incubator death

[LitaB]

So this is the first time I've ever incubated eggs. We had one chick hatch out in the middle of the night, but nothing on the other eggs in the incubator. I water candled them to see if there was anything going to happen with them as we are on day 23 already. I had one egg that floated but no movement at all. I also put a flashlight to them all to see what I could see..no movement there either up near the air pocket. I'm thinking the one little guy is all I'm going to get out of this batch. I'm not sure what could have gone wrong. I kept the temp at as close to 99.5 as I could get it. My humidity was running a bit high with some fluctuations, when I would add water it would really jump up a lot. But I'm not even sure if I trust the humidity gauge that came with the incubator. I bought a digital one and it seemed way off..again not sure if that ones right either. I candled several times, which I'm thinking I should have cut back on..but my excitement got the better of me.

any suggestions on what I should do to reduce my loss?

 

[kuchchicks]

So first let me ask what kind of bator you have? Is it still or forced (with a fan)? If it is forced then 99.5 is perfect. If there is no fan then your temp is a little low which could be why you are on day 23 with one little guy hatching out. The next thing that you need to think about is how accurate your thermometers are. You should definitely have more than one and NEVER trust the one that is built into the bator if it has one. There are different ways to test the accuracy of your thermometers.

Second, what did your run your humidity at? I typically run "dry" and keep mine around 35% during days 1-17 and then 75% during lockdown. This has given me an 85%-90% hatch rate all spring (I have done back to back hatches since February). Your humidity gauge is important but I usually only use mine as a starting point. I go more by what my air cells look like at days 7 and 14. There are several pics on this cite that will show you were your air cells should be. Let me know if you cannot find it.

Third, do not be discouraged. It took me quite some time before I figured this process out. My first several hatches were 15%-30% at best. It was only this past spring when I finally got things working correctly. This site helped A LOT! You are in the right place. Hope this helps!

 

[LitaB]

its a forced air incubator. "Farm Innovations Pro Series Incubator" Got it at Tractor Supply. The thermometer was way off..like 10 degrees off and would fluctuate like crazy. I stuck another one down inside at egg level and then used a meat thermometer in one of the little holes at the top and just let it settle in there...and those two that I added were within a half a degree of each other so I figured those were pretty good. I am planning on doing another batch once I know for sure what these ones are going to do. When I looked at them with the flashlight today it didn't seem like the inside of the egg was really full which is kind of leaning me towards thinking they are dead in the shell.

I'll try the dry method this time around and then just add the water at the end. I feel like I did so much playing around in it to figure out how to do things that I may have set them up for failure.

I did have a problem with egg placement. My hens lay very big eggs, they sometimes don't fit in the jumbo cartons and with my egg turner I had to be careful where they would be placed because when the turner moved the eggs they would rub on the element or on the inside of the fan contraption. I ended up with one broken egg because of it.

 

[1chickendog142]

This happens to all of us. I have to ask ? Are these eggs from your stock or did you buy them from somebody to hatch out ? Sometimes this is how you find out if it is time to get a new Roo or not. Lots of people think if a Rooster is mating with the hen's then he's got to be fertile (wrong). I have had good and bad luck with hatching eggs that I've bought from people. Kinda hard not to get discouraged after putting in a month's time to hatch and have just a couple make it. I dry hatch with no water until lockdown also, after darn near drowning babies a couple of times, trick is not only put water in channels of incubator, but also use a couple of sponges soaked in water( to keep from having dry hatches, or sticky babies which have a hard time piping thru shells). Buy you a candler and use it, to check eggs from big end upwards to smaller pointy end. Trust me, it's worth it to learn this, the first time you have a rotten egg blow up in your incubator, you will never forget it, the smell and clean up is awful!!! Each and everyone of us chicken people have had to learn these things the hard way, so never feel bad about asking questions, most love to share helpful hints

 

[LitaB]

The eggs were from our own stock. First time we've ever attempted to hatch any of our own. Our Roo has his favorite girls that he tends to do his duty with and leaves the other ones alone so when we collected our eggs we were just hoping the ones layed those days were some of his favorite girls.

We do have another Roo but he's too young right now. Just got him this spring with a batch that we bought from tractor supply.

We decided to start incubating because we have lost 8 chickens so far this spring/summer due to raccoons and were concerned we wouldn't have enough chickens in the coop for them all to stay warm through the winter. We regularly get 2-3 weeks of weather that it doesn't go above zero. We do heat with a lamp but they help each other by snuggling.

 

[LitaB]

I'm most definitely going to try the dry hatching this time. Seems like that's the general rule that people go by. Teach me to not count my chickens before they hatch for sure!

 

[kuchchicks]

Keep in mind that the "dry" method is NOT ALWAYS no water during days 1-17. It really depends on your weather and where you are located. I like to keep my humidity right around 35% so I do need to add some water during incubation. If I did not my humidity would actually be closer to 20% and I think that would be too little and cause my air cells to become too large. I have really found that the best way to determine if you need to add a little, a lot, or no water at all is all based on your air cells. Those are the best indicator. The hygrometer is really just a reference point IMO.

I did use that same incubator for a couple of hatches. I too found the thermometer to be off, but mine was off about 4 degrees. At this point I use it as my brooder when the chicks first hatch because I do not like them running into my other hatching eggs. For incubating and hatching I have switched over to the Hova Bator 1588 and love it. It runs like a dream. The thermometer on it is almost dead on, however I still have 2 additional thermometers that I use to double and triple check my temp.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm most definitely going to try the dry hatching this time. Seems like that's the general rule that people go by. Teach me to not count my chickens before they hatch for sure!

A good method I highly recommend: (unless you live in high altitudes or use a Brinsea) http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity It's the method I use and share with anyone who is having problems incubating. High altitude incubating actually needs a higher humidity and is harder to incubate at.