Hatching late issues

[Amatt]

We started incubating 31 cinnamon queen eggs. After sevens days we candled and all was good. Later candling indicated 9 needed to be gotten rid of. Heat was adjusted correctly and water was put in 1 to 2 cups a couple times a week. Everything was cleaned and sanitized before hand and used distilled water so zero containment’s were transferred. At 21 days there was no action. At 23 days a chick started hatching but only one. Today was 25 days and none of the others had hatched so I started investigating. There was a few bad, but two that I opened had living chicks in the them and died almost instantly after. There abdomen wasn’t fully closed and most or all of the yolk was inside. Both had, what I would consider, an excessive amount of fluid around the chick. We left the others inside the incubator and did not open anymore eggs. Can anyone explain what has happened and or what I can do now or next time.

 

[Pyxis]

The late hatching sounds like the temperature was too low, and the excess fluid sounds like the humidity was too high. What temperature were you using, and was your incubator still air or forced air? Also, what percent humidity did you have for the first 18 days?

 

[Amatt]

It’s a top hatch incubator that’s forced air. Temp was 99.5 almost always. The temperature gauge is just a cheap one from a local feed store. I don’t have a way to check the humidity, but I’m considering purchasing a digital gauge that does both so I know for sure what’s going on in there. I did this for years when I was kid and never had this many problems.

 

[Pyxis]

I would suspect that the temperature gauge was incorrect and because of that the temperature was actually low I would definitely get a hygrometer to monitor humidity, and also an accurate thermometer. The oral thermometers they sell in pharmacies are generally pretty accurate and you might want to try one of those.

 

[Amatt]

Thank you