ringneck help

[marct91]

I am using a gqf sportsman incubator. Yesterday was day 25 and we had 10 out of 80 hatch and a few partially out and dead. When moving eggs to the hatch tray should we put them in something different than the crates we use during incubation or leave them in? The temp is 99-100 humidity 57 and raised to 70 on the 21st day which is the day we moved them down. We do not candle them and just leave all the eggs in. We have 3 roosters and 18 hens. Averaging 16 eggs a day. Eggs are kept in the basement for 7 days and set at a 30° angle rotated every day. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[La Mike]

They just may have been alot of infertiles in there. I would lower my humidity back to around 65% though. 3 males and 18 hens is stretching it a bit.

 

[marct91]

What ratio do you suggest? Are we ok with leaving them in the same tray we incubate in when we hatch and should we have the hatch tray lid on or off? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[La Mike]

I keep mine at 3x9. I dont leave them in the incubating tray> I set all mine down free. And I would use the lid if you have one they tend to jump around a bit lol. No problem with ?s. Thats the only way to learn anything with a few less bumps

 

[ranit]

I have had one cock easily take care of 7-8 hens, so I don't think the ratio is bad. Sounds like several developed but didn't hatch or died shortly after. Are they being fed a good gamebird feed? Sometimes lack of the nutrients they need can cause poor hatches as the chicks are weaker and have more trouble breaking out of the shell or die shortly after. I would also advise candling them and removing the bad eggs to decrease the chance of bacteria in your incubator.

 

[dc73nova]

I have a sportsman digital as well. I was having the same problem as you when I kept the humidity that high. I would break all the unhatched eggs open and 80% of them would be developed but dead most unpipped. I lowered the humidity to 25-30% during incubation and 50-60% at lockdown and my hatch went up to 75-80%. Not saying that is your problem but what worked for me. You can cover @ half the water tray with aluminum foil to get humidity down some.

 

[marct91]

We left them in 2 extra days for a total of 27 days and had 31 more hatch. Broke the others and only 9 were not fertile. We use dumor layer feed from tractor supply

 

[La Mike]

Awesome. They were playing possum

Odds got better. Just try not to over think it