Feeling frusterated with my hatchability!

[jlbiggs]

So I started last year with a still air Styrofoam incubator, first hatch was 30 duck eggs and 100% hatched! This year we started off with chicks and had 90% ish hatch rate and was very happy but had still air and was turning by hand. We plan to hatch and sell all spring so we decided to upgrade to a forced air with auto turner hovabater and use the old still air for the hatcher. This is so we can keep both running and just continue to eggs every 7th day or 14th day and gett about 10 eggs hatched once a week. Only 1 incubator to clean and don't really have to worry too much about keeping a stable incubator! Well.. its not working and IDK what im doing wrong!
first three weeks (four if guineas or ducks) will be auto turn HovaBater between 45-54% humidity and right around 100 degrees. I candle at day 7 and 14 and MAYBE throw one out but usually all do very well.
On day 18 (25 with ducks and guineas) I transfer to still air at 100 degrees and 65-75% humidity.... maybe half hatch.. last batch 2 out of 14 hatched, the rest were alive up until transfer!

Im confused on what my next step should be! I try super hard to leave the last three days alone but I have to add water quite often almost everyday to keep my humidity up. I fill the chambers completely and have 2 sponges but the are almost empty is 48 hours.. (maybe I have a leak??)


Ive had extremely terrible with guineas, maybe im doing something wrong with them?

 

[silkiecuddles]

Hard for me to mentally spread that out, but it sounds like you've got quite the operation! 100%? Wow!
In my neighbor's Little Giant bator, there are holes in the bottom that the water leaks out of if the 6 chambers are filled too high. Maybe that's your problem?
Still, 100 and 90% I'd consider amazing. I got 80% in my Brinsea

I've only hatched twice, the second still in the process of hatching. I've only done ducks and chickens, never guineas. I've read that guineas make terrible moms, so maybe it's partly due to the eggs?

Good luck, and I hope you get it figured out perfectly!

 

[furry feet]

I also own a hovabator it is hard to keep the humidity correct i put a straw in one of the holes to add water i used a spray mister to shoot water down the straw lol also had a sponge under the straw it worked for me anyway

 

[jlbiggs]

So do we assume that is they are growing to full term and never pipping that it's a humidity issue?

 

[silkiecuddles]

So do we assume that is they are growing to full term and never pipping that it's a humidity issue?

That may be my problem. But I only open the bator on rare occasions to remove shells or chicks once they've dried