What do you do when eggs fail to hatch?

[BeardedChick]

I have been carefully pecking them open on the side rather than cracking. Saw it done that way on a site - it doesn't disrupt the egg as much so it's easier to tell if it scrambled or was non-fertile or whatnot.

 

[Jamie821]

I always check any egg that didnt hatch. This is what I do and what I look for. Open egg from big end being careful not to damage membrane. First thing I look to see is did it make a slit in the membrane to breathe the air in the air sac. If no slit in membrane and fully developed one of two things went wrong. To low of humidity so chick couldnt turn in egg to pip and most of the time it was death before pip time, Possibly weak or deformed chick.If there is a slit in membrane number one cause of death is to high of humidity during incubation or to high humidity during hatch. The number one cause of death of fully developed chick that pip membrane and dies is drowning. If not totally developed could be a quitter or bacteria in egg. Hope this helps but its hard to explain.