What are some of the reasons they die at this stage?

[SweetieChicken234]

I really hate when this happens. It's not often but man does it suck. No internal pip. All others already hatched. Positioned correctly in egg.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I’d like to know too, I had 3/28 die inside the egg yesterday with only one internally pipped. I’ve been keeping track of the weight loss and the math is mathing. These were my findings with my hatch, of course it was only a small batch so not all that telling.

I did a dry hatch with my own eggs from various hens, upping humidity to 70% during lock down. One hen’s eggs had a terrible hatch rate. Out of 4, 2 died and one had to be helped. These eggs in particular are from my darkest OE that I could barely see the air cell through. On average her eggs lost 17% of their weight by lock down. The only thing I did differently with those 4 eggs is I hardly candled them while I candled all the others pretty often.

The other egg that didn’t hatch was from a different hen but I only had two of her eggs and both lost 14%.

There was another chick I had to help. All 4 of that hen’s eggs are large and thick shelled. They only lost an average of 10%. This one was able to pip but couldn’t zip well. It was weak from trying but seems well enough now.

Of the rest of the eggs that hatched just fine on their own it looks like the sweet spot of % weight lost, for my incubator at least, is about 13%. But there were 3 EE eggs that lost ~16% and hatched fine on their own. I suppose it’s normal even with a broody that they don’t all hatch, survival of the fittest and all that. I just figure if the hatch rate is around 90% then things went well, if a lot of formed chicks are dying before pipping then something is likely amiss.

 

[FunClucks]

I really hate when this happens. It's not often but man does it suck. No internal pip. All others already hatched. Positioned correctly in egg. View attachment 4083977

If you look, that particular chick was a cross-beak. It's pretty bad already which means they are severely cross-beak (generally the cross beak mis-alignment becomes evident a few weeks after hatch and worsens as they grow). When they are cross-beak they often have other internal malformations. They can have trouble pipping, or can't pip at all due to the beak malformation. Causes can be bad genetics of the parent birds, poor nutrition of the hen. But in this case, I think the main contributor is likely poor genetics, because that's some severe cross-beak.

 

[FunClucks]

I’d like to know too, I had 3/28 die inside the egg yesterday with only one internally pipped. I’ve been keeping track of the weight loss and the math is mathing. These were my findings with my hatch, of course it was only a small batch so not all that telling.

I did a dry hatch with my own eggs from various hens, upping humidity to 70% during lock down. One hen’s eggs had a terrible hatch rate. Out of 4, 2 died and one had to be helped. These eggs in particular are from my darkest OE that I could barely see the air cell through. On average her eggs lost 17% of their weight by lock down. The only thing I did differently with those 4 eggs is I hardly candled them while I candled all the others pretty often.

The other egg that didn’t hatch was from a different hen but I only had two of her eggs and both lost 14%.
View attachment 4084068View attachment 4084069

There was another chick I had to help. All 4 of that hen’s eggs are large and thick shelled. They only lost an average of 10%. This one was able to pip but couldn’t zip well. It was weak from trying but seems well enough now.

Of the rest of the eggs that hatched just fine on their own it looks like the sweet spot of % weight lost, for my incubator at least, is about 13%. But there were 3 EE eggs that lost ~16% and hatched fine on their own. I suppose it’s normal even with a broody that they don’t all hatch, survival of the fittest and all that. I just figure if the hatch rate is around 90% then things went well, if a lot of formed chicks are dying before pipping then something is likely amiss.

Just so you know, most folks would consider 70% an excellent hatch rate. 90% is more than excellent, and 100% is way better than most of us get most of the time. There are going to be losses, it's just kind of part of the process. It's sad, but not much to be done in a lot of cases.

For the hen that has a 50% hatch rate, you only hatched 4 of her eggs, so I'd say you need more data to be sure, but 50% is not good, and worthy of being investigated further to see if its her genetics, nutrition, or something about the incubation conditions that can be improved that is causing the issue.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

If you look, that particular chick was a cross-beak. It's pretty bad already which means they are severely cross-beak (generally the cross beak mis-alignment becomes evident a few weeks after hatch and worsens as they grow). When they are cross-beak they often have other internal malformations. They can have trouble pipping, or can't pip at all due to the beak malformation. Causes can be bad genetics of the parent birds, poor nutrition of the hen. But in this case, I think the main contributor is likely poor genetics, because that's some severe cross-beak.

Maybe there is an issue with 1 hen. It's rare for me to get a loss at this stage. Their eggs are so similar it's hard to tell which hen it is. This has happened to me once or twice before in all the hatches I've done. I've had very strong chicks hatch and thrive and I'm glad if it has any malformation it passes before hatching.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Just so you know, most folks would consider 70% an excellent hatch rate. 90% is more than excellent, and 100% is way better than most of us get most of the time. There are going to be losses, it's just kind of part of the process. It's sad, but not much to be done in a lot of cases.

For the hen that has a 50% hatch rate, you only hatched 4 of her eggs, so I'd say you need more data to be sure, but 50% is not good, and worthy of being investigated further to see if its her genetics, nutrition, or something about the incubation conditions that can be improved that is causing the issue.

I know my sample group is small so I can’t say anything for certain with my results. I’m not unhappy with what I got, just disappointed the particular hen’s eggs I was looking forward to didn’t all hatch. I was shooting for 20 healthy chicks so the other 4 (possibly 5, waiting on one more) are bonuses. I won’t be incubating any more but if a hen goes broody I intend to pop more colored eggs under her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

These links discuss troubleshooting incubation issues. There are a lot of different reasons why an embryo might never develop or stop developing at a specific stage. I open unhatched eggs to see if I can get an idea why they did not hatch. Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes I don't have a clue.

Trouble Shooting Failures with Egg Incubation | Mississippi State University Extension Service (msstate.edu)

Common Incubation Problems: Causes and Remedies (ucanr.edu)

From what I've read, the big commercial hatcheries have about a 90% hatch rate. The problems with half of the eggs that do not hatch are caused by things that happened before the egg went into the incubator. The other half has something to do with the actual incubation.

I've had 100% hatch rates and some much worse, under a broody and in the incubator. I don't average 90% with either method but I can usually determine the cause on my worst ones. Often different chicks stop developing at different times in the same hatch so it is different reasons.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Deformed or weak chicks result from stress to eggs preincubation (shipping, cold, heat, age), can be genetic or nutritional in nature (certain birds or lines have a high percentage of the former while the latter will affect most of your eggs) and occasionally there is just a fluke mutation or mischance just like many early. Pregnancies end in miscarriage due to embryonic malformation or issues. Your incubation process has little to do with it unless it spikes to 105 during early incubation or something else catastrophic. I’ve struggled with this with a batch of shipped eggs, half didn’t get to lockdown then half of those died in shell when I get 90% plus normal hatch with random home eggs, of course it is the expensive and much anticipated eggs that are going to implode or those eggs from your favorite hen that just died…

 

[FunClucks]

of course it is the expensive and much anticipated eggs that are going to implode or those eggs from your favorite hen that just died…

Agreed!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your incubation process has little to do with it unless it spikes to 105 during early incubation or something else catastrophic.

Susan, I'm going to disagree with this statement. Turning or not turning (especially early on) has an effect. High or low temperatures have an effect. So do humidity levels. Them not getting fresh air late in the incubation or during hatch can kill them. Positioning them pointy side up can cause harm.

I appreciate your experiments with the eggs and how tough some of the eggs can be. Some hatches can appear miraculous. Not doing everything perfectly may not have much of an impact, but the further away from the guidelines you venture with any of these the more risks you take. There are reasons we have the guidelines.