Fully formed dead chicks in eggs

[adeelumer]

Hi guys,
I recently brought 21 eggs. 5 of them were infertile. 6 hatched properly, starting around 10hrs later than the exact 21 days. Out of the rest that couldnt mak through, some were just three-four days to hatch before dying.

Can anyone help me out with figuring what was the reason behind such deaths?

 

[Nksg75]

First let me say that I am sorry, I had that happen to my entire batch of eggs last time. I know it is fustrating and sad to get them so far, and then this..
I will also tell you I am a newbie and truthfully can't give you an answer, however I will suggest you post more details for the experienced members to help.
I also posted a pic and question, and was asked more details before they were able to steer me in the right direction.
Example:
Incubator (force air or still)
Humidity
Temp steady all through
Shipped eggs or not
When you opened the egg, liquid color(if there was liquid), position of chick in egg, air pocket size, etc
I hope you get your answer. And congrats on the chicks that did hatch!!

 

[adeelumer]

First let me say that I am sorry, I had that happen to my entire batch of eggs last time. I know it is fustrating and sad to get them so far, and then this..
I will also tell you I am a newbie and truthfully can't give you an answer, however I will suggest you post more details for the experienced members to help.
I also posted a pic and question, and was asked more details before they were able to steer me in the right direction.
Example:
Incubator (force air or still)
Humidity
Temp steady all through
Shipped eggs or not
When you opened the egg, liquid color(if there was liquid), position of chick in egg, air pocket size, etc
I hope you get your answer. And congrats on the chicks that did hatch!!

.
Thanks. I have a hovabator 1602N, with orps in it. The average temperature at the middle of the egg height (i was able to drop down a thermometer from one of its holes so that its bulb reached the middle height of the eggs) was around 101-102F. The initial humidity was around 50%. I increased it a bit just before the lockdown stage. The air sac was fine: not too large, not small either. In the pics shown above, the chicks were dry except the yolks attached to their bellies. There was only one problem the during regular one-hour power failures here, the temperatures would drop to 94-96F, six times in every 24hrs.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If your candling showed good air sacs then humidity wasn't the issue. Without sufficient air sac they can drown when trying to internally pip. Your hatch time wasn't too late though I'd use the same thermometer next round and up the temp to 102-102.5F measuring same place you did this hatch. But all in all things don't sound way off. Two things that retard the absorption of yolk is low temp and high humidity. I like 30-35% humidity and always perform a salt test to calibrate hygrometer at start of each hatching season. Minor adjustments should improve your hatch (lower humidity to day 18 and bump heat 0.5F) but these can't be the real culprit to your poor hatch.

Shipped eggs? Classic most eggs develop and only a few hatching happens all the time with shipped eggs. It's a bit heart breaking as you spend money then get really hopeful with all the progress when candling then meh.

If not shipped eggs then vitality of parent stock might be in question. Line breeding to inbreeding over time will seriously reduce the vitality of offspring. Resulting in poor hatch rates. The other thing is nutritional value of feed given to parent stock. But too much inbreeding is usually the case in these two scenarios.

 

[adeelumer]

If your candling showed good air sacs then humidity wasn't the issue. Without sufficient air sac they can drown when trying to internally pip. Your hatch time wasn't too late though I'd use the same thermometer next round and up the temp to 102-102.5F measuring same place you did this hatch. But all in all things don't sound way off. Two things that retard the absorption of yolk is low temp and high humidity. I like 30-35% humidity and always perform a salt test to calibrate hygrometer at start of each hatching season. Minor adjustments should improve your hatch (lower humidity to day 18 and bump heat 0.5F) but these can't be the real culprit to your poor hatch.

Shipped eggs? Classic most eggs develop and only a few hatching happens all the time with shipped eggs. It's a bit heart breaking as you spend money then get really hopeful with all the progress when candling then meh.

If not shipped eggs then vitality of parent stock might be in question. Line breeding to inbreeding over time will seriously reduce the vitality of offspring. Resulting in poor hatch rates. The other thing is nutritional value of feed given to parent stock. But too much inbreeding is usually the case in these two scenarios.

Thanks! Yesterday i found out that most of my chicks died just a weak before hatching: fully formed chicks with the yolks attached to their bellies. Really painful to watch. There were 6 such casualties. However all's not bad as i still have 7 chicks to take care of

Its day 2, they run about fine, eat and drink well. But spend most of the time sleeping.