Shipped eggs dying during lockdown?

[b2c2chicks]

After 3 disappointing hatches with shipped eggs (and thinking it’s something we’re doing wrong on our end), I stumbled across a comment that shipped eggs are notorious for quitting during lockdown.

So far I’ve had 10 out of 36 hatch. At lockdown, I had 27 out of 36 alive...but in those last 3 days, something always happens. I eggtopsy to find fully formed chicks that haven’t even turned...and most have only partially absorbed their yolks. And it’s currently happening as we speak on my 4th hatch. Temp & humidity have all been checked and rechecked.

In your experience, does this seem accurate for shipped eggs? I was under the impression they would quit early on, and if they made it to lockdown, it wasn’t caused by shipping.

I’ve got pics if you wanna see...

 

[ronott1]

After 3 disappointing hatches with shipped eggs (and thinking it’s something we’re doing wrong on our end), I stumbled across a comment that shipped eggs are notorious for quitting during lockdown.

So far I’ve had 10 out of 36 hatch. At lockdown, I had 27 out of 36 alive...but in those last 3 days, something always happens. I eggtopsy to find fully formed chicks that haven’t even turned...and most have only partially absorbed their yolks. And it’s currently happening as we speak on my 4th hatch. Temp & humidity have all been checked and rechecked.

In your experience, does this seem accurate for shipped eggs? I was under the impression they would quit early on, and if they made it to lockdown, it wasn’t caused by shipping.

I’ve got pics if you wanna see...

Usually shipped eggs will hatch up to 50%.

Have you tried troubleshooting this?

The causes go from most common to least. Temperature is the number one cause and can be made worse with shipped eggs.

Calibrate a good thermometer or buy a brinsea spot check thermometer as a first step.

Check on Craig's list to find some local fertile eggs too. It does not matter what they are just run a hatch as a test. You can sell the chicks if you do not want them

 

[b2c2chicks]

We set 28 of our own eggs last night, with a dozen shipped eggs which will be batch #6, to narrow all of this down once and for all. Time will tell.

I’ll look into that thermometer. We’ve used everything from cooking thermometers, to medical thermometers to calibrate the digital therm/hygrometer. And the salt test.

Ive heard of a wet bulb hygrometer but I’m not sure what it is. What is the most reliable?

 

[ronott1]

We set 28 of our own eggs last night, with a dozen shipped eggs which will be batch #6, to narrow all of this down once and for all. Time will tell.

I’ll look into that thermometer. We’ve used everything from cooking thermometers, to medical thermometers to calibrate the digital therm/hygrometer. And the salt test.

Ive heard of a wet bulb hygrometer but I’m not sure what it is. What is the most reliable?

Humidity has a wide range of safety for incubation. 25 to 50% is considered safe.

The problem with calibrating a thermometer at freezing is that the same thermometer may not be accurate at 99.5. You need to look for thermometers that are accurate at a narrow range and respond quickly. Incubation temperature needs to be in a range of 1 degree above and below 99.5. That is very narrow and much more critical than humidity.

Definitely get the spot check thermometer. It is made for incubation and only reads temperatures close to incubation temps

 

[b2c2chicks]

That makes a lot of sense. Everywhere I read makes humidity out to be the most important factor...when in reality it has a much greater range. One degree off on temp could be detrimental! Would you also recommend a manual backup thermometer or will the spot check take care of it all?

 

[fire370]

The spot checks are great when they work. I’ve been through 5 of them the last couple of years. The 5th one just shot craps yesterday. And I notice that the usual poultry supply houses have quit listing them on their websites.

 

[ronott1]

That makes a lot of sense. Everywhere I read makes humidity out to be the most important factor...when in reality it has a much greater range. One degree off on temp could be detrimental! Would you also recommend a manual backup thermometer or will the spot check take care of it all?

A backup thermometer is a good idea!

I am often perplexed by the focus on humidity. It is important but way too much effort is spent on it.

 

[ronott1]

The spot checks are great when they work. I’ve been through 5 of them the last couple of years. The 5th one just shot craps yesterday. And I notice that the usual poultry supply houses have quit listing them on their websites.

That can be true!

There was a batch of bad ones shipped out of florida several years ago.

There are others that are very good too. They can be more expensive though. Looking into the specs will tell you for sure.

 

[fire370]

That can be true!

There was a batch of bad ones shipped out of florida several years ago.

There are others that are very good too. They can be more expensive though. Looking into the specs will tell you for sure.

That maybe a real possibility. I bought them all at once a few years ago because I was tired of paying Johnson Gauge to NIST certify mine a couple times a year.

 

[cmom]

The most common reason for the chicks to be fully developed and not hatch is the humidity. Most often people incubate at too high of humidity. Only the last 3 days does the humidity have to be higher to help the chicks move around in their shell so they can zip. I have bought eggs and I ship eggs. The egg needs to loose moisture while developing. There are many charts on BYC for how much moisture the eggs should loose during incubation. Because of having too high of humidity the chicks drown sometimes before they internally pip or from condensation build up in the air sack and when they internally pip they drown. Shipped eggs are always a gamble. I had 15 sent to me and 3 hatched. They were packed well, but the postal service isn't very gentle with the packages no matter what kind of handling labels you put on the boxes.