hatching guinea eggs... bad luck

[zatsdeb]

I set guinea eggs and stopped turning them 3 days before they were set to hatch.. 26 days.........
did I do it wrong? Do they need more humidity than chicken eggs?
I had 2 try to hatch and never went any further than a small crack.. never heard any sounds. I thought maybe my husband peeled the eggshell back to see what was going on, he didn't so after too long, I took the eggs out, the chicks were fully formed but dead in the shells.
I may have problems with the incubator, and where I had it placed. I had trouble with keeping the temps constant. I got up a few mornings with the temp being 102, and I turned it down. that happened a few times.. I have another bator with guinea eggs in another room and it seems to be holding at 100 constant.
I just was wondering what I am doing wrong. I have hatched eggs before, for 4 years now. never had much of a problem.
any help would be appriciated. these next guinea eggs are set for the 26th of this month. set them on the 1st....
thanks.
Deb

 

[ae50mag]

I DO THE SAME AS CHICKEN EGGS AROUND 100 DEGREES +/- .5 DEGREES/ HUMIDITY IS AROUND 45-55%.

HOPE THIS HELPS

FRANK

 

[MaryT]

good luck with the next set, I hope you figure out what went wrong

 

[zatsdeb]

thats what I though, second incubator is running 100% and 50% humidity. will just pray for a good hatch on this one.

 

[warcard]

Our guinea eggs have very tough shells :| . They don't get any extra calcium, just layer feed, but we end up helping alot of babies out. We only give them about 12 hours and if they haven't made any progress past the first shell pip, we start helping. Also watch for eggs that aren't 'pipped', but they just kinda push the shell out and it is cracked (don't know if I explained that too well, PM me if you need more clarification).

There was a very good thread on helping chicks hatch that you might want to read, just take it slow, watch for blood and keep them moist.

Hope your next hatch is better.

 

[CindyS]

guineas are one of the easiest to hatch. If you are needing to help them there is a problem with temp or humidity, those hard shells have nothing to do with it!