Lost 6 / 10 in my first hatch... (pic inside)

[92Pony]

Preface; Used a hovabator 1602 w/fan and turner.

I set 10 EE eggs for my first hatch attempt on 1/25. 3 hatched on 2/14. No other activity since. I opened them all up today, and found one, apparently non-fertile (all yellow-yolky-looking inside), and 6 dead, seemingly developed chicks.

First 18 days, I tried to keep the humidity around 25% - that's probably where it averaged. Temp was pretty steady around 100.4-100.6. At lockdown, I upped the humidity to a pretty steady 80%. (Was that too high?)

I opened once on day 22 to quickly snatch the 3 dry hatchees.


Where did I go wrong? The 6 that didn't hatch, all looked pretty much like this little fella. One was pretty moist, but the others (including the pic below) looked slightly mummified. Maybe because they had been dead for a couple of days?

I will no be discouraged though. I'm already looking forward to setting another batch - I just don't want to have this happen again.


Thanks in advance,


Wade

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I can't see a picture. There is a link in my signature on several ways to upload pictures if you are having trouble.

 

[92Pony]

I had a whole post typed out and a pic included and when I posted, it posted blank.

I'm going to try again...


Got it above - Thanks Sunny.

 

[tec27]

Try to keep the humidity for the first couple days around 40%. Then during lockdown around 70%. 80% may have been too high. You're temp was perfect. Probably just a humidity problem or they could have just been weak chickens. I set 10 eggs on the same day as you and they hatched on valentines day as well.

 

[92Pony]

I had significant moisture on the underside of the bator windows (our house stays pretty cool though, so that could have compounded that). Like I said, humidity measured ~80% (77-81..along in there). Next time would 65%-70% be better then? I'm thinking of setting another batch today. My birthday is March 11, so I could have birthday chicks.

Wade

 

[tec27]

Yea 65-70% is better. I kept mine at around 70-75% during my last hatch. Personally, i thought it was a bit high. Next time ill target 65-70%.

 

[92Pony]

I was just reading through the instructions that came with my Hova, and in their troubleshooting chart, it mentioned a couple of times about insufficient oxygen, in reference to my problem/results. Should I maybe keep one of the vents open this time around as well? I had kept them in the entire 21 days.


Wade

 

[kathyinmo]

I was just reading through the instructions that came with my Hova, and in their troubleshooting chart, it mentioned a couple of times about insufficient oxygen, in reference to my problem/results. Should I maybe keep one of the vents open this time around as well? I had kept them in the entire 21 days.


Wade

The vents need to be open when they begin to hatch. Personally, I leave them open all the time.

Check the link in my signature, and see if that helps you out.

I incubate at 30-35% (but I allow it to go down to 20-25% before I add water sometimes). Day 18 I up the humidity to 60-65%. I don't like tooooo high humidity, and have actually had chicks hatch in my incubator (rather than the hatcher with higher humidity).

 

[The Chickeneer]

I remember having 75% hatch rate with 99% humidity! This was on hatch day, It was because a few chciks had already hatched, and they were in ther for an extra day to wait for unhatched eggs, I gave them some food, and a yogurtcap with water. It had not crossed my mind that the water I gave them would effect the humidity....the hatch woulda been better if it was 60%-70%, but if it ever, for some reason gets too high, remember this post, lower your humidity, and relax.....this same hatch that I just told you about, also had a temp spike of 111 degrees! If several things go wrong during your incubation period, remember what your math teacher tough you, a negative times a negative equals a positive

. And yes, a plug or two should remain open on the bator for enough oxygen, although, the oxygen in the bator should have been good if you only had 10 eggs

good luck with your next hatch!

 

[tec27]

I was just reading through the instructions that came with my Hova, and in their troubleshooting chart, it mentioned a couple of times about insufficient oxygen, in reference to my problem/results. Should I maybe keep one of the vents open this time around as well? I had kept them in the entire 21 days.


Wade

Yea i leave mine open throughout the whole incubation.