Only one egg hatched from 44

[crazy chook]

This is my second hatch. the first time i set 24 eggs and had only 2 hatch so this time I tried using a home made turner.....set 44 eggs.
I candelled than on day 14 and kept 20 of them in the bator. come hatch day and only one hatched?? What am I doing wrong?

The incubator is a home made job, temp held a constant 37.4 humidity 48% then up to 70% in the last few days.
The eggs were a mix of my eggs and some that I had purchased and mostly all bantam

If one hatched then why did all the others fail? at least half of them look like they were full grown of just about fully grown?
It makes me so sad and I really don't want to use that incubator again.

Oh and the little one that did hatch is with my 3 week old runt that I got from a hatchery, it thinks it is it's mummy...soo cute!

 

[crazy chook]

I thought I would add a photo of her

 

[SuziQ991]

Your temp should be 99.5-100.

 

[fishfarmer]

Keep your temp between 99.5-101 degree F, or 37.5-38.33 degree C.

Does your homemade incubator have a fan to distribute the air evenly inside? How are you measuring the temperature?

 

[crazy chook]

Yes, it has a fan & digital thermostat and a hydrometer

do you think the temperature was too low?

 

[incubatingisfun]

either to low temp or they drowned from high humidity

 

[crazy chook]

What should the humidity be?

I thought 50% humidity for day 1-18, then 70-80% for the last few days was correct?

 

[kathyinmo]

Humidity is a controversial topic. I use 30 - 35% for incubation, and up to 60 - 65% for the hatch. I use the, "dry hatch," method.

Ventilation/oxygen is priority for the hatch. On my 2nd hatch ever (first hatch was a great success at 24 of 28) I discovered the holes in the bottom of the incubator (styrofoam). I thought they must be for overflow or something, so I covered them with tape. I did not know they were for oxygen. The hatch was a shame ... I think I got 2 out of the whole mess. I know it was because they had no oxygen, as I even had the vent plugs in to keep the humidity up. Boy did I learn from that one! Now I just keep all the vents open. I really don't worry that much about the humidity anymore, especially since I have had chicks hatch without even going into lockdown (accidentally, mind you). I do try to keep the humidity around 60% though, but I allow it to drop to the 50s without worry. Mainly, keep the bator closed. Do not open it..... Really!

 

[SarahIrl]

I've only hatched once myself, but humidity day 1 - 18 was around 45% and hatching up to 60-70% and it goes up and back to that again during hatching. I made sure, also, that there was always fresh air circulating near the incubator, as they can die from too little oxygen, too, there's no way I'd put my bator in a cupboard or enclosed space.

 

[crazy chook]

Thanks so much, it may have been an air flow problem? My incubator sits on the kitchen bench but only has two vent holes of which one I blocked to help get the humidity up.

But...

The first hatch I was opening it up to turn the eggs three times a day but only got 2 hatch with 5 looking like they were at term but just did not hatch and died?