Eggtopsy: What happened to my egg? {Graphic Pictures}

[clancys coop]

I am new to the forum, and this is my first hatch.

I believe I had some bad eggs (non fertile, old etc ? ) 9 of them didn't start, 2 had blood rings, and it looks like 3 chicks quit early around the same time (I will attach photos)


I had two chicks quit around day 20? Before they pipped anyhow, and one guy left in the incubator (Day 23 who's still alive, but not ready to come out)


These are the eggs that failed to develop (and the blood ring eggs) I cracked these at day 18.














These are my early quitters. The first one was cracked open on day 18,





The second two were cracked today at day 23. SMELLY. One of them looks like it had a double yolk?









The other two just quit. One had a deformed beak (I noticed it was just showing the top half, and gently unfolded the chick. The other I didn't bother extracting from the egg. Perhaps I should have.

 

[wabbit1964]

I did a couple of eggtopsies today but only determined that the few I checked had died early on in development. These images that others posted have helped me understand why the eggs quit at the various stages that I found them.

 

[wabbit1964]

not sure what this one died from it hatched and dried out and that was it

I have had a few chicks die within the first day post hatch as well, they were lethargic and then gone.

 

[harrellkd]

So this is the second time this has happened.....the first time I tried to incubate, none of the chicks made it out. 5 made it to lock down and looked GREAT at day 18, but never hatched. This go around a changed a few things, mainly keeping the humidity higher throughout. Out of 16 that went into lockdown, three hatched. The others looked like the photos below. There were several who had pipped internally, but never attempted external pipping. Any ideas? I'm thinking this cheap styrofoam bator just isn't working for me....

 

[PD-Riverman]

Any ideas? I'm thinking this cheap styrofoam bator just isn't working for me....

I know it is frustrating and I know it happens to others too, BUT I could collect you a Long List of people that use the cheap Styrofoam incubators with good hatch results--I being one of them. You said you made the humidity higher-----that could be part of the problem----might not have been.

Let me ask you a few questions-----

What was your humidity the first 18 days, and what was it the last 3 days???

Did the 3 eggs start hatching on time---early/late????

Did you open the incubator to remove the hatched chicks as soon as they dried??

Did you have to open the incubator from day 19 to day 22 to add water or do anything else?

 

[harrellkd]

I know it is frustrating and I know it happens to others too, BUT I could collect you a Long List of people that use the cheap Styrofoam incubators with good hatch results--I being one of them. You said you made the humidity higher-----that could be part of the problem----might not have been.

Let me ask you a few questions-----

What was your humidity the first 18 days, and what was it the last 3 days???

Did the 3 eggs start hatching on time---early/late????

Did you open the incubator to remove the hatched chicks as soon as they dried??

Did you have to open the incubator from day 19 to day 22 to add water or do anything else?

Yes, I know plenty of people on here do fine with them. That's why I said maybe it isn't working for ME. I don't know if the elevation plays into it at all, or if I really just haven't figured out how to manage the incubator correctly or what. But I seem to be having a hard time with it.

What was your humidity the first 18 days, and what was it the last 3 days??? First attempt: 30-35 then 55-60. Second attempt: 40-45 then 60-70

Did the 3 eggs start hatching on time---early/late???? The first time, none hatched. This time, one (a smaller size egg) hatched a day early. The other two were on day 21

Did you open the incubator to remove the hatched chicks as soon as they dried?? No. They stayed in the incubator

Did you have to open the incubator from day 19 to day 22 to add water or do anything else? Day 19 cracked the side open to add another sponge. No one had pipped at this point. I had to add water to the sponge by using tubing through a vent hole multiple times a day. It has been nearly impossible to keep up the humidity.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Yes, I know plenty of people on here do fine with them. That's why I said maybe it isn't working for ME. I don't know if the elevation plays into it at all, or if I really just haven't figured out how to manage the incubator correctly or what. But I seem to be having a hard time with it.

What was your humidity the first 18 days, and what was it the last 3 days??? First attempt: 30-35 then 55-60. Second attempt: 40-45 then 60-70

Did the 3 eggs start hatching on time---early/late???? The first time, none hatched. This time, one (a smaller size egg) hatched a day early. The other two were on day 21

Did you open the incubator to remove the hatched chicks as soon as they dried?? No. They stayed in the incubator

Did you have to open the incubator from day 19 to day 22 to add water or do anything else? Day 19 cracked the side open to add another sponge. No one had pipped at this point. I had to add water to the sponge by using tubing through a vent hole multiple times a day. It has been nearly impossible to keep up the humidity.

How many water troughs in the bottom are you using during lock down?

Humidity is controlled by water surface---the more surface the higher the humidity. Sure a sponge adds water surface but do you really need it???

I do app 35% then 70% or so for the hatch, But I do not feel humidity is your main problem.

Do you heat your water to app 100 degree's before adding it??

Do you hand turn the eggs or use a turner---if hand turn how often?

Do you candle and remove any "bad" eggs at lock-down?

About how many eggs are you setting each time?

Does your temp stay pretty accurate the whole time?

Oh, what brand incubator are you using?

Does the incubator have a fan inside?

Do not believe everything you read---some say """as long as none have pipped it does not hurt to open the incubator"" I 100% do not agree with that in "MY" area. Might not hurt in your area then it might???

 

[harrellkd]

How many water troughs in the bottom are you using during lock down? Both were full

Humidity is controlled by water surface---the more surface the higher the humidity. Sure a sponge adds water surface but do you really need it??? I couldn't get it to stay high enough without it, so I placed it where I could add hot water to it without opening the incubator

I do app 35% then 70% or so for the hatch, But I do not feel humidity is your main problem.

Do you heat your water to app 100 degree's before adding it?? Yes, and I use purified bottled water

Do you hand turn the eggs or use a turner---if hand turn how often? Turner

Do you candle and remove any "bad" eggs at lock-down? Yes

About how many eggs are you setting each time? 12-16

Does your temp stay pretty accurate the whole time? Yes, it actually does really well

Oh, what brand incubator are you using? Farm Innovators 2100 with added Farm Innovators air circulator

Does the incubator have a fan inside? Yes.

Do not believe everything you read---some say """as long as none have pipped it does not hurt to open the incubator"" I 100% do not agree with that in "MY" area. Might not hurt in your area then it might??? Ok thank you! I assume it's always best to be safe rather than sorry anyway!

 

[WVduckchick]

How many water troughs in the bottom are you using during lock down? Both were full

Humidity is controlled by water surface---the more surface the higher the humidity. Sure a sponge adds water surface but do you really need it??? I couldn't get it to stay high enough without it, so I placed it where I could add hot water to it without opening the incubator

I do app 35% then 70% or so for the hatch, But I do not feel humidity is your main problem.

Do you heat your water to app 100 degree's before adding it?? Yes, and I use purified bottled water

Do you hand turn the eggs or use a turner---if hand turn how often? Turner

Do you candle and remove any "bad" eggs at lock-down? Yes

About how many eggs are you setting each time? 12-16

Does your temp stay pretty accurate the whole time? Yes, it actually does really well

Oh, what brand incubator are you using? Farm Innovators 2100 with added Farm Innovators air circulator

Does the incubator have a fan inside? Yes.

Do not believe everything you read---some say """as long as none have pipped it does not hurt to open the incubator"" I 100% do not agree with that in "MY" area. Might not hurt in your area then it might??? Ok thank you! I assume it's always best to be safe rather than sorry anyway!

I use a Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance for incubating, but recently threw in some more eggs mid-incubation, so I bought a FI 2100 to use as a hatcher. I've hatched in it twice now, with pretty good results. I did have one temperature spike though. It sounds like you are doing everything fine, so maybe its just the quality of the eggs? Parent stock? I may have missed where you got the eggs, so if I did, I apologize.

I would also suggest testing different zones of the incubator for temperature variations. I've done small batches in mine (7-20 eggs), and was able to place them all in a square, not exactly directly under the heating element, but just inside the square. I feel that kept each egg more consistent.

Concerning humidity -- I filled the 2 long wells, and the center square (or actually the moat around the actual center square), and I also added a couple of small (2" x 3" ish) sponges, in case I needed a quick humidity bump. That keeps mine right about 65-70%, which is where I like it for my area.

Good luck! And don't give up!

 

[harrellkd]

...

I use a Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance for incubating, but recently threw in some more eggs mid-incubation, so I bought a FI 2100 to use as a hatcher.  I've hatched in it twice now, with pretty good results.  I did have one temperature spike though.   It sounds like you are doing everything fine, so maybe its just the quality of the eggs?  Parent stock?  I may have missed where you got the eggs, so if I did, I apologize.

I would also suggest testing different zones of the incubator for temperature variations.  I've done small batches in mine (7-20 eggs), and was able to place them all in a square, not exactly directly under the heating element, but just inside the square.  I feel that kept each egg more consistent.

Thank you! I actually just bought a Brinsea 20!!!!!! It has eggs due to hatch on May 1st! Any tips for a successful hatch with it?!

The eggs came from three different people. They were all EE or barnyard mixes. I didn't want to spend a lot of money since my first attempt went so poorly