Failure

[LordThreepenny]

Hi guys,

I decided to incubate some eggs while stuck in the house and all was going very well up until a couple of days ago. I had ten eggs at the beginning and 3 were infertile so that brought me down to 7.

Candling and weighing them showed good development and by the 19/20 th day I heard peeps and noises. Then it all went wrong.

2 hatched fine and 1 had some troubles but pushed through (its very weak right now so I am scared it will pass away). And that's it. The other 4 eggs show no signs of moving piping or... anything. I plan so move the 3 hatched to a brooder soon.

What could have gone so wrong? Feels awful having so much power over such little things. Thanks for any advice in advance.

The only thing I can think of is where I live has very high humidity as I live on an island but does it really have this much of an effect?

 

[JaeG]

You do need an independent, calibrated hygrometer and thermometer so you know what your conditions are inside your incubator. Where I am it's often 65% humidity indoors, but if I don't add water to my incubator it can go as low as 22% in there (which is too low).

Here's a good article on how to calibrate your thermometer and hygrometer:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

Incubators often have warmer and colder spots which can speed up some eggs and slow down others, so it's a good idea to periodically move your eggs around inside the incubator to even out any temperature differences.

The other eggs may yet hatch. If none have externally pipped you could candle them again to see what's going on in there. Just keep the eggs in the same position they are sitting in inside the incubator so as to not confuse the chicks who may try to turn around (and get stuck) if the orientation of the egg changes.

Hatching is hard work and your last little one is probably just exhausted after its struggles, so hopefully a good nap will help it to get stronger.

 

[LordThreepenny]

You do need an independent, calibrated hygrometer and thermometer so you know what your conditions are inside your incubator. Where I am it's often 65% humidity indoors, but if I don't add water to my incubator it can go as low as 22% in there (which is too low).

Here's a good article on how to calibrate your thermometer and hygrometer:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

Incubators often have warmer and colder spots which can speed up some eggs and slow down others, so it's a good idea to periodically move your eggs around inside the incubator to even out any temperature differences.

The other eggs may yet hatch. If none have externally pipped you could candle them again to see what's going on in there. Just keep the eggs in the same position they are sitting in inside the incubator so as to not confuse the chicks who may try to turn around (and get stuck) if the orientation of the egg changes.

Hatching is hard work and your last little one is probably just exhausted after its struggles, so hopefully a good nap will help it to get stronger.

Ok, thanks. Any advice on how to help the last ones before it's too late?

 

[JaeG]

Ok, thanks. Any advice on how to help the last ones before it's too late?

Unless they pip internally there isn't much you can do. If they are strong enough to pip internally you can make a safety hole, but even when they pip internally they are still yet to absorb the remains of the yolk as well as the blood that's been running through the veins in the membrane. That all takes time, and unless the chicks are strong enough to achieve those things you can't help them hatch until they have managed to go through those steps.