Fully developed chicks didn't hatch

[Summerashlee]

Hi so today I decided to crack my 4 chicken eggs as they showed no sign of life after 25 days at least 3 were defiantly moving on day 18 sadly I found 3 fully formed chicks that didn't even try to hatch 1 had alot of yolk left the other 2 had a small amount i would like to try again but wondering why this happened I'm devastated this was my first attempt

 

[Molpet]

http://extension.msstate.edu/conten...GAeFJnvfAX1uIeaSyvERWuTR6BnsKnmT6WHqZMjqSHbIA

do you have a separate CALIBRATED thermometer and humidity gauge? the ones that come with tend to be unreliable or in need of calibration.

 

[AquaDuck]

Were there any liquid in the egg? Were they in the right position when they died? Did they internally pip?
Also; what temp and humidity did you incubate at?

 

[Summerashlee]

Thank you for your replys very much appreciated I have a home made Styrofoam box still air incubator I'm going to calabarate my temp and humidity gauge I've been told 1/2 a cup of salt 1/4cup of 2 water to make a paste and put in a zip lock bag over night should read 75% is this right ? There was some liquid looked like they were in the right position no internal pips my temps and humidity were at 99- 100 for temp and 60 -70% humidity for the fist 18 days then 75-80% humidity after lock down

 

[Summerashlee]

Thank you for your replys very much appreciated I have a home made Styrofoam box still air incubator I'm going to calabarate my temp and humidity gauge I've been told 1/2 a cup of salt 1/4cup of 2 water to make a paste and put in a zip lock bag over night should read 75% is this right ? There was some liquid not alot they looked like they were in the right position no internal pips my temps and humidity were at 99- 100 for temp and 60 -70% humidity for the fist 18 days then 75-80% humidity after lock down

I'm going to try and add some pics

 

[Summerashlee]

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

Hi so today I decided to crack my 4 chicken eggs as they showed no sign of life after 25 days at least 3 were defiantly moving on day 18 sadly I found 3 fully formed chicks that didn't even try to hatch 1 had alot of yolk left the other 2 had a small amount i would like to try again but wondering why this happened I'm devastated this was my first attempt

I'm new to hatching myself but I'm thinking maybe your humidity overall was too high. @Pyxis has a great article on beginning hatching. When I started weighing my eggs to set my humidity, I went from 25% hatch rate to 69% hatch rate to 76% hatch rate.

Sometimes I do think there is just an inherent issue with the eggs development though and that is what kept it from hatching. I've also noticed that unstable stormy weather has also affected my hatches. I had one this last hatch that I ended up assisting (it had pipped in the middle of the egg instead of near the air sac) and was struggling to zip for more than 24 hours. I assisted as the rest of the babies were due to come out the next morning. It is struggling and today is day 4.. I don't predict that it will make it, unfortunately

How many eggs did you set that didn't end up as clears?

 

[Molpet]

I incubate at 25-35% humidity until lock down.. then 65 to 80%

the air cells need to get bigger so it has room to turn around to pip
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubating-and-hatching-chicken-eggs.64195/

 

[Ebony Rose]

Not pipped. Full-term embryo, large yolk sac.
Humidity much too high, especially in first 12 days resulting in insufficient air sac development, incubator temperature too low (still air incubators need to be turned up a degree to account for cold spots), heredity (lethal genes, chromosome abnormalities), breeder diseases (your parent stock), inadequate ventilation, prolonged egg storage. Contamination, especially from molds, hatcher opened too much during pipping and hatching, poor shell quality. Not an exhaustive list, but a place to start looking for answers.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

I incubate at 25-35% humidity until lock down.. then 65 to 80%

the air cells need to get bigger so it has room to turn around to pip
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubating-and-hatching-chicken-eggs.64195/

I loose too much weight too fast when I try to go that low.. I seem to have the best luck right around 43% for the first 18 days. It was great to gain the knowledge that unlike temperature, our humidity levels are not an absolute for everyone.