What am I doing wrong? (low hatch rates)

[Cowgirl71]

I have a two Little Giant 9200 incubators, one several years old, and one that I got this year. I candle at day 7, and again on day 14. Any that "glow," are "murky," or have a "blood ring," I remove. My third hatch this year is due April 1st. I candled them last night, and am now down to 49 eggs in the incubator, which all should hatch. But in the past only about 50-70% have. I've run the incubator an extra 48 hours after the last chick, in case there's any later ones, but got nothing. And the eggs that won't hatch don't even pip. I attempt to keep the incubator at 100.5 F, but it's anywhere from 99.5-102 F. I try to keep the incubator shut, and only briefly crack it open every few hours to quickly remove chicks (it then cools down to about 95-97 F). In the past, the hatch starts early-am on day 21, then is finished by day 23.

What am I doing wrong? I would think that of the eggs that looked good at day 14, that 90%+ should hatch. Do I need "humidity pads"? Is the temperature wrong? Could it just be the genetics of the parents (they're Buff Orpingtons and Barred Rocks). Or is this maybe even normal? Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks in advance for your help...

 

[Chicky Tocks]

It's possible that opening the bator every few hours to remove chicks is your problem. You're not supposed to open that bator at all during lockdown. What happens is that the humidity leaks out and the membrane of the remaining eggs gets dry and sticky. This prevents the chicks from turning properly to pip and they become "shrink wrapped" in that membrane. I've been guilty of this. It's very hard to not want to take the dry chicks out, but it is safe to leave them in the bator for 36-48 hours. I currently have a hatch going, and when lockdown gets here, this time I will not open that bator and take the hatchlings out. I'll sit on my hands and hope that my hatch rate is better.

 

[Staceyfeindt]

I am thinking your temp is too high at times. I have the same bator and I keep it at 99.5

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Yes, I made this same mistake the first few times. Also if your water trays develop a bacterial slime on the surface, it will hinder evaporation for humidity and possibly chick infection/death while still in the egg or at hatching when a bacterial bloom will take place. I solved that problem by using the standard 3% hydrogen peroxide instead of plain H2O for the water trays. It works, my friends also do this now with the same better hatch rates I have now.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Thanks everyone! I greatly appreciate your help.

One more question: In the past, not knowing any better, on day 18 I'd unplug the turner, but leave the eggs in the turner to hatch. Both of my turners are the older style, BTW, with the individual plastic holders with plastic prongs. After getting a new incubator, with an instruction manual, I saw that you're supposed to remove the eggs from the turner as well. So I tried that. I was very disapointed. If my hatch was tighter, it would of worked okay, but the first chicks that hatched crawled all over the un-hatched eggs, smearing that "goo" all over them. I also had a chick (likely the main culprit) who's navel did not heal properly, and some of his insides were outside his body, and he smeared blood, etc. on the eggs. Also, the chicks would roll the other eggs all over (I've heard that in the last three days of incubation, they need to position themselves properly to hatch). And more than once I had to remove half an egg shell that had encased the top or bottom of an unhatched egg, preventing it from breathing through it's crack. It was a mess. Leaving them in the turner works much better for me, except for one thing. The prongs are perfect for catching little feet/heads. So I remove them often, but try to be quick. Also, how important is it to remove the egg shells? If I didn't, or only once a day, then the bator wouldn't be open so long... Thanks for your help! I gotta go milk the cow...

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

what is you humidity at for the first 18 days? The last 3?

 

[JordanFamily]

Quote:
Opening the bator does more harm then the newly hatched chicks are doing to the unhatched chicks... You can try cupcake cups to keep the eggs more stable. I starting to use 1 oz paper dipping cups to see if that helps stabilze the eggs better... The type of cup that you get at Captain d's for your ketchup, It has a wider diameter and is shorter than McD's ketchup cups. I know it will work for my bantam eggs but don't know if they are big enough for a standard size egg??? .. JUst DO NOT OPEN THE BATOR!!! I also have started to weigh my eggs at candling to make sure they are loosing the 2.48grams every 4 days... Good Luck