Incubator Trouble

[Shadow Source]

Hello,

I have incubated chicken eggs twice now, and had very low hatch rates the first time I did I had no idea what I was doing, but I got two chicks. Now its day 16 for my second batch, and a few eggs don't look that good and a few look okay. I would estimate I will have a 3/7 hatch rate, witch in not that great, saying 7 were fertile and 4 died. When I candle the eggs I leave them out for five minutes, and I put them back in after I am finished candling them. That just my routine I first candle my eggs on day three, and it seems to work and I can see if they are fertile or not. Then on day 9 to see if any had died, and then when I am about to go into lock down, on day 16.


I have been very good about not letting the temperature go too hot or too cold. The last batch, the temperature spiked for about 1 minute to a whapping 118 degrees! I was able to save those. This batch the highest the temperature has gone is 102, and the lowest the temp has gone is 98. I try to stick around 99.5, and a humidity level of 45 percent. The because I have a forced air incubator. This is the incubators link from where I got it. https://www.amazon.com/HovaBator-Pr...F8&qid=1527525661&sr=8-35&keywords=hova+bator

Give me any input you can. I just don't know where I am going wrong. Is it me candling too early? Or is it me going into lock down too early? I live in a very dry climate, so I try to keep the humidity level around 45%. And in lock down as high as I can get it.

Thanks,

Shadow_Source

 

[kandyg_99]

I Haven't Incubated For Awhile But Forced Air Should Stay At 99.5 Throughout Incubation , I Have The Same Incubator. I Followed The Directions & Never Had Any Problems With Mine. Why Are You Leaving The Eggs Out For 5 Minutes ? You Should Be Going Into Lockdown On Day 18. I Only Candle Once A Week Until Lockdown Then I Leave Them Alone Until Hatch ...

 

[mdees88]

I would verify that your temp and humidity are correct. I have bought a bunch of thermometers/hygrometers. I have 3 of these and they work great...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01H...F8&qid=1527526745&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65

I hatch quail not chickens but I have very good hatch rates with shipped quail eggs. I have a very old gqf cabinet incubator. I run my Temps and humidity where the GQF manual recommends.

Once I set my eggs the only time I open the incubator is at lockdown. This is the only time I candle my eggs. I remove the clears and leave the rest to hatch. Out of 300+ eggs I've averaged 74% hatch rate on total eggs set and a 93% hatch rate on viable eggs at lockdown. But these quail eggs might be easier to hatch then chicken eggs, I've never tried to hatch chickens...

 

[Shadow Source]

I Haven't Incubated For Awhile But Forced Air Should Stay At 99.5 Throughout Incubation , I Have The Same Incubator. I Followed The Directions & Never Had Any Problems With Mine. Why Are You Leaving The Eggs Out For 5 Minutes ? You Should Be Going Into Lockdown On Day 18. I Only Candle Once A Week Until Lockdown Then I Leave Them Alone Until Hatch ...

I leave my eggs out roughly five minutes. I don't have a watch that says that it has been five minutes, but roughly five minutes is the maximum amount of time that I will leave my eggs out of my incubator.

Sorry I should have said that first.

Thanks

 

[Shadow Source]

I Haven't Incubated For Awhile But Forced Air Should Stay At 99.5 Throughout Incubation , I Have The Same Incubator. I Followed The Directions & Never Had Any Problems With Mine. Why Are You Leaving The Eggs Out For 5 Minutes ? You Should Be Going Into Lockdown On Day 18. I Only Candle Once A Week Until Lockdown Then I Leave Them Alone Until Hatch ...

I also forgot to tell you that the last time I went into lock down on my first batch, that they hatched on day nineteen. I read that if it is too hot that they will hatch early. I also have a bantam rooster. My eggs have a great fertility rate, because I started with nine eggs and 8 were fertile, and one died.

 

[Shadow Source]

I would verify that your temp and humidity are correct. I have bought a bunch of thermometers/hygrometers. I have 3 of these and they work great...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01H...F8&qid=1527526745&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65

I hatch quail not chickens but I have very good hatch rates with shipped quail eggs. I have a very old gqf cabinet incubator. I run my Temps and humidity where the GQF manual recommends.

Once I set my eggs the only time I open the incubator is at lockdown. This is the only time I candle my eggs. I remove the clears and leave the rest to hatch. Out of 300+ eggs I've averaged 74% hatch rate on total eggs set and a 93% hatch rate on viable eggs at lockdown. But these quail eggs might be easier to hatch then chicken eggs, I've never tried to hatch chickens...

Thanks I am going to get a few of these.

 

[cmom]

I keep my humidity around 30% during incubation. When I set the eggs for hatching on day 18 or 19 then I raise it to around 75%. The eggs need to loose some moisture during incubation.

 

[cmom]

If the temperature is high the eggs may hatch a day or two early and low temperature can cause them to hatch a day or two late. Have you calibrated your thermometers?

 

[Shadow Source]

This is my thermometer that came with my incubator,https://www.amazon.com/IncuThermTM-...-15&keywords=incubator+thermometer+hygrometer. It also came with a regular non digital thermometer, that I checked it, and it looked correct but I am going to buy a few of the thermometers that were suggested to me above. I don't believe this thermometer is able to be calibrated, but I checked it with a few thermometers laying around. Thanks

 

[Shadow Source]

I keep my humidity around 30% during incubation. When I set the eggs for hatching on day 18 or 19 then I raise it to around 75%. The eggs need to loose some moisture during incubation.
View attachment 1408087

That is the best incubator setup I have ever seen!!