Need incubating advice

[Anabariful]

So, I have a Brinsea Mini Advance incubator and I usually do dry incubations with no added water till lockdown. Out of my several shipped egg hatches, my hatch rate is all over the place:

1st hatch: 6/7 Silkies hatched flawlessly. 1 died at lockdown.

2nd hatch: 4/6 Silver Appleyard ducklings hatch but a few needed assistance. 2 died at lockdown.

3rd hatch: 2 Silkies hatched out of 6 but all ended up dying. 4 died at lockdown.

4th hatch: 2 Silkies hatched yesterday and 1 is still in the process. 2 died at lockdown.

I know shipped eggs are a gamble. I was just curious if I was doing something wrong. Here is my process:

Pick up shipped eggs at post office and let them sit for 24 hours. Check and mark air cells, incubate at 99.5 degrees with automatic egg turner set for every 90 minutes, and auto cooling for 60 minutes once a day. Re-candle and mark air cells at day 7, day 14, and day 18. Lockdown: stop turning, keep cooling once a day for 60 minutes, decrease temp to 98.5 on days 19/20, decrease temperature again on day 21 to 98.0. Do not open incubator at all unless humidity dips below 60%. It's usually 60-70% during lockdown and 20-30% during regular incubation.

I have eggs that look great all the way up to lockdown. The air cells look perfect! Then I check them on day 23 if there is no external pip, and the air cell will have dipped really low, even with the humidity increase and the chick will be fully formed but dead. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong??

 

[Anabariful]

Two eggs hatched on their own yesterday, 1 still in the process of hatching, and two have died. (8 eggs originally in the incubator but only 5 made it to lockdown.) This is one of the dead ones and an example of the air cell dipping really low during lockdown. What can I do to fix this or is this just a normal fatality with incubation?

Line 1: day 1
Line 2: day 7
Line 3: day 14
Line 4: day 18 (last line with the x to mark the lowest part of the air cell where the chick is "most likely" to pip)

 

[3riverschick]

I've used Brinsea Mini Advances for years. stop with the dry incubation. incubate according to the directions included with this excellent little incubator and your hatches should be good . just leave it at at the recommended temperature, fill the water as it tells you to in the instructions. just follow the instructions and you'll get great results. but don't jerk around with the humidity or trying to do special things with this little incubator. it's excellent if you just follow the instructions.
Oh and when hatching starts ,you'll want to remove the broken egg shells. not a problem. take the lid off quickly .do not turn the dome upside down!! take it off and set it on the table top. quickly remove your egg shells and put the lid back on **without** turning it upside down . make sure you don't get any little chicks toes caught under the rim when you put the lid back on. it will come back to humidity really fast and it won't affect your hatch.
I never worry about quickly lifting the dome to check on the water and refill. This little bator comes back to humidity so fast, it's not an issue. Just don't turn the dome upside down when you lift it. That's the secret.
Karen

 

[Anabariful]

I've used Brinsea Mini Advances for years. stop with the dry incubation. incubate according to the directions included with this excellent little incubator and your hatches should be good . just leave it at at the recommended temperature, fill the water as it tells you to in the instructions. just follow the instructions and you'll get great results. but don't jerk around with the humidity or trying to do special things with this little incubator. it's excellent if you just follow the instructions.
Oh and when hatching starts ,you'll want to remove the broken egg shells. not a problem. take the lid off quickly .do not turn the dome upside down!! take it off and set it on the table top. quickly remove your egg shells and put the lid back on **without** turning it upside down . make sure you don't get any little chicks toes caught under the rim when you put the lid back on. it will come back to humidity really fast and it won't affect your hatch.
I never worry about quickly lifting the dome to check on the water and refill. This little bator comes back to humidity so fast, it's not an issue. Just don't turn the dome upside down when you lift it. That's the secret.
Karen

Thank you for the advice!