Quitter Chicks, HELP!!!!

[trailblazn]

I am having a problem with chicks that look fully developed and are dead before hatching. i keep my incubator at 99.5/100.9 and the humidity at 45/50. do i need to do something different? a couple of them couldn't hatch all the way out so i help and then they ended up dying.

this pic is after they were in lock down for 2 days after they were supposed to hatch. one did have a little yoke in it, you can see it on the plate.

 

[DMRippy]

I am having the same kind of problem...

 

[aveca]

was it a still air? or forced air? ..they have not absorbed the yolk all of the way..if its a still air, you usually like to run those around 101....forced air at 99 % styrofoam incubators are notorious for drowning chicks..they hold a lot of humidity..a lot of people are running lower humidity to help air cells develope, but that depends on where you live, dry or damp region.

were they shipped eggs?
your eggs?

you have to handle shipped eggs in an entirely different way..
the biggest baby looks too wet like it either needed a little more time and too much moisture like it drown...they are unable to find a breath to begin pipping..the white needs to be completly gone by the time they hatch..lighter humidity if its a styro might help..you need to check air cells along the hatch to see if you need to add a tiny bit of water..
BYC has a great section in learning section about what the air cells'should look like and see dry incubation..

a still air often has cool spots in it and the eggs in those areas dont get the same attention as in a forced air..that moves air all round and keeps a more even temp all around..it seriously looks way too wet in the biggest one..like drowning..lower humidity and best money spent to add a fan, if you dont have one..lot of people have somone who is electritian wire a computer fan and face it so it is blowing up toward ceiling not directly down on the eggs..

 

[trailblazn]

Thank You..... glad someone had some info for me.

they were shipped eggs. i did let them sit 24 hrs. should i have let them sit longer before putting them in the incubator?

I live in Ca, so it tends to be very dry here.

I have two Styrofoam incubators, one is forced air, i use it for incubation. the other is still air, i use it for them to Hatch out in. i even bought what i thought was a good thermometer with the humidity on it. i was running it at about 99.5/100.8 in the forced air. and humidity i tried to keep between 45/50.
my friend told me to check my digital therm with a reg thermometer she was afraid i was cooking them. so i did and when i put the reg thermometer in it ran up to 102. i still didn't think that was to high to cook them, but maybe? i think maybe i need to lower my humidity into the 30's? I'm sticking with a regular thermometer.

I've read some on dry incubation? i think that is what they call it. maybe i should try that? or just keep my humidity way down?

i will read more about how the air cells should look, i don't know enough about that. i do check along the way for the veins and eye and movement.

i had one chick start pipping got half way around the egg and for some reason died and didn't finish the process. maybe to weak?
i had another chick start pipping only a hole by the night i helped it and it died after i git it out.

So out of 20 eggs: 11 were not fertile and 5 died and 3 lived

im so sad about this hatch and the poor chicks. it was horrible!!!!