I hated to crack them ,but had no choice but to go ahead and do it.So I opened it and I found a little leg,and feathers,and then a little beek,foot,head,and eyes.It was fully developed but it did not make it.It was black and i don`t even have any black chickens.Any suggestions what could have gone wrong........
Oh man, sorry to hear they didn't make it. My first hatch was like that.... 12 eggs and only one chick. The others died in the shell. NOt sure what happend to yours but after a few successful hatches I realized that the biggest problem I had was lack of air. I think the chicks pip and have a greater air requirement and many times there just isn't suffient air.
I'm so very sorry about your hatch. Nothing stinks worse than a zero hatch after waiting, and waiting.
My last attempt had only one egg make it to the finish. I heard the little one peeping at night (very start of day 21.) I went to bed. When I got up, no peeping.. nothing. Never even pipped the shell.
To make a long story short, the little one had been perfectly formed, yolk absorbed, but had died. It was awful. Dd (3yo) and I cried a bit, she insisted I put the little one back in the incubator, because she thought he would be ok.
I really don't know what happened that time, but I think it was an airflow issue, also.
Try, try again! Double check your thermometers and hygrometers. Make sure you have plenty of vents and that they are OPEN at the end of you hatch.
I'm sorry to hear about your results and know how frustrating it can be. I would rather have a batch of clear eggs than ones that go all the way and then die. When I have had this happen it is usually because my humidity was too high during incubation and also lack of ventilation. Too much humidity does not necessarily make a chick "drown" like you commonly hear, but it can allow them to grow too large and soft to have enough strength to hatch. I lost a large setting to this last year. Now, I add water to my bator and the humidity typically goes up to about 50%-55%. Over the course of a few days it will start to drop, 45%, 40%, 30%... Once it gets down to about 15%-20% I will then add some more water and start the process over again. I candle every few days to see where the air cells are and use that as my main gauge as to what to do with humidity. That is much more important than what any hygrometer says.
I also open my incubator completely every couple days to allow it to air out. I have a hovabator 1588 so the temp comes right back up within a few minutes so it works for me. I try to keep in mind that when a hen sets there is far more air circulation than what we typically give our eggs. During the hatch I fill all the troughs with water and this brings my humidity up to about 70%. I open any plugs I can to allow for the most fresh air as well. The chicks seem to be far better off this way.
The hardest part of incubating is figuring out what works for you. You really need to try different things to see what works best. One important thing - only change one thing at a time- otherwise you may fix one thing and "break" another! Hope this helps.
I have had this happen a few times --ok a few hundred and there is no real answer - check humidty was suggested -
so now I dry hatch -except for Favereolle eggs --which do best with humid conditions-- I also leave the eggs upright in the turner except for faverolle eggs ---making sure the bator is extra clean was suggested - and checking nutrition on the
parents --some said too high humidity --
then of couse there is the one I think it just wasn't strong enough --i really hate this part of hatching cuz 99.9 there just isn't answer except try again