embryos dying in shell...

[dinahmoe]

ok .i have done several hatches this summer and something keeps going wrong.i normally hatch earlier or in the fall and have had not problems.i think it might be the georgia heat/humidity.anyway at least half of the chicks are not hatching.they are fine at lockdown but then don't hatch.when i open them up they are fully developed,have not pipped and still have their yolk sac(about the size of a dime) but they are dead.when are they dying and what can i do?
the temps/humidity are the same all year-99.5temp and humidity 45 bumped to 70.
thanks for any tips.

 

[Hennypen]

I have not had them die in the shell, but I have had bloody umbilicus. In my case it was too high humidity during lockdown. (I'm in Ga to)
This only happened on one batch (ameraucanas) and I swore nothing was different about that hatch and humidity levels. I wonder if it may depend on the breed.

My hovabator humidity is about 50 and then 70 during lockdown. Make sure your humidity gage is calibrated correctly.

Another thought:
Is your incubator disinfected?

 

[CityChicker]

What kind of eggs are they? For most types of poultry, that humidity level is probably a little too high, but it should be very easy to tell if that has been the problem just by looking at the size of the air cells. The eggs should dehydrate to the point that the air cells fills about 30% of the egg. If that is not happening, it likely is your humidity. (Editing to add- If you suspect it is the humidity, try washing some of the eggs before you set them. Eggs that have been washed dehydrate more. You can also try misting the eggs with water daily. It is sort of counterintuitive, but water is polar and pulls moisture out of the eggs. A lot of us that breed waterfowl do that. Otherwise, if you plan on breeding a lot, you might invest in a dehumidifier). It might also be a problem with inaccurate gauges, especially if you are moving them to a separate hatcher. In that case, they could fully develop and then die when moved to the machine that is not set accurately.

The even more frequent cause of dead in shell fully developed chicks though is the incubator having been opened too much. I think that accounts for the vast majority of lost hatches.

 

[dinahmoe]

thanks guys.
i disinfect the bator before each use but you never know.
i am going to see what happens when i do a fall hatch(october).i just thought it might have something to do with the very hot and humid weather.i hatched in june and july and hatched half.i have some due in 1 week and i'll see then.
i did let a broody take half of these at day 2 so if she hatches them all and i don't i may just let the real mamas do it from now on.
i just hate to think there might have been something i could have done differently to save them.