Dead chicks day 21+

[maidstonefarmky]

I'm having a zero hatching rate and I'm losing the chicks between day 16 and 21. I've had six eggs that haven't hatched. Two I opened at day 23 that were still moving so I put them back in and it was too late they shrink-wrapped. The others were dead, two that hadn't absorbed the yolk and the other two had absorbed the yolk but were dead. Anywho, we're using two Little Giant Incubators, one with the automatic turner, the thermometer that came with the incubator and another one that also has a hygrometer, the temperature has been fairly steady at 99.5 to 101.0 for the eggs 0 to 18 days. Then we have another LG without the turner with a pan half the size of the interior full of water, a rolled up wet towel, the LG thermometer and the thermometer with hygrometer,temperature at 99.5 to 101.0, humidity at 70%. I've candled at 3, 10, and 14 days with great results moving, developing embryos. I switch them over to the hatching incubator at day 18 and then nothing. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've recently moved the incubators into a room away from windows, doors, or anything that could effect the temperature or humidity. I'm not opening the eggs until day 26 now just in case the temperature is wreaking havoc on the babies. Any advice or suggestions?

 

[debilorrah]

First off, 70% humidity is way too high. I only use 55% for lockdown!

Secondly, LG bators need a very stable environment to be any good. They need to be in a room where the temp rarely changes and doors are not constantly being opened and closed.

 

[Rebel Rooster]

Quote:
I agree...

there has got to be some low temps for such a delay in hatching!

 

[perolane]

As the others have already mentioned, 70% humidity is much too high for incubation. Also, I would get a better thermometer than the one that came with the LG....your temps could be off. I could never get a decent hatch with styrofoam incubators.

 

[debilorrah]

I would go ahead and open the eggs and I going to bet that they are full of liquid. They have probably drown.

 

[maidstonefarmky]

Thanks for all the feedback! Actually now that I'm thinking of it the first two that I tried to hatch were still in the other incubator but not being turned andthe humidity was 50%. It was their failure that prompted me to get the second incubator. I've read and been told that the humidity should be between 60-70%. Right now it's at 60% in the hatching incubator. I'll try it at 50% again.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

My humidity was 65-70% during the last 3 days and so far, 10 out of the 11 eggs I placed into the incubator at day 18 have hatched and the chicks are doing well (I tossed 1 clear egg at Day 14). Today is 21 and I'm not sure if the last chick will make it or not.


I'd check your hydrometer and make sure it is accurate. When I checked mine, I found it off by 10 percent, so I had to adjust my thinking while monitoring the humidity in the incubator. When my hydrometer read 55-60, that meant my incubator was 65-70 -- If yours is off by 5-10 degrees, then you may have had the humidity up to 75-80 without even realizing it.

 

[britsngrits]

I have a little giant and I noticed that it nearly always takes me 28 days without a fan in it. I believe this is because there is not even distribution of the warm air. My first try I didn't realize the water tray had gone totally dry and they still hatched but I had to help a couple as the membrane was sticking to them. Now that I've been hatching every week for over a month now with it, I know what is normal. I couldn't even tell you what my humidity level is... I just try to make sure there is water in the trays and I have a very good hatch rate even if it takes longer than what we expect. 21 days is not exact every time...

I also have some very large chicks because they are staying in the egg longer... (that is my guess why they are such huge monstors!) Most all of my large ones need a little extra help once they crack the shell open. I've never lost one helping once they made the initial crack on their own... but I have lost a few when I was afraid to jump in when I believed they were in distress.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Also, a LG is a still-air incubator. Still-airs should be run at a minimum of 101.5 at the top of the egg due to the fact they do not have fans. The thermometers that come with those incubators are junk, you need to throw them away and get a good thermo/hygrometer. Try keeping the humidity no higher than 50% during incubation, though I believe dry incubation (humidity @ 35%-45%) works better. Then you want to increase the humidity to around 55%-60%.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Most likely the chicks are so big and having trouble because the air cell is too small (high humidity). This would allow the chick to grow larger than it should and make it have difficulty turning in the egg to hatch.