Help! Only 1 out of 25 eggs hatched!

[ChristinLewin]

You need to verify the temperature of your incubator is correct with a second thermometer. Shipping eggs does reduce hatch rate, but birth defects and in shell death before hatching is a result of incorrect incubation temps.

If that was true, why do all of the control eggs hatch 100% of the time?

 

[MGG]

If that was true, why do all of the control eggs hatch 100% of the time?

Calibrate a thermometer and rule out that the temp might be off. Maybe try getting more local eggs. Also, how well packaged are the eggs?

 

[ChristinLewin]

@ChristinLewin you need to calibrate at least one thermometer and check the temp. If you haven't checked it that's probably your problem. The digital readout is almost never accurate. There's something wrong with your incubation, for that many to develop and quit. Also, the not turning the first week is probably what killed them. No matter how bad the air cells are they have to be turned the first week. The first week is the most critical for turning. When you start turning them after the first week, the blood vessels which are adhered to the shell (from not turning) rupture and kill the chick. I think you should just try resting the eggs for 8 hours or so, depending on how bad the air cells are, and then incubate them as normal in the turner. If your turner doesn't work properly contact the company (manna pro) and ask them what to do. The Nurture Right is an awesome incubator and everything viable I've put in mine has hatched. I've had a lot of 100% hatches in it.

Huh, interesting. It was an article here that convinced me to incubate standing up the first week. I’ll have to go find that article and share it to be sure I’m not missing something

 

[ChristinLewin]

Calibrate a thermometer and rule out that the temp might be off. Maybe try getting more local eggs. Also, how well packaged are the eggs?

Awesome packaging

 

[MGG]

Huh, interesting. It was an article here that convinced me to incubate standing up the first week. I’ll have to go find that article and share it to be sure I’m not missing something

You can incubate upright if you really want to, but they must be turned. You have to place something under the carton on one side to tip them up, and then switch it to the other side, etc.

 

[MGG]

Awesome packaging View attachment 2264184

Maybe ask the seller how old their birds are, what they're being fed, their rooster to hen ratio, and how old the eggs are before theyre shipped. How are the eggs stored before they're shipped to you?

 

[TheBajan]

Some suggestions... you may already have done or are doing these things but just as a checklist.
First, before Wednesday, get your incubator on and use a separate, independently calibrated thermometer and hydrometer. Google search or search here on BYC for info on how to calibrate.
Regarding humidity, dry hatching vs wet hatching. The best way I've found to determine what level I need to have my humidity set is to weigh each egg just before you begin incubating them. Then, as you candle them, weigh them again. They need to lose between 12%-14% by the time they hatch. Someone here on BYC created a spreadsheet to track that. I can't remember who it was but I created my own spreadsheet based on their idea and it works well for me. If you want a copy of it, let me know. Mine isn't nearly as nice as the one I saw here but it works. Anyway, when you candle and weigh your eggs, if they have lost too much weight then you know your humidity level needs to be increased. If they haven't lost enough weight, you should lower your humidity.
Regarding resting and turning your eggs... there's a great article here about incubating shipped eggs. From what I gather, there is a wide range of opinion about how long you should wait (if even at all) before you start turning. Most of what I have found is that it's suggested to set them and not turn for UP TO three day. Seven days seems a far stretch. You may want to research that some more. As far as resting time, some say let them rest for up to 24 hours and others begin incubation right away and let them rest as they incubate. The point of letting shipped eggs rest is to bring them to room temperature. After that, resting without incubating is something you need to weigh the benefit (letting air sac set) vs the risk (eggs aging).
One last thing... I'm new at this. I have a DIY incubator and I'm on my third hatch. My first hatch was all barnyard mix from my flock and my neighbors flock. I wanted to test things out before spending money on shipped eggs. My second and third hatches were/are shipped eggs. Take everything I say with that info in mind. Best wishes.

 

[MGG]

Some suggestions... you may already have done or are doing these things but just as a checklist.
First, before Wednesday, get your incubator on and use a separate, independently calibrated thermometer and hydrometer. Google search or search here on BYC for info on how to calibrate.
Regarding humidity, dry hatching vs wet hatching. The best way I've found to determine what level I need to have my humidity set is to weigh each egg just before you begin incubating them. Then, as you candle them, weigh them again. They need to lose between 12%-14% by the time they hatch. Someone here on BYC created a spreadsheet to track that. I can't remember who it was but I created my own spreadsheet based on their idea and it works well for me. If you want a copy of it, let me know. Mine isn't nearly as nice as the one I saw here but it works. Anyway, when you candle and weigh your eggs, if they have lost too much weight then you know your humidity level needs to be increased. If they haven't lost enough weight, you should lower your humidity.
Regarding resting and turning your eggs... there's a great article here about incubating shipped eggs. From what I gather, there is a wide range of opinion about how long you should wait (if even at all) before you start turning. Most of what I have found is that it's suggested to set them and not turn for UP TO three day. Seven days seems a far stretch. You may want to research that some more. As far as resting time, some say let them rest for up to 24 hours and others begin incubation right away and let them rest as they incubate. The point of letting shipped eggs rest is to bring them to room temperature. After that, resting without incubating is something you need to weigh the benefit (letting air sac set) vs the risk (eggs aging).
One last thing... I'm new at this. I have a DIY incubator and I'm on my third hatch. My first hatch was all barnyard mix from my flock and my neighbors flock. I wanted to test things out before spending money on shipped eggs. My second and third hatches were/are shipped eggs. Take everything I say with that info in mind. Best wishes.

Was it @Kiki or @casportpony ?

 

[TheBajan]

Was it Kiki or Casportpony?

I honestly don't remember. Hopefully one of them will see this and let us know. It's been quite a while ago since I saw it.

 

[Trisseh]

I’ve experimented with my shipped eggs as well, and it’s always a gamble. I have found much better success with setting them only a few hours after receiving them, even if they have wonky air cells. My personal experience has been that air cells that are jiggly or even slightly detached will reattach themselves if they’re not too damaged, and you may wind up with oddly saddled cells, but they still seem to hatch fine. For my eggs that have bad cells, I put them in cut down cartons and tip the whole incubator for the first few days, and candle to see if they’re firming up. Then they get laid on their side and hand turned.
My last batch of eggs had a really rough trip; they were shipped on time but the post took an extra day to actually get them on their way from the originating post office, and then they bounced around and wound up sitting at an unknown postal location over the weekend. When I received them, they had been in the mail system for 6 days. They obviously had been exposed to some temp extremes and rough handling, as I had a couple with scrambled yolks and detached cells, and about half of them were sweating. Not good. Out of 16, I have 6 that have made it to hatch. Not terrible when considering the delay in shipping and damage done. Incidentally, one of these eggs that made it to hatch had a detached cell, but it was fine after being upright for a week or so. I would probably recommend doing what has been mentioned, set up your incubator and run it for a bit, with additional thermometers/hygrometers to get a feel for the environment in there, and do a small batch of “sacrifice eggs” from your own flock or local eggs that aren’t the expensive, rare ones til you get a handle on how the incubator behaves. Nothing is worse than spending all that time (and money) and having a dismal hatch.