Fully grown chics not hatching??

[jomay]

Why do I seem to always haven at least a couple out of 10 NOT hatch?
They are fully grown but just don't break out!

 

[nchls school]

It's not uncommon for chicks to die in the shell shortly before or while hatching.

Some possibilities are:

Incorrect humidity that causes the membrane to be dry or sticky making it so the chick is unable to turn in the shell making hatching impossible.

Incorrect temperature causing development to be abnormal weakening the chick.

The eggs getting chilled during hatch.

Genetically weak stock--inbreeding, etc.

You're not alone in having this happen. I had six eggs die this week during the hatch or shortly before.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Nutrition! What do you feed your breeders?

 

[Lizzy733]

Out of how many eggs? I think 25% fail rate is considered acceptable. I'm guessing you've done an 'eggtopsy' on the quitters? In general, if they've died around the 19 day mark, it can be a sign of bad genetics, poor nutrition in parent stock, trying to hatch too early in the season or incubating pullet eggs. If you are also seeing issues in the chicks that have hatched, that would be a good indication of one of the above.

 

[jomay]

They are eggs I got sent in the mail so no idea what the breeders are like

 

[FortCluck]

I had this issue and lost 9 chicks out of 30. My humidity was too high and thats what everyone pinpointed as my issue. I added water at day 18 to increase the humidity and had it at 60% (too high for my location). When I started getting external pips the humidity spiked to 80+. I have another hatch going right now and I've run my incubator dry and I'm only adding a little water at day 18 so I can get higher humidity for hatching.

What was your humidity at? Do you have a hygrometer inside the incubator and another thermometer?

I use a hygrometer and thermometer inside to make sure I get the correct readings because my new incubators temperature and humidity readings are off (most incubators readings are off).

 

[Ted_Harrell]

On my NurtureRight360, both the temperature and humidity readings were off. Not a lot on the temperature but the humidity was off like 10 points. I guess that is why it pays to double check. I just had the best hatch of the year, percentage wise because I checked behind the manufacturer. They are not perfect and neither am I. Folks don't beat yourself up about it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

On my NurtureRight360, both the temperature and humidity readings were off. Not a lot on the temperature but the humidity was off like 10 points. I guess that is why it pays to double check. I just had the best hatch of the year, percentage wise because I checked behind the manufacturer. They are not perfect and neither am I. Folks don't beat yourself up about it.

Good points.
It is actually quite rare for thermometers, thermostats and hygrometers to be accurate right out of the box- at least not accurate enough for incubation. Too many people believe that because something is new, it is correct and doesn't need to be verified. That lapse leads to multiple failed hatches and loss of lots of good eggs.
Thermostats themselves usually need to be calibrated as well as the associated thermometers.