egg-topsy and lockdown number 2, small air cells

[FiveMileFarmer]

Hello all, this is my second lockdown. on my first, I had 6 shipped eggs and 1 form my backyard. all 6 shipped eggs did not make it to lockdown. the one from my yard, made it all the way to lockdown but never hatched. on day 25 i opened it up to find a FULLY FORMED (dead) CHICK, that had not finished absorbing its yolk.

also, the chick, i believe, was upside down in the egg; its feet were at the top end near the air cell. i had a smaller than usual air cell during that lockdown, but deiced it was probably ok and my humidity in the hatcher (brines eco mini) was 70 - 75%. Im still not sure why the chick died, maybe because it was upside down? but i am thinking that the small air cell and TOO HIGH humidity may have contributed. thoughts?

I just started the first day of my second lockdown. I have 5 eggs (2 shipped, 3 from out back) form the 2 shipped eggs: one has a very small but solid air cell attached to the side of the egg. the other has a large, probably normal sized air cell, but it is slightly saddle shaped and one side of it is wiggly. those 2 are in egg cartons, upright.

the 3 from the backyard, also have very small but solid air cells, on the top of the egg. those eggs are on their sides in the hatcher.

since I have 4/5 eggs with a very small air cell, I decided to do the first 24 hours of lockdown dry, AKA no water in the wells, and I am reading about 40% humidity. do you guys think this is a good decision? any thoughts on what may have happenned to my first hatch? any ideas for this one? what about the funky air cells in the shipped eggs (see above)? am i handling those properly? perhaps i should put the one with the air cell on the side on ITS side, instead of upright? any input would be much appreciated!

thanks!

 

[GitaBooks]

Hatching chicks can be so complicated, I know just what your talking about.

I'm not an expert on working an incubator, I've only done so a few times, but here are some things I have learned or read about.
The high humidity may have been an issue, so lowering the humidity before hatch may be wise. However, you don't want your chicks to shrink-wrap inside the egg either. As for the egg in the carton, I would leave it that way. When you see it hatching you can set it on its side if you want, but for now you want the chick to reach the airsac. If a chick's head is not in the right position or the air-sac is out of place, then the chick will suffocate.

If you have any eggs with this issue, assisting the hatch may be helpful or even necessary. I have lost chicks that were fully formed as well, and sometimes they are too weak, sometimes conditions were wrong, sometimes the egg shell was too thick, but it is always very hard.

If you do need to assist, I hope this helps: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1075785/assisted-hatching

Best of luck!

 

[FiveMileFarmer]

Thanks! Anybody else got anything?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I second high humidity. Your air cells are small, they aren't loosing the proper amount of moisture during the incubation process. What was your humidity the first 18 days on both attempts? Did you calibrate your hygrometer(s) and thermometer(s) before you got started?