Trouble Hatching My Eggs

[SouthernMDChick]

Ok I got a new incubator that tells me the humidity now. In the past I had them start to pip out then never progress and die in the eggs so I started helping them out and the ones I helped lived.

My new one has kept the temp Perfect and the humitiy has been 60 to 75% so I was gonna leave them alone but again this time I had one start to pip out and then Died and it was less then 18 hours between the time he started and the time he died.

What am I doing wrong.

I put in 3 doz eggs and took out the few that did not develope and at the 18th day I candled and saw movement in ALL of them. How come I have 17 eggs not hatching and I had to help them all out the first one I tried to leave alone died in the egg

I have another incubator due in a few weeks and I'm worried about what I'm doing wrong.

HELP!!!!!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Sorry to hear you are having problems When you say humidity has been 60% - 70% do you mean for the entire incubation period or just for lockdown?
Here is an article for you to check out on incubation failures https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

 

[SouthernMDChick]

the entire time I was told last time My humidity was too low

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Different humidty works for different people. I find 45% works well for me, my incubator and home. This may not work for you or other people it really is an each to its own thing that may you may have to experiment with untill you find the optimum level for you. Did you monitor air sac growth during incubation?

 

[scflock]

Some people swear by dry hatching, but it doesn't work for me. Like Yorkshire, I have my best success around 40-45%. I wonder if that has anything to do with us both using Brinseas, or is more of a geographical thing? 60-75% seems excessively high for the first 18 days. Is the hygrometer on your incubator the only one you are using? Even with the Brinsea, I got better results by adjusting after double checking with a second thermometer. What kind of incubator are you using, and where did you get your eggs? I would say this time that your humidity was definitely too high, but I know that's not what you want to hear when people tell you that it was too low. Maybe they were telling you it was too low after lockdown? I run 42% for the first 18 days, then 65+ at lockdown

 

[SouthernMDChick]

I have some I still hear peeping and if I hold the egg to my ear I hear them pecking but now pipping out at all yet

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Are you opening the incubator after lockdown? If eggs are externally pipping opening the incubator could risk them becoming shrink wrapped in the egg and that's why they could be pipping and not hatching. Once I lockdown that's it I don't open untill hatch is complete no matter what is going off in there. I know some people do open and remove chicks but it's a risk they may or may not become shrink wrapped. It's more of a risk if your incubator is slow to get humidity back up. Totally agree with scflock on double checking your humidty reading just to be sure, I too check mine even when the incubator was brand new. Sometimes factory settings are not right.

 

[scflock]

I have some I still hear peeping and if I hold the egg to my ear I hear them pecking but now pipping out at all yet

Are you opening the incubator frequently? What day is it? Personally, I never help them any more, but I wouldn't even attempt to until day 23 or 24. It takes a long time for them to hatch once they start pipping

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Some people swear by dry hatching, but it doesn't work for me. Like Yorkshire, I have my best success around 40-45%. I wonder if that has anything to do with us both using Brinseas, or is more of a geographical thing? 60-75% seems excessively high for the first 18 days. Is the hygrometer on your incubator the only one you are using? Even with the Brinsea, I got better results by adjusting after double checking with a second thermometer. What kind of incubator are you using, and where did you get your eggs? I would say this time that your humidity was definitely too high, but I know that's not what you want to hear when people tell you that it was too low. Maybe they were telling you it was too low after lockdown? I run 42% for the first 18 days, then 65+ at lockdown

A good majority of the ones that I know or have talked to that do the dry incubation (myself included) use the styrofoam incubators.

I agree with the others 60-75% for the first 17 days is high. I shoot for 70-75% at lockdown/hatch. I run dry if possible, if my bator doesn't hold 25% w/o water I add enough to run about 30%.

 

[scflock]

Are you opening the incubator after lockdown? If eggs are externally pipping opening the incubator could risk them becoming shrink wrapped in the egg and that's why they could be pipping and not hatching. Once I lockdown that's it I don't open untill hatch is complete no matter what is going off in there. I know some people do open and remove chicks but it's a risk they may or may not become shrink wrapped. It's more of a risk if your incubator is slow to get humidity back up. .

My last hatch I made myself wait until the hatch was complete before I ever opened the incubator. Best hatch results I ever had