I need all your professional opinions: 
I am in the process of completing my first-ever hatch. I used an incubator, not a broody hen. (I WISH mine would go broody but they just won't). My broad-breasted white turkey is broodier than my hens.
I put 25 eggs from my hens and roos in the incubator and as of today (day 23) here are the numbers:
-18 hatched (1 with assistance)
-3 of the 7 remaining eggs appear to have been quitters or died early in development (they are clear but with a dark spot like an early embryo) (ironically they appear to be from the same hen, they all look exactly alike in color and shape-another issue for another thread I guess)
-of the 4 that are left they all have what appear (based on candling) to be full-sized embryos in them with an air cell that appears the same size as the successful hatchers. Upon candling them today (day 23) I didn't see any movement so I'm assuming they didn't make it.
So here's the big question:
18 out of 25 is 72%. Is that considered successful? Or is that considered a low hatch rate? I'm asking because I've ordered some eggs of specific breeds (that weren't cheap) to be shipped so I can incubate them and I want to make sure there isn't anything that I can do differently.
I never had any temp drops or spikes and my humidity was relatively stable (I managed to catch it if it dropped to low, granted it probably had been at that low side for a few hours or so.)
Thanks for the thoughts and input!!
I am in the process of completing my first-ever hatch. I used an incubator, not a broody hen. (I WISH mine would go broody but they just won't). My broad-breasted white turkey is broodier than my hens.
I put 25 eggs from my hens and roos in the incubator and as of today (day 23) here are the numbers:
-18 hatched (1 with assistance)
-3 of the 7 remaining eggs appear to have been quitters or died early in development (they are clear but with a dark spot like an early embryo) (ironically they appear to be from the same hen, they all look exactly alike in color and shape-another issue for another thread I guess)
-of the 4 that are left they all have what appear (based on candling) to be full-sized embryos in them with an air cell that appears the same size as the successful hatchers. Upon candling them today (day 23) I didn't see any movement so I'm assuming they didn't make it.
So here's the big question:
18 out of 25 is 72%. Is that considered successful? Or is that considered a low hatch rate? I'm asking because I've ordered some eggs of specific breeds (that weren't cheap) to be shipped so I can incubate them and I want to make sure there isn't anything that I can do differently.
I never had any temp drops or spikes and my humidity was relatively stable (I managed to catch it if it dropped to low, granted it probably had been at that low side for a few hours or so.)
Thanks for the thoughts and input!!
