liquid and dead chick.
I'm trying to figure out why and advice is confusing. I keep humidity 65%, temp 95, vent holes open for fresh air. Humidity too high, too low? Should I not lockdown eggs of different varieties together?
 
Temp is too low. Needs to remain at 99.5-100.0-deg-F throughout the incubation period, including lockdown.
Humidity may be a tad bit low as well for chicken eggs (at lockdown, needs to be between 70-80%), but I don't know about pheasant or peafowl. Recommendations for quail eggs are to bump humidity up a bit higher due to their smaller size, so that may translate to pheasant as well, I don't know.
Eggs full of liquid means they died long before lockdown, to reach that stage of decomposition. Did you keep temps at 95-deg before lockdown as well? If so, that's probably why they died. Was there at least one vent open at all times? What was the humidity? Were they turned frequently?
Congratulations on the peachicks!!! That's good news, anyway - but so sorry you lost the pheasants and chickens.
 
Thanks for the advice. I think my problem stems from the different requirements between breeds. I have 3 small incubators plus 2 large homemade ones so from now on I'll only put one kind in each.
I found awesome, detailed instructions on how to build an incubator. I started running the first one last week and have been running it since. It has been way more accurate and consistent that the smaller ones, plus holds more eggs. Just finishing up building the second one.
 
Thanks for the advice. I think my problem stems from the different requirements between breeds. I have 3 small incubators plus 2 large homemade ones so from now on I'll only put one kind in each.
I found awesome, detailed instructions on how to build an incubator. I started running the first one last week and have been running it since. It has been way more accurate and consistent that the smaller ones, plus holds more eggs. Just finishing up building the second one.
Temperature requirements are the same for all kinds of poultry: 99.5-deg-F.
 

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