Don't beat yourself up... I'm finding it is a learning process, and boy do I have a lot to learn. The first time I used my Little Giant with an auto turner and no fan. I put two eggs in and got 1 duck, second time 5 eggs in and 1 duck.
This year I bought a computer fan and put in the LG. I was going to do it right. I live in Alaska. I ordered some eggs because I couldn't find any locally. I had a full incubator from two different sources. I had visions of all sorts of little duckies running around my classroom. None of them hatched. I ordered the eggs express mail, thinking they would ship them air mail. They were air mail to Anchorage a city 300 miles away, but they stuck them in the cold mail truck with temperatures around 14 degrees with no heat. They developed but did not hatch. I had a lot of money into these eggs.... I was hatching them with students in my classroom and they were all pretty disappointed. After talking to people I was thinking the humidity was too high and I moved the incubator into another room with less humidity and found some eggs to order in state - another 12 eggs. I got two ducks. I was happy with the two ducks... I just didn't want to get skunked again. The students were excited and got to spend a couple of weeks with them before school let out for the summer. Like you I feel bad when something starts to grow and then doesn't make it.
I bought a new incubator and have 8 eggs in it.... I hope I get a better hatch but I may not. Don't give up!!! I'm finding all sorts of information on this site. I'm telling myself I'm practicing with my new incubator at home, so I'll be ready next spring when we hatch eggs in the classroom. The truth is I got the bug now.... It is fun there is a lot to learn and people are so helpful on this site.
Tia
