Only one egg hatched from 44

[The Sheriff]

Sorry about your hatch. Take the advice given and try again. But the little guy you got from your hatch looks like a sweetie. You learned something and got a sweet little chcik. Goos luck on your next try.

Mary

 

[georgialee]

Maybe in your first batch they didn't get enough oxygen in lockdown?

In store bough styrofoam incubators there are bunch of small holes in the top and bottom PLUS the two vent plugs. If your homemade incubator is styrofoam can you poke some more smaller holes in it?

I'm sorry you didn't have a good hatch. it must have been very dissapointing.

 

[yotetrapper]

I struggled for a year with this issue. Finally I went to the method Kathyinmo described and have been having much better luck. First 18 days I run my humidity 30%-45%.....I'll add water, let it run completely out then add more. About 60% for hatch....

 

[crazy chook]

Thanks so much, I think I will try again with lots of more research first on breather holes.

& this little baby is such a sweetie I pick both of them up all the time for cuddles and they just could not care less. It's so funny to watch the little one squash it's self under the bigger chick.

Cheers

 

[FenDruadin]

When you candle your eggs right before lockdown, what do your air cells look like? They should take up about a third of the total space in the egg--they will seem really, really huge if they're big enough. If they're smaller than that, the baby can drown after pipping, because it can't hold its little beak up high enough to get enough air.

If your air cells are not developed enough, then you are running your humidity too high. I have had much better results with my hatches since I started hatching dry. I hatch duck eggs, and I don't add water AT ALL to the incubator for the first 25 days (ducks take 28 to incubate). This does not work for everyone--there are many factors to calculate--but if you are losing most of your babies right at the end, I would strongly suspect drowning.

This unfortunately has happened to me with my most recent hatch. I am running staggered hatches and had a batch of quail in there. The current batch of eggs went through two different lockdowns with the high humidity before their own lockdown, and the air cells never developed properly. I had one little duckling pip and then expand the pip very, very quickly, trying to get up above the liquid so it could breathe. I feel terrible that I didn't help it, but I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. Others just didn't pip externally at all, though I know they pipped internally. I did hatch about half of them, but I'm accustomed to much higher percentages when my humidity is low.

Good luck. It's a tough learning curve, and I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. I hope one way or another you're able to fix things and get some good hatches. Your one cute little guy must be a consolation anyway, and think of it this way--babies raised in very small batches tend to be friendlier than those with lots of comrades.

 

[ginbart]

Unless I missed it, but how long did you leave them in after the 21 days? Could it be your temp was low? I had one hatch on the 27th day, for some reason I couldn't take it out of the bator. I'm glad I didn't. I do the same as Kathyinmo, the dry hatch.

My DH ask me how does the broody momma keep the humidity right.

 

[crazy chook]

They were due to hatch on the 17th May and that little one hatched that morning, I left all the others in the incubator till last night when I candeled and could not see any sign of life and the eggs felt cold after only a short time out of the incubator.

 

[crazy chook]

OK, so i have added alot more air holes and upped the temp to range 37.5 to 37.9, the humidity is only at 30% - do i try to get more humidity or is that ok till lockdown?

 

[crazy chook]

They are Hatching!!!

My temp has been very steady and humidity at 35-42% lock down 55%

They are hatching - all of them!! I have finally got it right!!

5 little babies and 2 more pips. 100% are going to hatch WOW!! I am so excited!can ya tell..

My silkie has just hatched some too so these will be added under her tonight, she is a great mum.

 

[Bedste]

wow Congratulations! woo hoooo