FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[Bangarang64]

Congrats!!!
...Annnnnd here's the first one out of the egg from my bunch as of 5 minutes ago!

Congrats! How many so far? I have 19

[/QUOTE]
Welp,
as of today (day 21 of incubation) only five (of the 14) have hatched. I don't feel good about this clutch because when I candled them, all of them were coming along nicely. There were 4 chicks that pipped yesterday, and then did nothing. I gave it 24 hours before I did anything (I've read on this site to really be patient and don't intervene until you find it completely necessary). These were dead in the egg. It's kinda heartbreaking to bring them along this far to have those cash it in right at the opportune moment like that. I'm not sure what happened.

We're looking at the bright side and enjoying our 5 new arrivals! Maybe they won't be 90% males like my last hatches have been!!! I've still got some eggs in the incubator that I won't mess with until Tuesday - so who knows? There's the possibility we might have something more. All of these in the pic below were born today except the early bird I posted yesterday.

 

[Shalom Farm]

Welp,
as of today (day 21 of incubation) only five (of the 14) have hatched. I don't feel good about this clutch because when I candled them, all of them were coming along nicely. There were 4 chicks that pipped yesterday, and then did nothing. I gave it 24 hours before I did anything (I've read on this site to really be patient and don't intervene until you find it completely necessary). These were dead in the egg. It's kinda heartbreaking to bring them along this far to have those cash it in right at the opportune moment like that. I'm not sure what happened.

We're looking at the bright side and enjoying our 5 new arrivals! Maybe they won't be 90% males like my last hatches have been!!! I've still got some eggs in the incubator that I won't mess with until Tuesday - so who knows? There's the possibility we might have something more. All of these in the pic below were born today except the early bird I posted yesterday.

Aw, sorry about the low hatch. I know how you feel. I just had 4 out of 30 hatch. 14 of them were moving and ready to pip, only 4 pipped. Mine had a 4 day travel though. Hope they are all lovely ladies for you!

 

[CarlieT]

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry about your loss
But the ones that are pictured are precious!

 

[Bangarang64]

I wonder why I would lose them after pipping like that. To make it all 21 days and then quitting - I dunno.
i think it might be my Incubator, The manufacturer says you can open the door for oxygen to be let in even during lock-down, but I'm not so sure. I won't do it on my next go round and I'll feed air in through an aquarium pump

 

[cmom]

I wonder why I would lose them after pipping like that. To make it all 21 days and then quitting - I dunno.
i think it might be my Incubator, The manufacturer says you can open the door for oxygen to be let in even during lock-down, but I'm not so sure. I won't do it on my next go round and I'll feed air in through an aquarium pump

What is the temperature and humidity for incubation (the first 18 days)? What is the temperature and humidity during lockdown ( the last 3 days)? If you are using a styrofoam incubator, there are small holes in the lid and the bottom of the incubator, which in my opinion is adequate for air circulation especially if you have a fan (circulated air) in your incubator. I use the plugs in the holes on top to adjust the temperature and humidity by opening one or both, or closing one hole or both holes. I have even used tape to close off the hole either partially or totally. Usually chicks don't hatch
Quote:
If chick embryos develop to the pipping stage, or at first shell cracking at hatching, they are normally healthy enough to hatch unless some incubator adjustment prevents it from happening. The problem is usually caused by either 1) poor ventilation or 2) improper humidity.
The air exchange requirement within an incubator is greatest during the last day of incubation. The chick embryo's oxygen requirement continually increases during development and especially when breathing using the respiratory system just before hatching. The vent openings are frequently restricted at this time in an attempt to boost incubator humidity. Instead of helping the chick hatch, the chick is suffocated from lack of ventilation. Never decrease ventilation openings at hatching in an attempt to increase humidity. Increase humidity by other methods. If any vent adjustments are made, they should be opened more.
Another reason for mortality during hatching is improper humidity adjustment. The deaths can be produced from too much humidity during the entire incubation period or from too little humidity during the hatching period.
The desired egg weight loss during incubation caused by water evaporation is about 12 percent. If humidity during incubation is kept too high, adequate water evaporation from the egg is prevented. The chick can drown in the water remaining in the shell at hatching. A dried coating around the chick's nostrils and beak indicates that drowning was likely. Attention to maintaining proper incubation humidity during incubation will reduce the potential for this problem at hatching time.
If the humidity is allowed to decrease after the chick pips the shell, the membranes within the shell can dry-out and stick to the chick. This prevents the chick from turning inside the shell and stops the hatching process. The chick eventually dies. If the membranes around the shell opening appear dried and shrunken, the cause is probably low humidity during hatching. This condition can occur quickly (within 1 or 2 minutes) when the incubator is opened to remove or assist other chicks that are hatching. When hatching begins and proper incubator conditions are attained, the incubator should never be opened until after all chicks are hatched and ready for placement in the brooder.

 

[CarlieT]

We had just changed their towel so they were huddled together

And this is from the play date with my 3week olds today

 

[Bangarang64]

What is the temperature and humidity for incubation (the first 18 days)? What is the temperature and humidity during lockdown ( the last 3 days)? If you are using a styrofoam incubator, there are small holes in the lid and the bottom of the incubator, which in my opinion is adequate for air circulation especially if you have a fan (circulated air) in your incubator. I use the plugs in the holes on top to adjust the temperature and humidity by opening one or both, or closing one hole or both holes. I have even used tape to close off the hole either partially or totally. Usually chicks don't hatch

Hey Cmom, thanks for your reply.

I am using the Reptipro 6000 incubator, so some of the standard rules don't (or can't) apply.
For one, it's a cabinet incubator, and the manufacturer suggests for chicken eggs, opening the cabinet about three times a day for proper oxygen in the sealed environment.
Second, they claim that "lockdown" is non-existent for this type of incubator, because with the circulatory fan, they say humidity bounces back right away.

Despite their claims, I found humidity dropped a bit when opening the unit in my past attemps, so I upped it this time to almost 84% on day 18 . I hated to put it that high, but even with their claims, I felt the sudden drop in humidity when the door was open was a danger (drops about 10% momentarily). It's might be possible I have a faulty unit.

I think I'll try an aquarium pump,and leaving the door shut for my next lockdown, and keep humidity at 65%.

 

[peachncrm37]

Hey Cmom, thanks for your reply.

I am using the Reptipro 6000 incubator, so  some of the standard rules don't (or can't) apply.  
For one, it's a cabinet incubator, and the manufacturer suggests for chicken eggs, opening the cabinet about three times a day for proper oxygen in the sealed environment.  
Second, they claim that "lockdown" is non-existent  for this  type of incubator, because with the circulatory fan, they say humidity bounces back right away.

Despite their claims, I found humidity dropped a bit when opening the unit in my past attemps,  so I upped it this time to almost 84% on day 18 .  I hated to put it that high,  but even with their claims, I felt the sudden drop in humidity when the door was open was a danger (drops about 10% momentarily).  It's might be possible I have a faulty unit.

I think I'll try an aquarium pump,and leaving the door shut for my next lockdown, and keep humidity at 65%.

Hey just replying to you to help you figure out your issue. I also have a reptipro 6000, and I really LOVE it. I get 100% hatch rates with my personal birds.

The humidity does bounce right back in mine wonderfully. I don't use the turners so I open my bator 3 times a day to turn eggs anyways...

Just a couple questions to see if I can help, are you using the turners? If so, did you take them off the turners before they hatched? If so, that is possibly what killed them. Changing the position of the egg with cause the chick (in most cases) to die.

Also, I ignore all ideas of "lockdown" and never have an issue. The bator brings the humidity up so fast it doesn't matter. So you are right on that front

Hope this helps you figure it out!

Oh, one more thing, if your unit is actually faulty (run it empty and test the temp humidity with several gauges). If its broke, email the company and they will send you a new one free and a prepaid postage to ship the old unit back.

However, since they did make it all the way through to the end I don't think you have a faulty unit, but just in case!

 

[peachncrm37]

Also, the 84% humidity is way too high, so you could have drowned your chicks if it was held there for that long, don't worry about the momentary drop in humidity from you opening it, they should still hatch.

Were they shipped eggs? I would suggest getting local eggs from a reliable source to check your unit out.

 

[Bangarang64]

Also, the 84% humidity is way too high, so you could have drowned your chicks if it was held there for that long, don't worry about the momentary drop in humidity from you opening it, they should still hatch.

Were they shipped eggs? I would suggest getting local eggs from a reliable source to check your unit out.

The momentary drop in humidity takes about two mins to get back up. That's why I raised it to 84% so it dropped down to 65% when I opened the door, hoping I didn't shrink wrap the chicks.

Also, yeah , I've been using the egg turner. I have been taking the eggs out on day 18 and laying them on their side. I thought this was the rule. I was told to never hatch eggs in the turner. Was I misinformed?

Also one more thing, I don't think it's the cause of my pipping chicks dying, but since you're a fellow Reptipro user i thought I'd mention it.
- My Reptipro has a 4 degree fluctuation in temperature on it's readout. I set it for 102, it cools to 99 before it comes on, then it heats to 103 before it shuts off. The actual temp at the bottom of the incubator is 100 with the digital control set at 102, however it fluctuates to 99 by the time the incubator's digital readout gets down to 99. So I'm not having a good constant temp according to my calibrated thermometer. Sometimes the change in temp (from 99 to 100 at the bottom of the incubator) takes two or more minutes before it goes back up.
Is this normal?

Thank you so much for your help!