Embryos are dying

[Dibbendu Das]

I started with 38 eggs, then I candelled at day 9 only 8 of them were completely empty and rest of them were alive and kicking.
So I was hopeful of getting 30 chicks this time but I candelled at day 14 just now and I found that 8 other eggs which were alive before is now dead.All I I can see is only a dark spot floating imsins the egg.

 

[Pyxis]

It looks like you're using a homemade incubator, which is fine as long as it's working like it should. What are you using for a thermostat? What is the temperature in the incubator?

 

[silkie1472]

A major problem with homemade incubators is keeping the right temperature, and just by personal preference, I refuse to use one. I do, however, understand why people do so.

The temperature needs to remain very consistent, staying as close as possible to 99.5°F. Not doing this may cause poor, stunted development, hatching issues, and deformities. These are just some problems you may face.

Also I see you have wrote on some of the eggs, which is usually not harmful, but can be. Make sure what you are using on the egg is safe for the embryos.

Lastly, you have said that you are seeing dark spots. We cannot see for ourselves without a picture, usually a black spot indicates death or ruptured veins. My question for you now is: How often do you turn the eggs?

 

[Dibbendu Das]

A major problem with homemade incubators is keeping the right temperature, and just by personal preference, I refuse to use one. I do, however, understand why people do so.

The temperature needs to remain very consistent, staying as close as possible to 99.5°F. Not doing this may cause poor, stunted development, hatching issues, and deformities. These are just some problems you may face.

Also I see you have wrote on some of the eggs, which is usually not harmful, but can be. Make sure what you are using on the egg is safe for the embryos.

Lastly, you have said that you are seeing dark spots. We cannot see for ourselves without a picture, usually a black spot indicates death or ruptured veins. My question for you now is: How often do you turn the eggs?

4 times a day and the dead eggs were those which I did not write on.They were alive when I did candelling last time but I found then dead tomorrow.No veins no movement only dark spot floating inside.
Am thinking about adding a thermostat inside and don't have a thermostat now.

 

[Shadrach]

I can only go by how often a hen turns her eggs. I've timed a few and the average turn time is every 28 mins.
You could look up the specifications for an auto turn incubator and see how often they turn the eggs to give you another estimate.

 

[Hawaii Chicks]

Just don’t give up! It takes time and many eggs to learn from the little mistakes one make when incubating eggs!
Some days ago I had a batch of around 30 eggs ( Araucana, Ayam cemani and some from my own hen and rooster). By day 18 at least half of them seemed to be perfect
Since I had place new eggs in the incubator, I used a second one as a Hatcher. The second one was .5 degrees warmer. The result, the result: only one chick hatched! I couldn’t believe that I could actually see the chicks breathing inside the egg and they didn’t hatch!
I monitor my incubator as often as possible: humidity, temperatures, etc
You definitely need an hygrometer/thermometer. You can find some really cheap online
Good luck! Keep on trying

 

[Dibbendu Das]

Ths

Just don’t give up! It takes time and many eggs to learn from the little mistakes one make when incubating eggs!
Some days ago I had a batch of around 30 eggs ( Araucana, Ayam cemani and some from my own hen and rooster). By day 18 at least half of them seemed to be perfect
Since I had place new eggs in the incubator, I used a second one as a Hatcher. The second one was .5 degrees warmer. The result, the result: only one chick hatched! I couldn’t believe that I could actually see the chicks breathing inside the egg and they didn’t hatch!
I monitor my incubator as often as possible: humidity, temperatures, etc
You definitely need an hygrometer/thermometer. You can find some really cheap online
Good luck! Keep on trying

Thanks for your kind words

 

[Pyxis]

Am thinking about adding a thermostat inside and don't have a thermostat now.

This is most likely the problem. You have to have a thermostat to keep the incubator at the proper temperature, or else it can get too hot or too cold. My guess is it got too hot, and this killed the developing embryos. If you add a thermostat to make sure the temperature stays where it needs to, you'll have a good hatch next time

Hand turning probably isn't the issue. While hens turn their eggs many times a day, when hand turning yourself, turning just three times a day is sufficient. More than that is fine too. The idea is to try to turn an odd number of times each day, so that the egg spends the night, which should be the longest time it goes without turning, on a different side each day.