DIY Hatcher Disaster! Please help troubleshoot

[PD-Riverman]

Haha, we love your plan! Hubby was actually thinking of firing 65 + shots into it to commemorate the lost chicks...

But now the plot thickens!! Get this:

DAY 21
3/5 chicks are hatched in there, fluffy and well. 2 are my OE that ALWAYS hatch. 1 is a Swedish Flower that are always tricky to hatch. The 2 remaining eggs, doing nothing so far are Swedish Flower. One interesting note- one of the chicks was panting. Temps were a constant 100 throughout, humidity 65%.

In the GQF things look like they will be a high % hatch as per usual. There were 2 chicks who pipped and died, 2 other eggs doing nothing (the Swedish Flowers) and 57 chicks either hatched or almost hatched. On another note, I did see one chick panting in the GQF as well.

Your thoughts, please.....

Don't worry about the panting----that's common. The Homemade sounds like you got the problems worked out----That is Good. Try it again with a bigger load---chicks that are sure to hatch-----just checking to make sure the smell will not be a problem!! I am happy for you!!! You might be won the war without shooting it or setting it on fire!!!

 

[aart]

Great!! Sounds like maybe the paint fumes were not, or are no longer, an issue.

 

[yellowherb]

It sounds to me as if humidity was the issue. With so much condensation running down the door, that's not really normal..
You have to remember doing a dry run, with no eggs in there, that eggs themselves will provide some humidity, especially during hatch(chicks are wet and have to dry, adding to the humidity level). My hatcher that Gpop1 made is very sensitive showing me the temps and humidity, I can watch the fluctuations of both as chicks are close to hatching and just hatching.

On your autopsy of the first fail were the chicks excessively wet or sticky or gooey?

I respect the advice everyone gives but one poster was correct in what works for him does not work for everyone, we all pretty much have different equipment which reacts to the way we hatch differently, whereas I can open my hatcher door every 5 minutes and nothing goes screwy, not a lot of others can do that. I will often open my door a crack if I see excess condensation because I know it's a minute amount of humidity that will determine if my hatch is 100% or a bomb. If my water reservoir is freshly filled with hot water my humidity will sky rocket and I have to vent some. And that's only using one tiny bowl with a sliver gqf sponge in it.

Good luck with all your future hatches

ps Silicone not fully cured releases ammonia. I've killed a lot of fish in the past with a home made tank I did not let cure long enough! Its also hard now days to find pure silicone and not silicone with mold inhibitors, which also kills fish and I would think could not be healthy for little chick lungs. Birds are more sensitive to things than we are (pet birds anyway and I would assume it may affect chicken chicks too).

 

[WestCoast Farm]

Thanks so much to all of you for all of your help. I'll never forget how much this forum helped us through a very stressful and confusing time... Especially you, Riverman, for your help every step of the way!!

I opened the eggs that didn't hatch in the hatcher this time and the chicks were malpositioned. So that was even more promising.

Yellowherb, to answer your Q, in the disaster hatch the chicks looked like normal day 19-20 chicks. Not overly wet, internally pipped or about to. They looked perfect but dead. I took pics if it's not too graphic to share.

I do think in hindsight there was a fume issue. I could smell it, but hubby couldn't. Something wasn't fully cured, whether it was the paint, glue, sealer or a combo of all those things.

Ventilation and air flow were definitely inadequate. Solid shelves- never again!

I'm taking Riverman's advice and hatching only on mesh bottomed trays from now on.

You guys are awesome!!!

 

[yellowherb]

so sorry your hatch failed, It's tough. I can't even stand doing egg topsy when I loose one. I did it once and the chick was deformed, extreme cross beak, so I never open the non hatchers any more. It's easier for me to accept that it was just not meant to hatch. I can understand why you had to do a eggtopsy with the new hatcher. I really hope your next hatch with it goes perfectly

 

[PD-Riverman]

Thanks so much to all of you for all of your help. I'll never forget how much this forum helped us through a very stressful and confusing time... Especially you, Riverman, for your help every step of the way!!

I opened the eggs that didn't hatch in the hatcher this time and the chicks were malpositioned. So that was even more promising.

Yellowherb, to answer your Q, in the disaster hatch the chicks looked like normal day 19-20 chicks. Not overly wet, internally pipped or about to. They looked perfect but dead. I took pics if it's not too graphic to share.



I do think in hindsight there was a fume issue. I could smell it, but hubby couldn't. Something wasn't fully cured, whether it was the paint, glue, sealer or a combo of all those things.

Ventilation and air flow were definitely inadequate. Solid shelves- never again!

I'm taking Riverman's advice and hatching only on mesh bottomed trays from now on.

You guys are awesome!!!

Hey, I just try to Help, I for sure would Love to see a GREAT hatch to Everyone that hatches. So much time goes into it---It hurts when it turns out bad. I have a Burning desire to "FIX" all the problems everyone has---I sit here some times and wish I could travel to everyones location that has a problem and see if we could work together to get GREAT hatches. But I know I can't----So I try to offer some help from here. If ever you want to ask a question----or anyone wants too---PM me because I have replied to so many questions on here---I can barely re-check some---I might miss it in a regular post. Good Luck.

 

[gpop1]

Just for future reference or for other people reading this post they do make paints that are meant to be zero voc based. A lot of people who own parrots will not allow a fully grown bird back in to a room that has been painted for at least 2 weeks and with a little research you can find the paints that are recommended. (pet safe and bird safe are not the same thing)

Im really glad to see you have the problem fixed and riverman has helped you get the hatcher balanced out so hopefully you can get close to a 100% viable hatch rate.