Fully grown chicks dead in thier eggs??!! HELP ASAP

[ChickenTiff]

I had one perfect batch one time. 49 of 50 eggs hatched just fine. Same incubator, now I keep getting dead chickies. They seem fully formed but they are just dead in thier shells....Please help. I have some duck eggs in there now, they are visiable and moving when I candle them, please help me fix this problem before the ducks die too!?
Tiffany

 

[Chicken Freak]

Crack open a dead chicks egg (if you think you'd be okay doing so). The chick should have it's beak tucked under the right wing. If it is not, that's a sign of malformation, which is caused by something going wrong in the heat, humidity, or turning durring the incubation process

 

[waibel zoo]

What about when they are tucked, yolk absorbed and just did not even pip?

 

[IggiMom]

Quote:
REALLY? See, this is what keeps happening to me. But I NEVER thought to see where their beaks were.

Ok, unfortunately I expect I will be checking some more eggs tomorrow and I can see where their little beaks were.

Of course, if their beaks are out and pecking around that will be better, due tomorrow, but I am not hearing one little peep so I don't think they are doing anything.

Catherine

 

[insiderart]

I was experiencing the same thing in my hatcher of doom. Turns out my thermometer was way off. I was killing them with cold. No fun! I feel your pain!

 

[emvickrey]

I was getting the same thing. Beaks tucked under and either they had a little yolk or none at all. Even after I got the new bator. I think my problem was opening the bator too much or at all. I seem to always have different hatch dates going on. I have 2 eggs waiting to hatch right now this time. With 1 chick in there from the hatch yesterday. I removed all bad eggs today. Next time I will do my candeling on certian days and leave it alone other wise. I bought some tubing and a T connector in the fish dept so I can have a hose go to all 3 water troughs and not have to open the bator except to cancle.

I hope this plan works.

 

[insiderart]

Well I changed a few things.

First, you hatch where you grow. I put the 'bator on lockdown at day 18 and upped the humidity to 50% even though I had different hatch dates in there. I incubate and hatch in egg cartons so I continued "tipping the 'bator" until day 21 (or first pip which ever happens first). I have these plastic pipettes that I put water in the incubator with. I try not to open the incubator at all after day 18, as a matter of fact, not after day 14 really. I candle on day 14 to take out the clears and blood rings. It's lockdown after that. (Unless you have a stinker. You don't want that thing to blow!)

Make sure you open your ventilation holes on day 18.

Keep your temp steady, your humidity at least 50%, make sure your ventilation is good.

Tipping the incubator until day 20 seemed to work last time for me, so I might just do it this time too.