I just hatched off 11 of 20 babies. Not the greatest hatch rate. I'm trying to understand what happened. I know the temp dropped for a while and that caused a delayed hatch.
10 of them hatched completely on their own with no difficulties, all BO's.
1 RIR hatched almost all the way out except was still attached to its shell and dh has to detach it after almost a day of it trying to walk with it. It later died.
2 of them piped and got stuck, I helped them out on day 25 they had been trying for so long, their membranes were dry and they both has deformed necks, like a tumor looking thing on the side of their neck, and they were the last two to hatch (or be hatched, I guess)
That leaves 7 eggs in the bator on day 25.
One has barely pipped and then stopped(didn't even puncture the membrane, another had actually pipped all the way but was no longer breathing. One was a sex link, the other a RIR
The other 5, nothing.
So I opened them all up.
1 was an early quitter, you could barely make out an embryo.
2 more sex links completely developed but just didn't hatch, one was what I would consider upside down, it's head was on the opposite end than the air cell.
2 were Bo's that were also completely developed, just didn't hatch.
My dh says my humidity is too low. I guess I do semi dry hatching, 40-45% day 1-18 and around 60 % the last 3 days. But I don't think this was a problem. They were all very moist when I opened them, not dry in the least. The membranes were plenty wet, but there was no excess water in the air cell.
I don't want to change my method without reason, and I really don't see the humidity being the reason, but it has to be something. Granted, these were not my eggs, they were given to me, but they guy always has good hatch rates himself.
I'm sorry for the book, I know it's hard to follow, but I just wanted to get as much info as possible so I can maybe get an answer.
10 of them hatched completely on their own with no difficulties, all BO's.
1 RIR hatched almost all the way out except was still attached to its shell and dh has to detach it after almost a day of it trying to walk with it. It later died.
2 of them piped and got stuck, I helped them out on day 25 they had been trying for so long, their membranes were dry and they both has deformed necks, like a tumor looking thing on the side of their neck, and they were the last two to hatch (or be hatched, I guess)
That leaves 7 eggs in the bator on day 25.
One has barely pipped and then stopped(didn't even puncture the membrane, another had actually pipped all the way but was no longer breathing. One was a sex link, the other a RIR
The other 5, nothing.
So I opened them all up.
1 was an early quitter, you could barely make out an embryo.
2 more sex links completely developed but just didn't hatch, one was what I would consider upside down, it's head was on the opposite end than the air cell.
2 were Bo's that were also completely developed, just didn't hatch.
My dh says my humidity is too low. I guess I do semi dry hatching, 40-45% day 1-18 and around 60 % the last 3 days. But I don't think this was a problem. They were all very moist when I opened them, not dry in the least. The membranes were plenty wet, but there was no excess water in the air cell.
I don't want to change my method without reason, and I really don't see the humidity being the reason, but it has to be something. Granted, these were not my eggs, they were given to me, but they guy always has good hatch rates himself.
I'm sorry for the book, I know it's hard to follow, but I just wanted to get as much info as possible so I can maybe get an answer.
