Questions Concerning Nurture Right 360’s

[Ridgerunner]

I don't have a Nurture Right but it is pretty consistent for my chicks to hatch two days early under a broody hen or in my Hovabator1588. I've calibrated it so I know the temperature is right and it happens under my broody hens. Different things can cause that. Most people think only of incubation temperature, which is a common cause. It might be a good idea to calibrate yours to make sure the incubating temperature is correct. I think the reason mine so consistently hatch early in the incubator or under a broody hen is due to heredity.

No, you are not crazy, at least because of this. To me it's just part of the world of hatching eggs.

 

[GunnyBun]

Awww yes I was thinking that but most of my chicks are very active and healthy as well!

 

[GunnyBun]

I had one single chick hatch out of an incubator full last time and I had to scramble to find it some buddies.

 

[Chicken poppy]

This year has been extremely weird for me the eggs aren’t hatching they are dying like at the last day

Im no expert, but first things that come to mind are genetic issues and breed. Whats the breed? Where are you getting the eggs from? You aren’t washing them or anything are you? Whats your humidity and temp? And your turning them right?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

This year has been extremely weird for me the eggs aren’t hatching they are dying like at the last day

Have you done eggtopsies to see what's going on inside the egg? Humidity being too high is a common cause for late quitters.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I usually keep it between 30-40% during the incubation process, and being honest I usually forget to up the humidity come hatch time so it’s not that problem

Well, it could be the exact opposite then. Humidity being too low can cause issues too. It's hard to say without knowing what you're seeing in the egg when they don't hatch on the last day though. Are they pipping and then quitting?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

A lot of time I do and I really don’t know what I’m looking for Sometimes I can tell that it’s bacterial but other times they look perfectly fine

Ok, I'm going to ask a bunch of questions to try to figure this out, lol.

Do you have a secondary calibrated thermometer and hygrometer to check against the incubator prior to incubation?

Are you incubating eggs all from one flock or multiple flocks and encountering the same issues?

Do they pip internally or externally prior to quitting?

Are you remembering to reset the number of days to hatch to 21 when you set new eggs in the NR360? The turner only rotates automatically when the days are reset because it has an automatic shut off 3 days prior to hatch.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Could it possibly be that my hens are getting older? They are about 4-5 years old. I say this because my green eggs(which are from my newest hens) and my bantam eggs(which are new too) hatch when I incubate them.

Ok, from your description I'm of course just making an educated guess from hatching entirely too many chicks over the years, lol.
Things to consider here, humidity is a tool just to allow for the eggs to lose the appropriate amount of weight. Too high and too low both have unfortunate complications.
As hens age, their eggs become more porous even when given plenty of calcium, so their eggs will lose weight more quickly.
I have experimented with many different incubators and they all have a sweet spot. For me in the NR360 it's around 45% for the first 18 days and increasing to 65% for hatch. These are the percentages that I have very rarely needed to adjust when closely monitoring weight loss no matter the breeds or age of the hens so I feel very comfortable suggesting those percentages even if you aren't on top of monitoring air cell growth or weight.

The fact that you have healthy development and then lose them, I think this is the most likely culprit. That's not to say I haven't encountered a bizarre genetic issue that caused a high occurrence of late quitters but it was one time, with one flock, out of soooo many hatches.

I hope this helps!