HELP! Fist 5 chicks hatched and died within hours

[junebuggena]

I have an Incuview. The plastic screen is a bit flimsy and if a chick is sitting in just the right position and all the water trays are full, the chick will be soaked and could drown. I found this out when I accidentally put in too much water to raise the humidity. I had my eggs on a paper towel to help the chicks with traction and the paper towel ended up soaked because the weight of the egg caused the screen to sag just a bit.
Downing is a possibility if you aren't careful about how full those trays get.

 

[Invision]

http://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00613...450807543&sr=8-2&keywords=Acurite+thermometer

This is a good cheap and reliable one. pretty small. I use two of these until I stablize the temp. (i don't pay attention to humidity anymore but for temp this one is good.

 

[Lobzi]

My experience with hatching quail is if they dont/cant fluff up fairly quickly they do die. I dont know why some fluff and some dont but that has been my experience. I have even tried to hold them and dry them to get them to fluff and still I have lost them. I think that they just cant get and stay warm enough if they dont dry and fluff no matter the temp of the incubator.

 

[gilpinguy]

Here's a follow up. Of the 50 eggs in the incubator, 9 hatched, and only 3 lived to tell the tale. All 3 are chicks that I took out of the incubator immediately after hatching and put in the brooder to dry out. These little guys are doing great.


I left the other eggs in the incubator for a few days in case some others hatched. None did. I opened all of them and about 2/3 had at least a somewhat developed chick inside. I'm not sure what that means, but bad temp and humidity has to be the culprit. Lesson learned for me.

I have a good thermo/hygro on order, so I'll try again next week when it arrives. Thanks again for the help! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

[shortgrass]

I would put the humidity and temp problem at the top of the list of culprits, for sure. Add in the fact that as soon as those embryos died, they started rotting, possibly sending a bacterial infection through the entire incubator.

So sorry you had so many losses, but great news on the 3 survivors

Do be sure to clean the incubator really really well before setting again, and run it for a couple days first, minus the eggs, to make sure its functioning properly.

Here's a thread on my first quail hatch; I loved it and am anxious for spring to do it again! Best wishes on the next batch

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1007717/first-time-quail-mommy-nervous-about-hatch