possible causes of chick deaths/not hatching

[lagpmgdsls]

My last 2 hatches have resulted in quite a few chicks not hatching . 2 hatches ago I had 9 that didn't hatch but were fully developed and this last hatch I had 20 not hatch. I had 41 in the bator, 6 hatched and are doing fine, a few never started and a few more quit early on and then 20 never hatched.

What can be going wrong?

 

[jenjscott]

Are they shipped eggs? rough handling can mess up anything. If the aircell is messed up they can start to develop and them quit. I am not familiar with quail, but I'm sure in this respect they are the same as chickens.

 

[monarc23]

Yep if they are shipped that will sometimes hit hard a good percentage.

If these are your own eggs either your ratio isn't correct (too many hens not enough roos or something like that) or your incubator somethings not right heat or humidity.

 

[lagpmgdsls]

These were all my eggs....and my ratio is 1 roo to 4 hens. Temp was maintained at 99.5-100 degrees. My thingy that watched humidity broke and I haven't gotten a new one so that's a possibility.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I would think it's more of a humidity problem. Or it could be a temp problem. If the humidity (or temp) is too high or too low during hatch it will make the chicks die.

 

[lagpmgdsls]

Thanks everyone. I will be picking up a new humidity checker before my next set!

 

[thebirdfarm]

I actually have had this problem before and for me it was too much variation in humidity throughout the hatch. Also I found that when I bumped humidity up on the 14th day of incubation I had more chicks die that were fully developed. I now bump it up on the 15the day and do a lot better on hatching. Far fewer dead chicks that were fully developed.