Still air incubating fails.

[farmgirlhanna]

I'm needing some advice. I've done two batches now with my LG still air. Both times I only had six chicks hatch. 20 went on lockdown first time Ana 30 the second time.

This second time I wanted until day 26 just in case there were lat hatches. I decided to open a few eggs and see what happened. All 24 were little chicks but hadn't taken in the yolk. They weren't "shrieked wrapped " and had great air cells. They were still in their little sack not pipped.

I did a dry hatch and had like 45% humidity and then pumped it up to 65% after the first pip out of shell. Any help would be great ! Have eggs ready to try again now.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I'm needing some advice. I've done two batches now with my LG still air. Both times I only had six chicks hatch. 20 went on lockdown first time Ana 30 the second time.

This second time I wanted until day 26 just in case there were lat hatches. I decided to open a few eggs and see what happened. All 24 were little chicks but hadn't taken in the yolk. They weren't "shrieked wrapped " and had great air cells. They were still in their little sack not pipped.

I did a dry hatch and had like 45% humidity and then pumped it up to 65% after the first pip out of shell. Any help would be great ! Have eggs ready to try again now.

Are you a hands-on-hatcher or hands-off-hatcher---that's a important question? Do you open the incubator and remove chicks as they hatch and dry some? Are you saying your dry hatch was 45% humidity with no water added? 65% seems low for the hatch and I guess you read to wait till first pip to increase the humidity? How do you add water during the hatch/last 3 days?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm needing some advice. I've done two batches now with my LG still air. Both times I only had six chicks hatch. 20 went on lockdown first time Ana 30 the second time.

This second time I wanted until day 26 just in case there were lat hatches. I decided to open a few eggs and see what happened. All 24 were little chicks but hadn't taken in the yolk. They weren't "shrieked wrapped " and had great air cells. They were still in their little sack not pipped.

I did a dry hatch and had like 45% humidity and then pumped it up to 65% after the first pip out of shell. Any help would be great ! Have eggs ready to try again now.

The ones that hatch, are they hatching on time? Are you in a high elevation? If you are hitting 45% dry, you must be in a humid area? Have you checked the thermometer/hygrometer for accuracy? If you are using the digital Little Giants and are going by the display on the incubator, that's the first thing you need to change. The hygrometer is practically useless with many people reporting their unit reads between 40-50% rather it has water or not, and the temps are often off by as much as 2 degrees or more. The bator also has the reputation for heat spikes. It is neccesssary to have your own accurate thermometers/hygrometer in the bator, or at the very least double check the accuracy of the incubator's readouts before trusting it.

 

[AmyLynn2374]