Help lost my whole hatch

[Lisa2013]

]I am incubating some SILKIE eggs and Wyandottes, today is day 21 and only 1 peeping last night. This morning that peeping one was dead! And didn't hatch out at all, so I start checking the others in the bator, and all the others are dead! Didn't even start peeping! The temp is 99.5 and humidity is 65... When I opened them up they all had big yoke saks still! But dead ! I am so sad. I don't know what I did wrong? How long do Wyandottes incubate for ? Please help !

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Is your incubator still air or forced air? Did you calibrate your thermometer(s) and hygrometer(s) before you started? Did you run the humidity at 65% the whole time?
Sorry to answer your questions with more questions, but these are things we need to know to attempt to help.

Wyandottes (and all chickens, for that matter) take about 21 days to hatch, give or take a day or two.

 

[fire370]

Ditto on the above. Give us a little more info from day 1 through day 21. Temp/humidity/incubator make/any other thermometers/origin of eggs/etc.

 

[dheltzel]

There are some pages on this site to help you "debug" your incubation issues, try searching for "eggtopsy".

From what you've described, it sounds like your thermometer might be off, I would get another one or try to calibrate the one you have. A child's fever thermometer is highly accurate at the temps we use in incubators.

Also, read about "dry incubation". It may be that the humidity was too high during the main incubation period. I mostly hatch blue and dark brown eggs, so I keep the humidity under 30% until lockdown, then jack it up past 70% for hatching. Light colored eggs are more tolerant of higher RH as the shells are more porous.

It takes some experience to get good hatches, even with the "set and forget" type of incubators, because everyone's environment is a bit different. So, be sure to try again, you will get better.

 

[Lisa2013]

It is a styrofoam incubator the humidity was like 60-70 the whole time and the temp was set at 99.5-100 it has an auto turner and it is not still air.. It is my friends and she said it held temp and humidity great so I didn't even think of putting in an external thermometer I have put an external one with a probe in with the new batch of eggs I just started.. Anything else I should do with my new hatch?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Lower your humidity....a bunch. I don't add any water to my styrobator, and it usually stays around 30-35% for the first 18 days. Then I bump it up to 65-70% at lockdown. I'm guessing they drowned with all the moisture (if that reading was correct).

I would never trust the read out on the incubator. Are you using an LG 9300, by any chance? If so, they are notoriously inaccurate. Mine is more than 3 degrees off on the temp readout and about 10% off on the humidity, just to give you an idea.
If you have an old school glass medical thermometer, they're perfect for incubating.

 

[dheltzel]

Lower your humidity....a bunch. I don't add any water to my styrobator, and it usually stays around 30-35% for the first 18 days. Then I bump it up to 65-70% at lockdown. I'm guessing they drowned with all the moisture (if that reading was correct).

I would never trust the read out on the incubator. Are you using an LG 9300, by any chance? If so, they are notoriously inaccurate. Mine is more than 3 degrees off on the temp readout and about 10% off on the humidity, just to give you an idea.
If you have an old school glass medical thermometer, they're perfect for incubating.

I agree, remove all the water from the incubator until lockdown, unless you are in a very dry part of the country. I use an Accurite thermometer/hydrometer (from Walmart, about $9). I calibrated the RH and found it to display 8% too low, so when it says 20%, it's really 28%. I have never allowed it to go above 30 and don't add water unless it drops below 20%, so I incubate between 28 and 38%, but usually on the lower end of that. If in doubt, make it dryer.

X2 on the medical thermometer too. I use a digital one meant for babies. I test it one myself from time to time to calibrate it. You can stick it into one of the vent holes and leave it there, turned off, for a while, then push the button to get an accurate temp reading. If that agree with the incubator, then you are ok, otherwise adjust your temp accordingly.

 

[Lisa2013]

The incubator I was using when I lost the hatch was farm innovations so maybe they did just drown, I'm not sure. This new hatch is in a plastic yellow and grey incubator and the humidity on it is reading 55 right now and the external onei is reading 41%.. And I have a glass thermometer and it is reading 100... Should I leave it like that or should I drop the humidity till lock down? And if so what should I drop it to and what should I raise it to at lock down? Thanks for all the help.. Also I have 1 egg from the hatch that didn't die but it is really veiny and actually still moving I just put it in with my new eggs how long should I wait for it. I set it on Nov 21..

 

[Sally Sunshine]

The incubator I was using when I lost the hatch was farm innovations so maybe they did just drown, I'm not sure. This new hatch is in a plastic yellow and grey incubator and the humidity on it is reading 55 right now and the external onei is reading 41%.. And I have a glass thermometer and it is reading 100... Should I leave it like that or should I drop the humidity till lock down? And if so what should I drop it to and what should I raise it to at lock down? Thanks for all the help.. Also I have 1 egg from the hatch that didn't die but it is really veiny and actually still moving I just put it in with my new eggs how long should I wait for it. I set it on Nov 21..

Lisa I agree with everyone, never go by the thermo/hygros that come with these bators, always calibrate new ones as well. If you need help with anything just ask. Its nice to get the kind of thermo hygro that keep track of the high and lows too just in case you get runnin cooler in the evenings because I have found in helping so many people that sneaks up on them and makes for a delayed hatch and bad hatches. Feel free to jump on the incu thread with us as we all have eggs in the bators right now too.... INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! come hatch, learn, Chat, Meet new Friends! and if you havent run into it yet..... Hatching Eggs 101

Good Luck sweetie!

also see calibration in Hatching Eggs 101 TEMPS SECTION

see Hatching Eggs 101

 

[Lisa2013]

So I am on day 19, Of my second batch of eggs, I have done everything you guys have told me to hopefully it's been all right, great info on the articles .I will keep you posted over the next few days as to how many I actually get hatched.