Incubating Question

[LilyD]

So I have been incubating for years and generally get 100% hatch rates during the spring and summer hatches. Last year I started hatching in mid January hoping to have babies that would start laying mid summer to add to my flock when the older ladies are ready to take a break and moult. Both last year and this year I have noticed my early hatches have had quite a few early quitters in the bunch out of 42 eggs I am getting about half that to hatch. Some eggs are infertile because I'm running a young rooster and he's still figuring out the hens aren't going to eat him. About a third of the eggs quit between day 5 and day 15 when I candle and pull eggs. I live in a northern climate and although I go out and check for eggs periodically to try and get them when they are super fresh it's inevitable that some are cold when I go out to get them. We have been running temps from 20 below to 20 above this last month. Would that be enough to account for the early quitters in the hatching eggs? Last batch out of 42 eggs I had 12 infertile eggs that never grew and out of the 20 remaining I had 18 make it to lockdown and hatch. The rest quit before lockdown.

 

[ladybrasa]

I’ve only just started hatching eggs last year, but yes, my guess would be season/weather/temp, especially since you’ve seen a pattern there. I’m assuming you have a couple thermometer/hygrometers? I know in my house in winter the temp varies a lot and also is very dry especially from the heat being on (oil).

Or I wonder if general stress from weather on your hens might contribute?

 

[LilyD]

I’ve only just started hatching eggs last year, but yes, my guess would be season/weather/temp, especially since you’ve seen a pattern there. I’m assuming you have a couple thermometer/hygrometers? I know in my house in winter the temp varies a lot and also is very dry especially from the heat being on (oil).

Or I wonder if general stress from weather on your hens might contribute?

That was what I was thinking stress to the eggs before collection outside or to the hens before laying the eggs. They are orpingtons and while they don't seem to like the snow very much they all seem okay with the cold. But the eggs on days I work are cold when I bring them in because the coop isn't heated. I know cold can cause beak deformities if they make it past the first few weeks but wasn't sure if it would cause the quitters I'm seeing.

 

[ladybrasa]

I don’t really know for sure, but it sounds very much a possibility!

 

[Mellowmalt]

I will make an assumtion here and guess that you do dry incubation?
My money would be on that.
In winter your air will be far dryier than in summer.
Otherwise fluctuating temperatures can have a detrimental effect in some incubators, mainly the less insulated ones.
If you look at some incubators with only a plastic wall separating them, the incubator will make sure the temp stays steady around the probe but if temps fluctuate outside the incubator those temps will affect the plastic cover on the incubator and the air behind it.

It will be one of those reasons, either you are incubating too dry or temps are fluctuating outside the incubator although stress from the birds sounds very plausible too, the health of the egg certainly makes a difference to hatching success.

 

[LilyD]

I will make an assumtion here and guess that you do dry incubation?
My money would be on that.
In winter your air will be far dryier than in summer.
Otherwise fluctuating temperatures can have a detrimental effect in some incubators, mainly the less insulated ones.
If you look at some incubators with only a plastic wall separating them, the incubator will make sure the temp stays steady around the probe but if temps fluctuate outside the incubator those temps will affect the plastic cover on the incubator and the air behind it.

It will be one of those reasons, either you are incubating too dry or temps are fluctuating outside the incubator although stress from the birds sounds very plausible too, the health of the egg certainly makes a difference to hatching success.

I don't dry incubate but I don't add a lot of water until the end. I tend to run between 20-25% humidity the first two weeks and then 40-65 during lock down. I bring it up usually to 40 when I lock them down and don't add more water usually the hatching chicks bring it the rest of the way up otherwise I am dripping water. I have a styrofoam bator and the area it is is fairly steady for temp around the bator. It's not a high end one just a table top. I would love to upgrade to a cabinet but need to save for that in the future. temp stays fairly steady at 99-100 the whole incubation. I have both analog and digital thermometers and hygrometers in the bator keeping track of the temp and humidity. I have hatched in the winter before but tend to not start until mid Feb and the temps out in the barn/coop are warmer then. Only real difference is that temps in the coop were below zero for egg collection for like 4 days I was collecting. I researched a bit and they said it can cause some deformities in chicks and I did see a few of those in ones that didn't hatch. (Beak was Malformed) but normally other than clears usually all the eggs hatch out of my home crew so trying to figure out what might be causing it.