Help please with first hatch

[lj2016]

Thanks so much for all the advice. I'll persevere and hopefully have a duckling soon, it's just disheartening to lose them so late in the game. When you say humidity is to high maybe, do you mean during incubation or in the hatcher when they are moved on day 25? If it's the hatcher I'll try and find a more accurate humidity gauge somewhere

 

[Lacrystol]

Thanks so much for all the advice. I'll persevere and hopefully have a duckling soon, it's just disheartening to lose them so late in the game. When you say humidity is to high maybe, do you mean during incubation or in the hatcher when they are moved on day 25? If it's the hatcher I'll try and find a more accurate humidity gauge somewhere

It stinks to loose them so late in the game, I can totally relate. Looks like your eggs are sticky. I would check your gages and lower that humidity. I keep mine at 20% I seem to have a better hatching when it's lowered before lock down. You said you have them on a turner, are you taken them off the turner and laying them down during lock down?.

I keep mine in the laying down position from day one and on the turner. i tape my eggs to the turner so they don't fall off.

 

[lj2016]

Yes I take them out of the incubator with the turner and in to a hatcher where they are just laid down. I'm wondering if maybe my humidity is to high in general and the humidity gage s off. I do live in Florida and there's a lot of humidity here so perhaps I need hardly any water in the water channels

 

[WVduckchick]

Yes I take them out of the incubator with the turner and in to a hatcher where they are just laid down. I'm wondering if maybe my humidity is to high in general and the humidity gage s off. I do live in Florida and there's a lot of humidity here so perhaps I need hardly any water in the water channels

If you are in Florida, I would bet that you can get away with no water in the incubator at all (until lockdown). I don't add water until the last 3 days, unless I'm doing chicks with very porous shells, or some of the smaller bantam eggs like a little higher humidity. My duck eggs are fine with no water until lockdown.

Its easier to gage what the humidity should be by watching air cells. They have to grow to the proper size, so adjusting humidity is how we make that happen. Too large of an air cell (humidity too low) causes the chick to not have enough room to maneuver when it comes time to hatch. Air cells too small (humidity too high) allows the chicks to grow too large, and then not have enough air in the air cell to breathe long enough to get out. Plus with humidity too high, the moisture inside the egg can't dry up enough, so the chicks are in too much goo and they can get stuck. If they do hatch, they usually come out very sticky.

 

[lj2016]

Thank you all! I am convinced it's my humidity that is off as this sounds like it matches what's happened. I'll perhaps look online for a more reliable humidity gage and test that out. My peking lays every day so I am persevering

 

[WVduckchick]

Thank you all! I am convinced it's my humidity that is off as this sounds like it matches what's happened. I'll perhaps look online for a more reliable humidity gage and test that out. My peking lays every day so I am persevering

Sounds like a great plan! You will get it!

 

[lj2016]

Ok so i started the hatcher afresh a few days back as i have more peking eggs in my incubator, i added hardly any water. This guy pipped yesterday day which was his day 28. Up until about 4 hrs ago he was moving but no movement or response to sound since then. I'm worried the same thing is happening as before and he maybe can't get out. What are your thoughts? Should we intervene?

 

[lj2016]

We too him out real fast and shined the light on him and no movement at all. Has this one died as well? He was alive and chirping lots 4 hrs ago

 

[WVduckchick]

@lj2016 So sorry, i didn't see this post. Any update?

 

[AustralorpsAU]

We too him out real fast and shined the light on him and no movement at all. Has this one died as well? He was alive and chirping lots 4 hrs ago

Mine did this for about 4 hours and then did what he had to do... mine was a chicken though but give him time