Not good results with ring neck eggs

[mrwoodboat]

I got 36 Ring Neck eggs shipped from NC to SC to hatch..eggs came in egg cartons and bubble wrapped. I let them sit for 24 hours before setting them into an incubator that had been running for a couple of weeks with steady temp- I had some issues with the humidity however- it was all over the place- anywhere from 36% to 60%....I ended up putting some sponges in on about day 16 and that seems to have helped even out the humidity some what...

Went into the hatcher for lockdown on day 21- I did not drop the temp but kept it at 99.5 degrees- nothing happened until day 26 and we had 12 hatch within an hour of each other (they are doing great after 3 days)- the other 24 eggs have done nothing- I took 5 eggs out today and opened them- 3 were fully formed but dead- no sign of pipping..the other 2 were not fertile..

I was unable to candle any of the eggs even with my Surefire so not sure how many were fertile and how many were not...

My question is are the ring necks that much more fragile than the Red Goldens? I am having good success with the Red Goldens now that we are past the 1st few eggs that they ever laid...

thanks for any input folks..

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Any shipped eggs are hard to hatch but Yes ringnecks are the worst. Also since you said your humidity was all over that could have been a big part of it also. They are almost near impossible to candle also really the best way is to wait until 1 peepes and then listen to the rest for movement but then again you will let out precious humidity.
There are alot of factors how many times did you have to open the incubator because of the humidity
Parents the eggs came from were they healthy?
Did the bubble wrap not let them breathe?
Were they loose in the box and just wrapped if so they went for a ride.
Best thing to do is find a local breeder and buy the eggs from them or buy chicks
Also eggs can be shipped fertile and look the same as unfertile because of shipping it has killed the emboys which doesn't take alot.
You also say you have had luck with your red goldens and it sounds like you have the parents- that is because you are not shipping them. I also hatch and ship eggs and I get about 99% of them to hatch here but when shipped some people are saying all hatch or none so it is always best to purchase locally but when you cant you have no choice.

 

[mrwoodboat]

thanks for the input- I have a tube that is routed to the outside so I can add water to the reservoir for humidity so I don't have to open the incubator.... I went ahead and opened the eggs that did not hatch- about 1/2 were developed but never piped so I don't know if I had a humidity spike or a temp spike at a critical moment that killed the chicks before they could pip or what? Am going to try to locate some local birds to raise for next go round...on another note- my Red Golden eggs are going well- one batch goes into lockdown tomorrow and the other next Friday...