Need help

[Leonidas Kaijuko]

Hello everyone,
On November 1, I incubated 352 eggs of mixed breeds in a new incubator I just made. I set the temperature to 37.8 Celsius and humidity of 65% throughout. I made sure that water for humidity was never missing and the temperature was at the set constants though power wasn't constantly available all days.
November 20, chicks started hatching. I got 12 chicks on twentieth day and the count reached 123 of well hatched chicks, 12 were not properly hatched (they didn't last two days and died) and four fell down and died. Then they stopped hatching. I was surprised because that's not what I expected.
I did a little observation of the eggs didn't hatch. Most of the chicks inside were not well developed and didn't seem to be alive anyway. I don't know if the problem is the machine or what. Sorry I forgot to take photos.
If there is someone with a hint of what the problem is and how to solve it, Please I need it.......

 

[Pyxis]

65% humidity is very high for the first 18 days. Did you candle and check that the air cells were developing properly? When you opened the eggs that didn't hatch, did they have a lot of liquid in them?

 

[Leonidas Kaijuko]

I didn't do the candling and the eggs that didn't hatch, had plenty of liquid too.

 

[Pyxis]

Yep, sounds like your humidity was much too high. Next time, you're going to need to candle your eggs and check that the air cells are developing properly, or better yet weigh them to track moisture loss, so that you can make sure your humidity is at an appropriate level.

 

[lazy gardener]

Before you plug that bator in again, please read all of "hatching eggs 101" in the learning center. Incubation comes with a steep learning curve. Calibration of your thermometers and hygrometer are key. Understanding how to candle, why and when to candle, and what to do with the candling information you get is also key. Humidity is a tool to see to it that the air cells achieve the proper size, helps to even ensure the size and development of the chick, and sets the scene for a good hatch.

 

[Leonidas Kaijuko]

Thank you very much. What should be the humidity ratings during the incubation??

 

[Pyxis]

Thank you very much. What should be the humidity ratings during the incubation??

For the first 18 days it depends entirely on your location, climate, and even the incubator. You'll have to figure out what works best for you by candling and watching the air cells and making adjustments, or weighing the eggs and making adjustments. Here's a chart to show you what the air cells should look like each day:

If you find your air cells are too big, you need to raise humidity. If you find they are too small, you need to lower humidity.

For lockdown when the eggs are hatching, you'll want it around 65 to 70 percent.

 

[Bryam]

Yup, you incubated a lot of eggs without doing your research. You live you learn. You will do better next Time. Happy Hatching!

 

[Ridgerunner]

For not having constant power I think you did pretty well in that incubation. And I’m glad you opened some unhatched eggs to try to figure it out. I’ll include a couple of links that might help you understand what you see. There can be a lot of reasons eggs don’t hatch.

Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting

http://extension.msstate.edu/content/trouble-shooting-failures-egg-incubation

Illinois Incubation troubleshooting

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html

There is a learning curve in incubation. In many ways it is as much art as science. Even with the same model of incubator in the same room, the experts tweak each individual incubator to maximize hatch. Opening the unhatched eggs is key to that.

From what I read it does sound like your humidity was too high during incubation. The egg needs to lose a certain amount of moisture during the entire incubation for it to hatch. That amount does not have to be precise, there is a window that works. A problem is that the amount of moisture loss can be different for each individual egg for different reasons. Nature was kind enough to allow that moisture loss to be a little high or low and the egg still hatch. You want to get as close as you can of course but what matters is to get the average of the eggs right. Some individual eggs can be quite different.

Instantaneous humidity is not that important. What is important is average humidity over the entire incubation. There are times my humidity gets as much as 10% higher than I want it and stays there for a few days. The temperature and amount of moisture in the air outside the incubator can cause that much of a swing. So I keep track if that and run it about that much low for a spell to get the average right.

I don’t candle or weigh my eggs to determine air cell development. Don’t get me wrong those are great tools to help you out. Just keep track of humidity and times so you can get an average. Through trial and error and opening unhatched eggs I’ve determined my best results come when the average humidity during the first 18 days is around 39-40%. As Pyxis explained the average that works best for you could be higher or lower by several percent. After 18 days I go with a minimum of 65% but if it gets much higher than that I don’t worry about it. When chicks start hatching and adding all that moisture in there the humidity might go up as high as 85-90%. I’m OK with that.