How do you get the best hatch possible?

[KlinoClucks]

Hi all chicken lovers!
I've just finished my fourth hatch with my incubator, and only a fourth of the eggs I put in it hatched. Nearly all of the eggs were fertile and the incubator's humidity and temperature were just right. This isn't the first time this has happened either. I have a fully automatic incubator, with a 48 egg capacity. I never store the eggs that go into the incubator for more than a week, and they are all medium sized. This is not that serious - i was just wondering whether there was any way to improve the hatch. Thanks!

 

[Erba]

Some things I did to improve my hatch. I sprayed the eggs with a 3% hydrogen peroxide before I put them in the incubator. I aired them 15 minutes a day from day 4 to 18. It is very important to calibrate your thermometer and hygrometer, because most incubators are not exact. Make sure your incubator has also been disinfected. A lot of problems are due to bacteria and fluctuating temperature. Hope this helps!!

 

[igorsMistress]

I would start with calibrating your hygrometer and temp. I prefer to use a regular thermometer rather than digital.

I candle my eggs before I set them to check porosity. Some eggs are more so than others and this can have an impact on how much humidity you need while incubating. Candle days 7 and 14 to check the air cells and trace them, then again at lockdown. There are no set numbers for humidity in my opinion, it needs to be gauged for adjustment based on the size of the air cells. Sometimes all you can do is go with middle ground and hope for the best.

Sanitize your incubator between hatches. I wash mine with Dawn, then sanitize by washing with Virkon S and then put it in the sun to dry.