The final pathetic count:

[bearz]

47 eggs in the incubator.
3 made it almost all the way. Formed chicks but died in the shell.

1 egg left under my broody hen hatched.

SO, I have 2 questions....

First, when you gather eggs, do you put them right in the incubator and mark them or do you hold onto them until you have a bunch. This is what my motherinlaw did with fairly good success. I did it as a miserable failure. I do have 2 incubators, so I could keep them in the turner until day 18 and then transfer them to the other one to hatch.

Second, if you hold onto the eggs do you refrigerate them or keep them at room temperature? I had the eggs saved at room temperature. Could that have been my problem?

Maybe when I take the chick away I'll stick some more eggs under her?

 

[Harley's girl]

You gather all that you want for your batch. And you keep them around 50 degrees. Don't put them in the fridge. I take mine from the turner the morning of day 18. Sorry about your sad hatch. :aww Better luck next time.

 

[Poison Ivy]

What was your temps & humidity?

I collect mine for 7-10 days and keep them in a egg carton on the dresser in my guest room. They keep just fine so think it might be something off with your temps or humidity in your incubator.

 

[bearz]

My temp was a constant 100 degrees. I checked it obsessively. I think the humidity may have dropped. The instructions didn't tell me to add any water during the first 18 days, other than the initial fill, and I have a feeling it all evaporated.

I'm going to clean the incubator tomorrow and start again.

 

[Poison Ivy]

You need to make sure your humidity is between 45-50% days 1-18. Then raise it to 65-70% days 19 -21. That might have been what went wrong your humidity dropped to low.