I NEED HELP!

[SheenaMills]

I had 4 chicks that were supposed to hatch 3 days ago. I haven't seen movement in 2 days. I only seen one of the eggs moving like outside of the egg. the others I seen moving when I candles them last. here are the pics of the eggtopsy on all 4..

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You might want to put "graphic photos" in the title to help warn people the photos will be difficult to view.

I am not sure what happened to the hatch. Hopefully some others will be along shortly to help!

I am sorry for your losses.

 

[LogCabinChicks]

awe...so sorry for your losses...

 

[BonRae67]

Did any hatch at all? There are probably a whole lot of factors that would make that happen. What temp was incubator, what was the humidity level, at what day did you do lockdown, still air incubator, what # day did you do the eggtopsy........
Sorry for all the questions but needed

 

[SheenaMills]

none hatched but all of them looked like something dif happened. my humidity could have been off but I don't know really.. I'm so confused with it all

 

[AmyLynn2374]

With the exception of the first one, they appear ready to hatch. I would say that the humidity was too high during the incubation and when it came time to hatch, they drowned in the excess moisture.
I could be wrong, but that would be my guess seeing how well formed they were and had been absorbing the yolk.

 

[SheenaMills]

see I have no idea how much water to dump in my little thing.. some of the membranes seemed so hard I figured I dried it up. does any one have a still air incubator from like a farm store made of foam? how much water should I fill the bottom with .. I'm starting a new batch tomorrow.

 

[AmericanMom]

see I have no idea how much water to dump in my little thing.. some of the membranes seemed so hard I figured I dried it up. does any one have a still air incubator from like a farm store made of foam? how much water should I fill the bottom with .. I'm starting a new batch tomorrow.

I have a still air Hova Bator... I had many issues like yours above before I started dry incubation. I don't know where you live but where I am in Oregon my ambient humidity is around 50%... I don't add any water until day 18 and then I just cut a normal size sponge in strips, wet them and lay them along the inside corners.. I allow the hatching chicks to generate the humidity needed for the rest of the hatch.. I went from getting a hatch rate as high as 25% and all the way down to 1% to right away getting 97,99, and 100% of those that made it to lockdown. I am on day 16 with 24 eggs going strong and I don't track the humidity within the incubator, My room humidity is sitting around 37% but the air cells are perfect, right where they should be.

I will say that I haven't heard good things about the Farm innovator model of incubators, but that's just what I have heard. I like I said have a Hova Bator still air and I just purchased yesterday a Little Giant digital with a fan for my second incubator that I will be testing next week.

 

[Outpost JWB]

I have borrowed a foam incubator from my friend and hatched out eggs 4 different times. I fill the wells at the bottom. I leave one of the egg slots over each water well open. On day 17 (day before lockdown,) I put a dry wash cloth in the incubator. If water is needed, I use small plastic tubing to get water into the incubator without opening the incubator. On hatch day, if it appears they are having a hard time hatching due to dryness, (ie.. shell sticks to feathers, takes 2 days to get out of the shell, or can't get out of the shell.) then I will tube water onto the washcloth to add humidity. I have no experience using a humidity meter, but I need one. My hatch rates using this incubator runs about 50-75%.. So, they are not the best incubators.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I use a little giant foam bator. Yes, if you use a foam bator you have to put more effort into it for a good hatch than you do a more expensive one, but you can get good hatches out of them. My last was 13/16. But you can't fly blind and expect things to go perfect. You need a hygrometer to have an idea of where your humidity is at and what humidity works for you. And even when you are using a hygrometer, you need to monitor the air cells in the eggs to know if the humidity range you are using is adequate. You need the proper temps in your bator. Still air = 101-102, forced air = 99.5. If you are using a cheaper foam bator, chances are you need to monitor it more often to catch any temperature flunctations. These bators are not for the busy working people. Often it is neccessary to baby sit them.
I, myself switched to the dry method last hatch and love it. It seems that the dry incubation method works better for styrofoam bators.

At lockdown the humidity needs to go up. (I shot for 75%+) the vents need to be open (I have mine open for the whole incubation) and patience is a virtue.

If you are not going to use a hygrometer in the bator I highly suggest keeping a real close eye on the egg's air cells to make sure that they are loosing the right amount of moisture. That alone will make or break your hatch. If the eggs don't loose enough moisture they have a high chance of drowning. If they loose too much you have a high chance of having a bunch of shrink wrapped chicks. Moisture loss is very important to your hatch, and that is controlled by your humidty.

Good luck with your next hatch.