opened my eggs - pics

[jackslolita]

well today was day 22 and 23. my eggs were smelling

so i knew that wasnt a good sign. my husband said well candle them and see which smells. so i did. i know i know. bad move right ?

well no. bc all 5 were dead at various stages so i cant even pinpoint what happened.

1 egg was ready- as their was no yolk left- but he didnt breathe on his own- there was no hole.

2 were almost ready to suck the yolk in, i think, and the last 2 were not nearly ready- they were smaller, their eyes were bigger.

i took photos of course.

Very sad but i do consider it a success because i got this far. last time i got to day 14.

Is there a chance its the actual eggs? or the parents causing this?

i am inc'ing these eggs for someone who has tried 3 times and never succeeded, so i said id try and i didnt succeed either.

temps were ok - i did have a spike and lost a few. i knew that was the cause but that was back on day 13. i lost 4 or 5.

My still air inc was set at 99 on the floor and 101 at the top. the humidity was close to 60-67 %

Im using a hovabator . I might get a fan this time - im restocking with eggs on thursday.

1st photo - a small guy
2nd- his yolk was gone
3rd - another small guy
4th - large yolky mess
5th- his yolk half gone

 

[yinepu]

your humidity was way too high as evidenced by all the albumen.. (and your humidity was in the 60's?)..

give the incubator a good cleaning (disinfect every nook and cranny) and try again.. this time make sure all vents STAY OPEN throughout the entire incubation AND hatch.. and try going DRY.. no water added at all unless candling shows the air cells getting too big too quickly.. the line on the diagram shows where the bottom of the aircell should be on that day of incubation

 

[jackslolita]

i had low humidity the first 18 days - anywhere from 20-40 . i did a dry run. i didnt add any water until day 18 , when i did the lockdown.

most of the air cells were exactly where they should be except right before lockdown. they were a bit small day 7 and 14 were perfect.

and your right- there was a heck of a lot of water with these guys.

 

[yinepu]

i had low humidity the first 18 days - anywhere from 20-40 . i did a dry run. i didnt add any water until day 18 , when i did the lockdown.

most of the air cells were exactly where they should be except right before lockdown. they were a bit small day 7 and 14 were perfect.

and your right- there was a heck of a lot of water with these guys.

your hygrometer is way off then.. the chicks with the smaller / absorbed yolks should have been pretty dry at that stage.. not laying in puddles... if it were me I would toss the hygrometer.. add bowls of rice to the next hatch and monitor the heck out of egg weights or air cell sizes...

how was the turning especially in the last full week of turning?.. if turning by hand they may need more frequent turning... since turning is what gets the chicks to absorb the albumen (yeah.. someone did studies on how turning would affect albumen absorption ..

 

[jackslolita]

rice is a good idea. i always wondered how to make the humidity lower, if you couldnt.

I had my alarm set for turning the eggs every 8 hrs. I can increase it to every 6 hrs ( 4 x a day).

I will also buy a new meter. Whatever makes this work!


yes i also wanted to weigh the eggs but didnt learn about it until maybe day 10 or so.. so i figured it wouldnt do a lot of good. but this time is different.

 

[yinepu]

rice is a good idea. i always wondered how to make the humidity lower, if you couldnt.

I had my alarm set for turning the eggs every 8 hrs. I can increase it to every 6 hrs ( 4 x a day).

I will also buy a new meter. Whatever makes this work!


yes i also wanted to weigh the eggs but didnt learn about it until maybe day 10 or so.. so i figured it wouldnt do a lot of good. but this time is different.

can you set it for a higher frequency?.. I turn mine 5 times a day.. a broody hen will turn her on average of 96 times a day (yeah.. someone did a study on it too.. go figure)... so more IS better if you can set it so it won't shake them up!..

now having said that.. you can have successful hatches with three times.. but developmentally wise.. more is better since it's closer to how a hen hatches her eggs..

 

[jackslolita]

oh yes i can move eggs every 2 minutes if i have to!!

i want this next one to work so bad!!!

im getting another thermo and a new hygro tmrw, and will test it empty tmrw with my old meters in there. compare them and go from there. im getting eggs thursday but can always keep them til friday or saturday if i have to-- to make sure everything is reading the same - or relatively close to the same on each meter.

you are giving me hope

 

[yinepu]

oh yes i can move eggs every 2 minutes if i have to!!

i want this next one to work so bad!!!

im getting another thermo and a new hygro tmrw, and will test it empty tmrw with my old meters in there. compare them and go from there. im getting eggs thursday but can always keep them til friday or saturday if i have to-- to make sure everything is reading the same - or relatively close to the same on each meter.

you are giving me hope

make sure you disinfect the bator.. getting all the nooks and crannies

if they are shipped eggs let them sit for 24 hours out of the bator... then for 24 hours in the bator without turning.. then start up the turner.. I wouldn't go every two minutes though since the air cells will probably be a bit damaged.. lol.. but you can increase it to every hour or two (just candle them and see how the air cells look when they arrive... ).. I think I would maybe go with turning them once every two hours just because of USPS damage...

go by air cells or weight more so than by hygrometers since egg shell porosity can vary from hatch to hatch... at the first sign of them not losing enough (weight or air cell size) I would add dry rice and turn it at least once a day (stirring the dry rice from the bottom of the container to the top and so on)

then so long as you have plenty of air flow, steady temps and the USPS hasn't damaged the eggs beyond all hope.. you should have a better hatch rate that you did this last time..