I am new to hatching eggs and first batch what a disaster :(

[Kimshappychick79]

Hi so I’m new to hatching my own eggs ! The biggest mistake I made was putting a new egg or two every day for almost 2 weeks so
Literally had about 3/4 new eggs every day I should of done my homework- next I bought a little giant still incubator and surprising most my eggs got up to two weeks before either all of a sudden the chick would stop moving or growing or what not out of 40 eggs I have 5 left and they are due to hatch between 24-28 so I bought a 2nd incubator as the original one I just put about 30 duck eggs in it ! Anyways I’ve been doing more research as I’ve been collecting eggs these past few days I’m on day 4 and I have a little over two dozen I plan on putting in the incubator by the weekend anyways I put the eggs I’ve been collecting in egg cartons with the bigger end standing up but haven’t really been touching them but moving them maybe once a day and I have them on my kitchen counter but I keep my house between 59-69 degrees n we do have a pellet stove I don’t know what the humidity level is but ugh I am debating whether these eggs are gonna be viable or not or if I should start over collecting eggs and store them in the basement where I have my chicks with heat lamps so my basement is between 50-60 n I’m sure humidity considering it is quite moist down there is up to 60-70 percent but first question do I think my eggs will be viable to put in the incubator which will be close to 7 days this weekend?

2nd question is what am I doing wrong with my incubator that my chicks stop growIng or moving as they get bigger like today was day 21 for one of my eggs and I didn’t see any movement but yesterday I did is that normal To have less movement as they get closer to due date ?

Third question is can u put eggs in one incubator at different hatch dates and then move the ones that are the last three days to the second incubator without.compromosing the other eggs ? I think it’s honestly best to pt all eggs in at once n have two incubators to keep the flow of eggs to hatch going

I sell chicks and fertile eggs and non fertile eggs as well as other farming type stuff lol so this is going to be part of my hobby but as a little extra money as well !

Next question can u mix duck eggs with chicken eggs ?

Ty for your help in advance I know some of my questions are prolly dumb but seeing my chicks die at different states n losing pretty much all of my eggs (40 eggs ) these last five I see movement so they are alive and I just moved them to the new still sir incubator it’s the little giant one but this time I bought a automatic egg turner ! But I heard the temp n humidity isn’t accurate on this model what can I do to ensure a successful hatch this time

 

[3riverschick]

@Ridgerunner
Thanks!
Karen

 

[Ridgerunner]

first question do I think my eggs will be viable to put in the incubator which will be close to 7 days this weekend?

Probably, I'd do it. If you have ideal storage conditions eggs can easily stay viable for two weeks. Your conditions are not ideal but they are not that bad. The temperature is great. With that pellet stove the humidity is probably fairly low but there is a wide range of moisture loss that will work. If you are storing them they don't have to be turned the first several days, the chalaza in a newly laid egg should be strong enough and stiff enough to keep the yolk away from the sides. It's better to turn them and it starts getting necessary after five or six days of storage, but not necessarily a death sentence if you don't. But turn them at least three times a day when you start. I've stored eggs in conditions that bad or worse or a week and still had great hatches.

Once you start incubating they need to be turned a few times each day. Turning helps keep the yolk and developing chick away from the inside of the shell. If it touches the shell it can get stuck and kill the chick or keep it from hatching. Also turning helps the body parts develop in the right spots, so turning is pretty important for the first two weeks of actual incubation. After two weeks thought he body parts have formed and a membrane has developed around the developing chick to protect it from touching the inside of the shell so turning is no longer important.

is that normal To have less movement as they get closer to due date ?

Not really but don't put too much emphasis on seeing movement. I don't always see movement when I candle and the eggs still usually hatch OK. Also eggs do not always hatch exactly on day 21, it's not that unusual for them to be a day or even two early or late. I suggest patience.

Have you opened the unhatched eggs to try to determine when they stopped developing. There are a lot of different reasons that an egg might stop developing at different times. I suggest opening the unhatched eggs to try to determine what caused them to stop. These links can help you some with that. It's not always easy to determine what actually happened. As you can see there are many possible causes for an egg to stop at each phase.

Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting

http://extension.msstate.edu/content/trouble-shooting-failures-egg-incubation


Illinois Incubation troubleshooting

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html

what can I do to ensure a successful hatch this time

You are dealing with living animals so you cannot ensure anything. Calibrating your thermometer and hygrometer so you have confidence in them is important. I never trust any incubator factory sets or instruments without confirming them myself. I don't care if that is a Brinsea, Little Giant, or anything else.

In a still air it is important where you take the temperature since warm air rises. It's recommended you use a temperature of 101.5 at the top of the eggs.

Read the instructions that came with the Little Giant. Do what it says.

Opening the unhatched eggs to see when they stopped can give you a lot of clues as to what you might want to tweak this time. Use that experience to gain knowledge.

Since you have two incubators I suggest you use one as an incubator and one as a hatcher. Collect all the eggs you want to hatch for a week and start them at the same time. When those eggs go into lockdown move them to the hatcher. Keeping a week between hatches should give you time to thoroughly clean the hatcher between each broods.

Good luck!

 

[3riverschick]

Thanks so much for all this help Ridgerunner!!
Karen