Need help troubleshooting: 13 dead-in-shell

[InsaneBreeder]

Quote:
Those are acceptable hatch rates? Really? Do you think I ought to manually lower the temperature?

I hadn't thought of writing the dates on the eggs...but that is a great idea and I will definitely do it in the future. Lol, chickens are messy -- how could your suggesting such even possibly be offensive? I mean sure, mine live in a clean environment, but they're still messy. I do clean the incubator and thoroughly disinfect it after every hatch, so I doubt that it is a factor, but I will certainly try the other things you mentioned. Usually, by the time I get to egg-collecting, my hands are pretty grimy from scraping poop off perching surfaces and cleaning out the waterers, and I am just very oily by nature, so it wouldn't surprise me if I am making the eggs dirty in just a less noticeable way than the hens. I always scrub off the most prominent stains or dried poop on the eggs, but I will be more extensive in the future. So you are sure that the diluted bleach solution won't kill the embryos? At any rate, I will do some experimenting.

I know which hens laid which eggs, but I would have to do a few more hatches to conclude whether some parents are more successful at producing offspring than others.

I am very grateful for all your advice. I must agree with one of the previous posters to say that it does not sound like rubbish at all to me, and I think, regardless of whether some of the things you mentioned are the primary reasons, that revisiting the hygiene practices especially will improve my hatch rates. So thank you

 

[InsaneBreeder]

Quote:
Oh, I will have to try the weighing method too! It is interesting that the 10-day-old ones were more hatchable than the fresh ones.... So do you weigh them again during the candling on Day 10 (assuming, of course, that you candle then) or is that unimportant? Can you even see the egg under all that writing once you have the date of collection, the weight, and the breed or who laid the egg?

 

[kathyinmo]

You may find this helpful....
Hatchability Problem Analysis:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa204

 

[BrattishTaz]

I think you may need another thermometer, if they are hatching on day 20 your temps were running high. Your 102 spikes may have actually been high than that.

 

[Gypsy07]

Yes, your hatch rates are pretty acceptable. Those two hatches average out at 58% which is a lot better than some people manage. Okay, you'd maybe expect them to be higher with the eggs being from your own birds and not shipped, but I'd still say 58% is pretty good. My recent staggered hatch produced 12 chicks from 21 fertile eggs (57%) which I was very happy with. If you want to read my thread about that it's here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=443630. If you don't want to wade through five pages of chitchat, the results are summarised on the last page.

Look at it this way - you have an almost limitless supply of fertile eggs so you can afford to experiment a bit with different incubating methods, and figure out for yourself what works and what doesn't. That's what my recent staggered hatch with old eggs and bleached eggs was all about - I think I was almost trying to create NON-ideal conditions to see how many would still hatch out. More than I thought, as it turned out!

Bleach definitely doesn't kill the eggs, at least, not the way I used it. I have four perfect chicks whose eggs were dunked in a hot bleach solution and swirled around for 30 seconds before being rinsed off again. That's not to say I'd recommend it for you. But if you're interested, have a read through this thread about whether or not to wash eggs. There are a lot of conflicting opinions on it but to me it looks like a lot of folk maybe made up their minds without trying both ways for themselves. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=426155

The weighing thing is actually pretty simple. I write the starting weight on the shell, then I do the calculation for a 12.5% weight loss and write the ideal end weight on as well. So if an egg started at 80g, I'd be aiming for it to end up going into lockdown at approximately 70g. I candle at 6 days, weigh and make a note of it. I candle again at 13 days, weigh and make a note. (on a separate chart btw, not on the egg itself. LOL! That would sure look funny...) And I candle and weigh at 18 days right before I bump the humidity up for lockdow. If after weighing I think the eggs are losing moisture too fast or too slow, I make humidity adjustments. I never end up getting all the eggs to weigh what I want them to, but within a gram or so is okay. I'd prefer them to lose too much moisture rather than too little, but that's not logical on my part, as I'm only basing that on two incubations where they lost a bit too much and most of them still popped out okay. I should really run a test incubation where I deliberately don't let them lose enough and see what the results are...

I'd agree with Taz, before you go turning your incubator temp down, first check that your thermometer is accurate and that it is placed in the bator correctly. Maybe get a 2nd one to put in there too...

 

[InsaneBreeder]

Thanks for the link, Kathyinmo; that will be useful.

I used to have another thermometer in the incubator, and it also read 100 degrees.

Thanks for all your help, people! And especially Gypsy07 -- your advice has been very helpful.

 

[ThePamperedChick]

I'm just a newbie and all eggs (except two) on my first hatch didn't make it. These were all shipped eggs. On breakout, some were not fertile, many had blood rings (bacteria), and many were fully developed but died before hatching. One chick was born yesterday without any apparent problems and another pipped without progress. After waiting 24 hours and seeing the pipped area was now upside down inside of up, I decided to intervene. Found the membrane was completely dry and she needed help to get out. Now it's pins and needless waiting to see if she makes it. So, that shows I have alot to learn about bacteria, temps, humidity, and breeders who ship dirty eggs (will never buy from them again). Here's what I learned from several university agricultural sites: do not incubate dirty eggs, do not wash them or wipe them clean. Eggs are porous and have a protective outer layer. Washing or wiping them, removes this and bacteria enters easily. Hands should be washed before collecting eggs to protect them from bacteria and oils from our skin. Oil blocks the pores which must be able to 'breath.' There are so many factors to consider with a bad hatch and I made every mistake possible. I can't believe that two have made it (fingers crossed). It's so discouraging to lose chicks, but when they develop fully and then die - it's heartbreaking! I hope this info of the mistakes I made is useful.

 

[ThePamperedChick]

Oops, I meant to write the pipped area was upside down instead of rightside up.........

 

[ThePamperedChick]

And, that's 'needles', not 'needless' - I can't type.......

 

[perolane]

You can do a search here for "calibrate hygrometer"...it involves salt, water, and a ziplock bag....I forget the exact measurements...can't ever find a thing when I need it!

I had a really bad hatch & decided to calibrate...digital hygrometer reading was 65%, but after calibration the correct reading was 76%....way too high!!