Something Is Killing My Chicks Prematurely!!!

[austinhart123]

okay, so i am on my third hatch in four weeks with my cochin eggs and every hatch i candle on day 18 and all the eggs are ALIVE & MOVING.
day 19, nothing
day 20, half of the eggs pip, zip and hatch
i candle on day 21, and all the other eggs are DEAD! (yes ive been incubating for 7 years i can tell when an embryo is dead)
its not the temps
its not the humidity, i checked
i cant figure out why this keeps happening and im getting frusturated
it just happened to me today i got four out of eight hatching and i just know the other four are dead
so i have a few questions
1. Does anyone else experience this?
2. anybody know how to prevent this
3. i have three serama eggs due next week, i really dont want this to happen to them, i have a broody serama on 6 eggs that are a week behind my bator seramas, im thinking on day 17 i should put the three bator seramas under her and let her hatch them and then move them to the brooder once they hatch, and then let her hatch her 6 and keep them the following week, unless somebody knows how to avoid these fatalities

im wondering if i should lower the temp on the last few days, or maybe its just a cochin thing...
any thoughts?

 

[mulia24]

some people lowering the temp at the 3 last days of incubating, as for me i can't do it since my bator can't be controlled fully due to bad power failure everyday.

i've read some threads at BYC that write that early dead or unsuccessful hatching can be made by lack of nutrient from feed and also disease, roo also involved since he's the one who give his *thing* to the girls, if his *thing* is bad then the result will be bad too.

and humidity should be high at 3 last days, about 60-70, i can't give real number, many will blame me to a being too smart guy.

that's all i know about the dead chick/embryo, perhaps the more expert will give you better knowledge why and how.

and i'm sorry to hear the loss.

 

[austinhart123]

the ones that hatched sucsessfully are so vigourus and healthy and feathering in nicely so maybe its the hens... i really dont know

 

[silkiechicken]

Since you sound like you have covered the basis and have been doing it for a long time, I bet it's something with the parent stock. Some breeds, lines, and just chemistry between birds just don't make for the best hatchers.

 

[austinhart123]

Quote:
ya i have a feeling you may be right
i want to see if you are right and hatch my seramas in the incubator but they are too valuable to experiment with, i would be getting an egg a day but the hen went broody

 

[Junkmanme]

You have probably seen this "sticky"..but, if not........PERHAPS it will give you additional insight. (Look toward the END of the article.)

http://gallus.tamu.edu/Extension publications/b6092.pdf

-Junkmanme-

 

[Ridgerunner]

A couple of other klinks that might give you a clue. I tend to go along with the parent stock or maybe their nutrition since some of yours hatch great.

Mississippi State – Hatching Quality Chicks
http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/hatching_chicks.pdf

Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting
http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/troubleshooting_incubation.pdf

 

[jenjscott]

I have had this happen in shipped eggs. I candle eggs before putting in the bator. frequently there are floating air cells, or saddle cells. I try them anyway, ssince I already have the money invested. My theory is late deaths like that are unable for some reason to pip into the air cell. I very seldom find them that have pipped into the air cell and not made it out. Almost all of them never made the internal pip.