Early quitters

[Chuckkeeper]

Here are some pics of the same egg at:

3 day
11 day (I could see movement)
14 day (shriveled, dead)

Why is this happening???

Someone please help!

I am running 37.5 C and 40% for the first 18 days. I had been blaming postal eggs, but these eggs were my own and the other eggs followed the same pattern.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have a few questions.
Have you had success with this incubator and the same thermometers?
Have you successfully hatched eggs from these same breeders before?
Tell us about your breeder nutrition. Protein, vitamin levels of feed, especially A, D and E. Or what brand and type of feed are you using.
How frequent is the egg turning?
How are you measuring temperature and humidity?

 

[Chuckkeeper]

I have a few questions.
Have you had success with this incubator and the same thermometers?
Have you successfully hatched eggs from these same breeders before?
Tell us about your breeder nutrition. Protein, vitamin levels of feed, especially A, D and E. Or what brand and type of feed are you using.
How frequent is the egg turning?
How are you measuring temperature and humidity?

Hello. Thanks for your reply.


Have you had success with this incubator and the same thermometers?

1. Well, technically yes. One earlier hatch with 12 eggs. 1 egg was successful! But... several died young, and two died much later.

Have you successfully hatched eggs from these same breeders before?

1. See above. Just the one egg out of 12.

Tell us about your breeder nutrition. Protein, vitamin levels of feed, especially A, D and E. Or what brand and type of feed are you using.

1. Unfortunately I don't know for purchased eggs. I will ask.
2. For my own eggs, the hens are on a small holder layers pellets

How frequent is the egg turning?

1. Automated, 2 hourly, days 1-18

How are you measuring temperature and humidity?

1. In built thermometer plus two separate thermometers and hygrometers

Thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thanks for such concise answers.
My questions relate to what causes failures in the 7-17 day range.
OK, your turning is good.
Thermometers should never be trusted. They can be off by at least 1 or 2C and that's not close enough for bringing embryos to term.
1 out of 12 means something is wrong.
Layer pellets can produce eggs but not likely nutritious enough to pack the egg with the nutrients that make the embryo grow full term and bust out of the egg on time.

My suggestion is to get a guaranteed accurate thermometer or calibrate one you have.
Boost breeder nutrition with supplements to bring amino acids vitamins and minerals to a higher level. Amino acids should be: methionine .5%, lysine 1%, cystine .75%.
Manganese should be at least 85 ppm.
A over 5,000 IU
D over 2,000 IU
E over 50 IU per pound.
You can verify humidity is proper by weighing eggs and insure they are losing about 0.65% weight per day. I use gram scales and don't pay much attention to relative humidity since all eggs porosity is different.

 

[Tonyroo]

Are your hands clean every time you handle your eggs?

 

[mcdze]

yes, and 'very' careful how you handle eggs especially in the early stages of development .. imo they are extremely delicate and fragile in the first couple of weeks and can be damaged easily with even a slight jarring .. so candling alot .. prolly not a good idea .. i do it once at 8 days or so and am real careful ..

 

[Ebony Rose]

I incubate quail eggs, they take about 18 days. I don't bother candling any more. Less work for me, less risk for the eggs. It's not like they're in the incubator long enough to explode.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Do you have the air holes in the incubator open?

 

[Chuckkeeper]

Thanks for such concise answers.
My questions relate to what causes failures in the 7-17 day range.
OK, your turning is good.
Thermometers should never be trusted. They can be off by at least 1 or 2C and that's not close enough for bringing embryos to term.
1 out of 12 means something is wrong.
Layer pellets can produce eggs but not likely nutritious enough to pack the egg with the nutrients that make the embryo grow full term and bust out of the egg on time.

My suggestion is to get a guaranteed accurate thermometer or calibrate one you have.
Boost breeder nutrition with supplements to bring amino acids vitamins and minerals to a higher level. Amino acids should be: methionine .5%, lysine 1%, cystine .75%.
Manganese should be at least 85 ppm.
A over 5,000 IU
D over 2,000 IU
E over 50 IU per pound.
You can verify humidity is proper by weighing eggs and insure they are losing about 0.65% weight per day. I use gram scales and don't pay much attention to relative humidity since all eggs porosity is different.

Thank you so much. That's incredibly interesting and will shape my next attempt.

 

[Chuckkeeper]

Do you have the air holes in the incubator open?

There isn't one! It's a Brinsea Covina 12