runny egg?

[Necklace]

I recently bought an incubator and I have 7 eggs in there currently . 3 are close to the hatch date... yesterday I heard one peep and peck at the inside of the egg a little bit..... I candled them today to see how they were doing and it seems like when I turn the egg in the light the whole inside is runny now... I am not sure what happened.. are they dead... should I wait..

 

[Necklace]

well since I have heard nothing from anyone about them.. I guess they died.. I don't see how they can go from making noise to being a runny mess in one night..

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Sorry no one replied :/

Did you candle all the eggs, or just a couple? Eggs that are ready to hatch will be pretty much completely black inside (full of chick). Theres no way one would go from full and dark, to clear. And, what exactly do you mean by runny? Are the eggs clear? Dark and you're seeing moisture/liquid in the air cell? If its the first, I'd guess those eggs never started or quit early. If its the second, I'd guess your humidity was too high the first 18 days or at lockdown.

What was your temp and humidity the first 18 days? What were they at lockdown? What kind of incubator are you using? Is it a still air or forced air? Did you calibrate all of your instruments before you got started?

Unfortunately, we need a good bit of information to be able to try and help you. Your post was a little vague, which is probably why no one responded.

 

[Necklace]

I just purchased the Brinsea mini advanced incubator.. I had 3 eggs that the hen stopped sitting on and I candeled them and they were very full... I even heard one tapping.. but the next day when I checked.. I candeled them and they were a runny mess... I just broke them open and they were all dead... I have 3 others that are in the first stage of development.. when I candle them I can see them moving around and the veins on the egg..

The incubator I have set to 99.5 degrees and I took all the liquid out of the middle compartment thinking that the humidity killed them and I do not want it to do the same.. any suggestions on keeping them alive. I just went by the instructions in the manual it came with.. this is my first time using an incubator

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Go to the pet store or feed store, get yourself a hygrometer and thermometer and calibrate them (you can Google "calibrating thermometer" and "calibrating hygrometer" for instructions). Once they're calibrated, stick them in the Brinsea to see if your incubator read outs are correct. Brinseas are great 'bators, but even they read incorrectly sometimes (even when calibrated by the manufacturer). I suspect your humidity was way too high, and the chicks might have drown when they were pipping internally/trying to pip externally. You might also do a search here on BYC and read up on dry hatching. I use that method, and my hatch rates have improved drastically since I started.

Good luck, sorry about the lost babies.

 

[Necklace]

Thank you.. I think I will look up dry hatching... all the humidity stuff sounds a bit much for me. Thank you for responding.. kinda feel bad that I probably killed those 3 babies

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

The humidity stuff isn't as bad as it sounds. You should read the stickies at the top of this forum, they're a wealth of knowledge.
Theres a steep learning curve when it comes to incubating. We all learn it, unfortunately I've had my fair share of dead eggs to deal with :/ But, I learned from them, did more research, and tried again. I made little adjustments to each hatch, and the results were better each time. Now I have a pretty set formula and get pretty good hatch rates. Most of the time, things happen. Make some tweaks, do some research and try, try again. You'll be so glad you did when you have cute little chicklets running around!!!