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[Janeyrooster3]

Just joined today. I have one egg in the incubator pipping. After 5 try's we have one peeping and beginning to pipe I am so nervous that it will not make it. I upped the humidity to 70 percent I can see its beak and I keep talking to it Am I doing everything I can for it

 

[RubyNala97]

Congrats!! How many eggs made it to lockdown? Which incubator do you have? It's such a miracle to see those little guys hatch!

 

[Janeyrooster3]

We have a farm innovator it has an egg turner and thermometer with humidity also. This is my 5th try. The chick that was peeping died. I cracked open the rest of the eggs this afternoon there was 4 that had developed but did not hatch. The last three days kept the temp at 100 humidity between 65 to 70 . So does anyone know why I cannot have live chicks please help I am very discouraged.

 

[RubyNala97]

We have a farm innovator it has an egg turner and thermometer with humidity also. This is my 5th try. The chick that was peeping died. I cracked open the rest of the eggs this afternoon there was 4 that had developed but did not hatch. The last three days kept the temp at 100 humidity between 65 to 70 . So does anyone know why I cannot have live chicks please help I am very discouraged.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I can absolutely help you pin point what's going wrong. So here's my list of questions so we can get to the bottom of this.
1) Do you have a seperate thermometer and hygrometer that is calibrated for accuracy that you used to check the readings on the incubator? (Incubator readings are notorious for being way off)
2) where are you getting your eggs? Are they shipped or local? What breed?
3) what were your temps and humidity for days 1-18? Your incubator is forced air?

 

[Janeyrooster3]

I do not have another hygrometer but I do have another thermometer where would I get a calibrated hygrometer. I get my eggs from my own chickens I have two rooster a leghorn and a rhodisland red the ladies are some kind of pullets the first 1-18 days the temp was 100 to 102 the humidity 55 to 60 I don't think it's forced air how would I know that I sure hope you can help me

 

[RubyNala97]

Thanks for the info! I've got a couple more questions now and then a bunch of info for you. First, a still air incubator has a heating element that heats up the incubator, it's usually somewhat uneven with hot & cold spots throughout the incubator. For a still air, temps need to be 101-102 taken at the top of the eggs. Forced air incubators have a heating element but also a fan the circulates the heat and distributes it evenly throughout the incubator. For forced air incubators the temps should be 99.5. Check and see if your incubator has a fan.

Second, you said that you have pullets. Have they been laying for a few months or are these eggs the first of what they've laid? When a pullet starts laying it is recommended to wait a couple months for the eggs to increase in size and quality before incubating them. But I've always had success with hatching young eggs but they can be a problem. It's good that you're hatching your own eggs, they are much easier then shipped eggs. And obviously they are fertile.

Third thing that I thought of from the info you gave was your humidity days 1-18. It seems high to me but the only way to know for sure if you have the right humidity is to measure your air cells. You need to monitor how the air cells are growing throughout incubation. An easy way to do this when you start hatching is by tracing the air cell with a pencil on days 7,14, & 18. This way you can easily see if they are growing enough. If the air cells don't grow big enough then the chicks can grow to large and drown in excess fluid before ever getting to pip. Air cells should look like this:

I think once we fine tune your temps and humidity you will be on the right track to have a very successful hatch. You can get every egg in that incubator to hatch!!
Now here's the info for you. I'm going to give you 2 links on calibrating a thermometer and how to calibrate a hygrometer. I actually buy a really cheap dial hygrometer for reptiles online for $5. Then I calibrate it before each hatch to make sure it's accurate.
http://www.stevejenkins.com/blog/20...grometer-humidity-sensor-using-the-salt-test/
http://blog2.thermoworks.com/2010/10/making-a-proper-ice-bath/
And this article easily explains how your humidity effects your aircells/hatch:
http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity
Lastly, I highly recommend reading hatching 101 and reading all the available links. This is basically the bible of hatching and has everything you need to know to have a great hatch.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Janeyrooster3]

Thank you so much for all the info it took me a while to read it all I started 23 new eggs this afternoon so we will see how it goes thanks so much