Help with low hatch rate

[Amy King Hanson]

I have been hatching eggs since January. So not total newbie but still learning. I have two hatch rates. My barn yard mix eggs hatch really good. My Cream Legbar eggs have a really bad hatch rate. I hatch out one or two. When I break open the other eggs 24 hours after due date, they are no longer living but in hatch position. The boys hatch a day early. I've only hatched out one girl. I do open the lid to remove chick after a while (especially when they are a day early) but the humidity doesn't drop. I do this with my other eggs and it's fine. Any suggestions?

Here is a picture of my incubator. I usually keep humidity at 60% until hatch and then up it to 80ish% at lock down. I've tried a low humidity and high humidity hatch. They are 5/6 days old when I put them in. I'm half tempted to start breaking eggs open after first hatches. But I'm confident someone on here will give me that one nugget I need, right.

 

[sumi]

This may help shed some light: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

 

[Amy King Hanson]

No.... Not really. Every possibility for failure has everything listed as a reason why it failed. LOL!

I'm going to repost to the Cream Legbar forum. I don't have problems with my regular eggs, just the Creams. Maybe they need something different done that I don't know about. Thanks though for taking the time to share the link with me.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I have been hatching eggs since January. So not total newbie but still learning. I have two hatch rates. My barn yard mix eggs hatch really good. My Cream Legbar eggs have a really bad hatch rate. I hatch out one or two. When I break open the other eggs 24 hours after due date, they are no longer living but in hatch position. The boys hatch a day early. I've only hatched out one girl. I do open the lid to remove chick after a while (especially when they are a day early) but the humidity doesn't drop. I do this with my other eggs and it's fine. Any suggestions?

Here is a picture of my incubator. I usually keep humidity at 60% until hatch and then up it to 80ish% at lock down. I've tried a low humidity and high humidity hatch. They are 5/6 days old when I put them in. I'm half tempted to start breaking eggs open after first hatches. But I'm confident someone on here will give me that one nugget I need, right.

The fact that they are making it to lockdown and dieing after is a strong indicator of high humidity. Do you monitor your air cells? The mixes might miraculously be loosing enough moisture allowing them to hatch while the legbars may have thicker less porous shells and therefor not loosing the moisture they need. The best thing you can do is monitor the air cells and that way you'll know for sure if the eggs are loosing enough moisture. I usually hatch at 30% and run dry the first 17 days. This year I recieved silkie eggs and they were small, because I monitor my air cells I could tell they needed a higher humidity so I adjusted for that and ran between 40-50% (which was uncomfortable for me.) Which is what the smaller lighter eggs needed. If you don't know how to monitor your eggs for proper humidity I use this method: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[Amy King Hanson]

The fact that they are making it to lockdown and dieing after is a strong indicator of high humidity. Do you monitor your air cells?  The mixes might miraculously be loosing enough moisture allowing them to hatch while the legbars may have thicker less porous shells and therefor not loosing the moisture they need. The best thing you can do is monitor the air cells and that way you'll know for sure if the eggs are loosing enough moisture.  I usually hatch at 30% and run dry the first 17 days. This year I recieved silkie eggs and they were small, because I monitor my air cells I could tell they needed a higher humidity so I adjusted for that and ran between 40-50% (which was uncomfortable for me.) Which is what the smaller lighter eggs needed. If you don't know how to monitor your eggs for proper humidity I use this method: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

Thanks. I usually candle on day 7 &18 and and try to adjust to get the preferred moisture loss. My first dry hatch (45%/50% didn't go well). The air sac was way too big. I'd say it took up 40% of the egg and none hatched. I'm going to figure it out. Thank you all for your help.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks. I usually candle on day 7 &18 and and try to adjust to get the preferred moisture loss. My first dry hatch (45%/50% didn't go well). The air sac was way too big. I'd say it took up 40% of the egg and none hatched. I'm going to figure it out. Thank you all for your help.

Have you ever checked the hygrometer for accuracy? 45-50% rarely ever causes too big of air cells. Generally, unless you have very very porous shells, 45-50% does the opposite.

Barnyard mixes are generally tougher chicks and easier to hatch out. Many people have found them easier to hatch. Days 7 & 14 are more conducive to checking and being able to adjust. Gives you more time than checking at lockdown.

My sister has one of the yellow plastic chinese bators and the gages are crap. Her humidity gage never read right. I would double check the accuracy of that. I don't know too many people that can incubate at 60% and not have chicks drown at hatch time.

 

[Amy King Hanson]

Have you ever checked the hygrometer for accuracy? 45-50% rarely ever causes too big of air cells. Generally, unless you have very very porous shells, 45-50% does the opposite.

Barnyard mixes are generally tougher chicks and easier to hatch out.  Many people have found them easier to hatch. Days 7 & 14 are more conducive to checking and being able to adjust. Gives you more time than checking at lockdown.

My sister has one of the yellow plastic chinese bators and the gages are crap. Her humidity gage never read right.  I would double check the accuracy of that. I don't know too many people that can incubate at 60% and not have chicks drown at hatch time.

Thanks. When I bought the incubator for my daughter's Christmas present I didn't know it was a cheap/inadequate one at the time. I did check temp with a thermometer which is accurate but I haven't the humidity. Because my chicks hatch a day early I thought it was temperature. And it's just frustrating that the air sac is a good size, the chick is in the right position, but just doesn't hatch. I messaged the breeder that I bought my pair from and she just replied that she was only getting 2 out of 10 eggs to hatch also.

Here is a picture of one of my eggs that I've drawn how big my air sacs usually are.

When I did a dry hatch, the air sac was bigger. With my other chicks I have a great hatch rate with this size.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks. When I bought the incubator for my daughter's Christmas present I didn't know it was a cheap/inadequate one at the time. I did check temp with a thermometer which is accurate but I haven't the humidity. Because my chicks hatch a day early I thought it was temperature. And it's just frustrating that the air sac is a good size, the chick is in the right position, but just doesn't hatch. I messaged the breeder that I bought my pair from and she just replied that she was only getting 2 out of 10 eggs to hatch also.

Here is a picture of one of my eggs that I've drawn how big my air sacs usually are.

When I did a dry hatch, the air sac was bigger. With my other chicks I have a great hatch rate with this size.

A day early hatch is a temp signifier. My hatches usually hatch out between day 19-20 because I use an old lg and usually it runs at least a degree warmer. But my hatches are always healthy with next to no after hatch mortality, so I don't worry about the slightly warmer temps, (actually prefer them...lol)

That picture you are displaying, The air cell should be on the other end. The fatter rounder end. When you candle, are you candling down into the air cell from the fat round end or are you candling from the bottom?? If you are candling from the bottom, that explains why you are seeing such a large "air cell", because you aren't seeing the air cell from the bottom, that's the clearness of the albumen you are seeing. To see the air cell, ou need to hold your light so that it is shining down into the air cell at the top. I will share a pic of one of my candled so you can see what I am talking about:


I hold my hand around the top of the flashlight to concentrate my light down into the egg. You can see the broght clear empty area at the top. This is the air cell. It should always be in the fat round end.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Here is what I think is happening, you are looking at the clearness of the bottom of the egg, which is vast, thinking it's the air cell, judging by all that clear, you are running a supper high humidity thinking that the "air cell" is too big. That higher humidity is actually what is compromising the eggs. That is why they are getting to hatch time and not hatching. Those specific eggs need less humidity than your mixes. I highly suggest doing a hatch of just the cream legbars. Start with a dry incubator, (as long as dry gives you around 30% give or take 5%.) At day 7 candle, from the big end down into the egg and find the actual air cell, mark it. See if it's on target. If it looks good, repeat the candling on day 14 and mark the air cells. Then you'll know if it needs to adjust. If you need a bit more humidity, wet a new sponge and set it in there. The link I gave you has a good egg chart in it if you need it for comparison. I think you'll find you'll get a more successful hatch, and it won't hurt to just try it.

 

[Amy King Hanson]

A day early hatch is a temp signifier. My hatches usually hatch out between day 19-20 because I use an old lg and usually it runs at least a degree warmer. But my hatches are always healthy with next to no after hatch mortality, so I don't worry about the slightly warmer temps, (actually prefer them...lol) That picture you are displaying, The air cell should be on the other end. The fatter rounder end. When you candle, are you candling down into the air cell from the fat round end or are you candling from the bottom?? If you are candling from the bottom, that explains why you are seeing such a large "air cell", because you aren't seeing the air cell from the bottom, that's the clearness of the albumen you are seeing. To see the air cell, ou need to hold your light so that it is shining down into the air cell at the top. I will share a pic of one of my candled so you can see what I am talking about: I hold my hand around the top of the flashlight to concentrate my light down into the egg. You can see the broght clear empty area at the top. This is the air cell. It should always be in the fat round end.

Oh my gosh! You're right. I did draw the sac on the wrong end. LOL! I actually did that last night... I must have been sleepy. No. I do have pointy end down, air sac on fat end. My bad.