Hatching problems

[wyoleadslinger]

Recently my daughters saved thier money and bought a incubator! Out of 20 eggs only to made it to hatch and did so 1 day early. Both died within 30 min. They had holes in their bellies. We had a hard time keeping temp as 4-5 times a day we had to turn eggs by hand and temps would dive 20-30 each time. Things that I think I did wrong
1 unsteady temps.
2 did not clean eggs
I went and got a better bater that has a auto turner and fan. I cleaned eggs this time with warm water only. After placing 28 eggs 11 were dead after 5 days. The rest seem to be ok. The first batch all were alive up to 9 days then the trouble started. Any help would be great! Thanks

 

[Orca5094]

Where are you getting the eggs from? Are they being shipped to you? Shipped eggs have a much lower hatch rate due to damage that can be caused during shipping (even if you can't see it, they are often damaged inside). Otherwise, yes it's important to have a more constant temperature and the correct humidity for the type of eggs you are incubating. You also don't really need to clean eggs unless they have feces on them or are extremely dirty. It can actually be harmful to wash eggs before incubating.

There are so many factors involved with incubating, sometimes it takes awhile to get everything working so you can have more successful hatches. Do you have any left incubating now? How are they?

 

[wyoleadslinger]

I have two roosters and they do there job well! But this last run I had in the fridge for 3 days before pulling them out and letting them sit for 24 hours before putting them in.

 

[Orca5094]

Ok, I would suggest not storing them in the fridge. Those temperatures are too cold for hatching eggs and will reduce hatchability. They should be stored in a cool room instead (possibly a basement if you have one). Hopefully that will up your hatch rate at little as well.

 

[wyoleadslinger]

Sounds like good advice. Temps here in Wyoming have been getting in the low 40 at night and snow in the mountains already. So I think this will be my last attempt this year with hatching.

 

[wyoleadslinger]

I am still baffled by the chicks that were hatched with the open holes in their bellies

 

[sumi]

Sorry to hear about the failed hatch. Here are some articles on diagnosing incubation problems and causes of hatch failures:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/diagnosing-hatch-failures-it-starts-with-the-egg

 

[wyoleadslinger]

Thanks this new batch were out of the fridge.
I washed them off with only warm water after they came up to room temp.
After 5 days I candled them and found that about half were quiters. But the good news is the ones that made it are 10 times more active then the ones that I tried to hatch the first time. I am hopefully these ones will be heathy

 

[Orca5094]

Good luck!

Did you figure out how to keep the temperature and humidity more stable? I'm sure that will help alot with your success. Keep us updated!

 

[wyoleadslinger]

The new incubator I purchased has a fan and egg turner and it is so much easier to keep the setting right