EGG EMERGENCY, 2 dead one close

[JustAFarmer00]

A few weeks back I started incubating some eggs, about 2-3 days in I added more to the batch. After 21 days have passed my first eggs begin to hatch and it goes perfectly. I extracted the hatchlings because it had already been about 2 days and I made sure to keep the humidity in the incubator stable as well as the temp. About 4 days later the rest begin to hatch. After they all hatched, I found two dead and one extremely lethargic. The surviving ones + the lethargic one are currently in the brooder and I am devastated because I don’t know what went wrong or how I can help. The humidity was a bit high during the second hatch and all of the chicks are extremely crusty. What happened?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Did they die in the incubator or in the brooder? Were they from the first hatch or the second? How long ago did the second bunch hatch? What is your brooder setup like?

 

[nuthatched]

What were your temperature and humidity? What type if eggs? Forced or still air incubator and was that calibrated? Staggered hatches are tricky since the humidity has to be raised to help the chicks who are ready to hatch but that humidity could be too high for the still growing chicks.

 

[JustAFarmer00]

Did they die in the incubator or in the brooder? Were they from the first hatch or the second? How long ago did the second bunch hatch? What is your brooder setup like?

Two died in the incubator before I brought them out. They were in the second hatch group. The brooder is big enough for the number of chicks, I’ve raised more successfully in the same brooder and incubator. Truly at a loss for what could have happened. Second bunch started hatching two days ago, 4 days after first group.

 

[JustAFarmer00]

What were your temperature and humidity? What type if eggs? Forced or still air incubator and was that calibrated? Staggered hatches are tricky since the humidity has to be raised to help the chicks who are ready to hatch but that humidity could be too high for the still growing chicks.

Temp was 99.5 consistently and the humidity was pushing 90% at times. I’m not sure if it is forced or still air, but this incubator has worked in the past without any calibration.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

90% humidity is likely the first problem. Good on the temp. Is it one of those foam box incubators? It's nearly impossible to control humidity levels in these. Better if it's forced-air (has a fan with the heater).

 

[nuthatched]

Temp was 99.5 consistently and the humidity was pushing 90% at times. I’m not sure if it is forced or still air, but this incubator has worked in the past without any calibration.

90% humidity causes issues, unfortunately, that might be the problem.

 

[JustAFarmer00]

90% humidity is likely the first problem. Good on the temp. Is it one of those foam box incubators? It's nearly impossible to control humidity levels in these. Better if it's forced-air (has a fan with the heater).

Thanks for the advice, I think the lethargic one will make it, but I’ll take note of this for next time.