Hatch

[rwwjsw]

I have been incubating eggs I started with 25 then when I took them out of the auto turner I candled them and kept 17. Well Friday they started to hatch I only got 5 to hatch. 4 of them hatched by their selves the 5th one I helped. I had a 6th one that popped a hole in the shell but died before he could get out. I am using a Little Giant incubator with an egg turner. The temp stayed between 98 and 100 degrees I cannot understand why my count was so low. Does any one have any ideas that can help me for the next time? I do not have a gauge to check the humidity I just kept water in it all the time.

 

[PeepsInc]

I had the same problem. I roll the eggs by hand,& let out to much humidity. Now I spray them with a fine mist everytime I open the bator. It also seemd to solve the curled toe problem.(which can be fixed with med tape & cardboard paper)

 

[FoxhallFarm]

I had similiar results from my recent batch of guinea eggs. From 18, only 3 hatched out and I had to help out 2 of those. I was blaming those really tough shells, but when I opened some of the remaining eggs to find out what went wrong, I found the chicks inside to be fully formed but extremely sticky. Following the instructions of my incubator I had filled both interior water resevoirs for the last 3 days but I now believe that this led to excessive humidity and that the chicks may have drowned. I could have kicked myself but we learn from our mistakes and anyway, 3 is better than none. I have since heard of the dry incubation method which some breeders employ when incubating guinea eggs, where just a few teaspoons of water is kept in the resevoir throughout. But I have never used this method so maybe someone else could shed more light on the pros and cons of this method. Hope that was of some help to you. Best of luck with your next batch. Don't give up on guineas!