Hatching death problem.

[IHC986]

Too large a percentage of my eggs in the incubator make it to the point where the chick busts a hole thru the eggshell only to die before hatching. What am I doing wrong?

 

[HuskerHens18]

Could your humidity be too high? Is there a lot of moisture in the incubator lid?
Do you open the lid at all? Perhaps too much temp fluctuations?
What's your temp and humidity set at? Do you have extra thermometers to get a more accurate reading? The ones that come with the incubator aren't the most accurate.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

Sounds like humidity could be too low during lockdown to me so that they get shrink wrapped in the shells and can't make it all the way out.

 

[Fairview01]

On the last 2 days before hatch you can never have too much humidity. High humidity softens the shell to some degree and keeps the inner membrane from becoming like a sheet of rubber.

Also lowering the temp a degree or two is helpful. At this stage chicks are generating a lot of heat particularly zipping the shell. If your incubator is running on the warm side perhaps they are overheating and dying.

Without doing a post mortem and posting pics everything is just a guess.

 

[Jbently28]

I had horrible luck last year hatching out my chicks. They would get to the point of hatching and then hit a blood vessel while pipping and hemmorage.

 

[IHC986]

Could your humidity be too high? Is there a lot of moisture in the incubator lid?
Do you open the lid at all? Perhaps too much temp fluctuations?
What's your temp and humidity set at? Do you have extra thermometers to get a more accurate reading? The ones that come with the incubator aren't the most accurate.

Incubator temp is 37.9c
Incubator humidity is 65%

 

[IHC986]

Could your humidity be too high? Is there a lot of moisture in the incubator lid?
Do you open the lid at all? Perhaps too much temp fluctuations?
What's your temp and humidity set at? Do you have extra thermometers to get a more accurate reading? The ones that come with the incubator aren't the most accurate.

Incubator temp is 37.9c
Humidity reads 65%
Yes, I open the lid occasionally to see if any chicks have busted thru' the eggshell.
Regarding moisture in the lid ....... there doesn't seem to be. I noticed that there are vent holes in the lid.

 

[HuskerHens18]

Incubator temp is 37.9c
Humidity reads 65%
Yes, I open the lid occasionally to see if any chicks have busted thru' the eggshell.
Regarding moisture in the lid ....... there doesn't seem to be. I noticed that there are vent holes in the lid.

Opening the lid can let out too much humidity too fast and shrink wrap them. You should only open it 24 to 48hrs after the first chick is completely out of its shell. That's from my experience anyway. Hopefully you'll have some better luck next time.