What Causes Apparently Healthy Peeps to Die?

I'm mid-hatch on some Black Australorps. 9 of 12 eggs were fertile and completely developed.

They pipped slightly early yesterday [I was expecting the pips last night during the night and hatching today, they pipped yesterday early afternoon and started hatching around 8pm].

3 hatched before I went to bed and I moved them from the Hovabator [where I am incubating other eggs] to the Little Giant to dry out over night. LG maintained a temp of 99-100 [which is a miracle with that thing].

All 3 were very vigorous, peeping loudly, navels were good, they looked *perfect* and healthy.

I woke up this morning and went to check on them and one had died, one looks like it is going to die any minute, and one looks healthy still. 2 more hatched over night and seem very healthy, and 4 more are trying to hatch.

What would cause healthy appearing chicks to die after hatching? These eggs have had pretty stable temps [some slight variation of about 2 degrees 99.5-101.5] and stable humidity in the Hovabator.

I'm just trying to figure out what I've done. I've had a bad run of hatches lately mostly due to temp fluctuation, but with this batch I kept them out of the Little Giant completely [my temp problem child] to try to prevent that....

I have to figure out what I'm doing to keep killing these poor chicks.

Thanks for any insight.

Kelly

 

I put them in the Little Giant just overnight to dry - maybe 7 hours. I put them in my brooder box this am first thing. [5am!]

I had the vent plugs out, the temp was reading 99-100. I had the incubator dry to try to help dry them - maybe that was bad?

They are shipped eggs.

I am just trying to figure out what I did wrong so I never do it again.

For one, I am getting rid of that Little Giant, period. It is gone - I've lost so many chicks to that rotten thing. It just makes me want to cry.

Kelly

 

Yes - I have moved them lately because I have other eggs in that bator and I don't want the newborn chicks getting them goopy or breaking them by stumbling around on them.

This has worked the last 2 hatches, but this time it went bad.

Kelly