What went wrong? Suggestions on how to improve?

[Mike1J]

So I tried a homemade incubator and had no success, after doing some research that is not shocking. So I bought a used incubator, a Brower Top Hatch. It comes with a small thermometer that sticks in the tray dividers that are used to turn the eggs. I also bought a regular thermometer that also had humidity (not expensive). So I got the incubator dialed in on temperature, well at least it was holding extremely stable. I had 18 eggs in there and 4 hatched (1 on day 22, 2 on day 23 and one on day 24). Two other eggs externally pipped but didn't hatch. The one on day 24 died on day 26. I left the eggs in there until day 26 and did an egg-topsy.

So out of the 18 - 4 hatched, 2 pipped and they look to be fully formed and the sack was not stuck to them and the egg yoke was inside them. 4 of the eggs were just yoke so either weren't fertile or it went wrong early on. Of the rest they were all looked to be fully formed with most still having the yoke not yet absorbed.

So what went wrong? I was not expecting in my first incubator hatch to get 80-90% like you experts but was hoping for more than 4 (or maybe 3).

Questions/thoughts what it might be:

1. So the lid of the incubator has 4 small holes and has plugs if you want them closed. I had them all closed? Should I have some or all open?

2. Temperature - so temp was extremely stable but even though the incubator is forced air - the temp at the higher thermometer was 99.6 ish - but the second thermometer I placed on the tray and it read closer to 98. I had read that better to be cooler than hotter, but maybe need to bump up the temp a little??

3. Humidity - i am not confident in the reading but it was showing around 45-55 during the first 18 days and then i bumped it up to 60-70 for the lockdown period (which went on for awhile). To get the humidity that high I had to have the water completely filled below the tray/screen and at one point had sponges to kick it up.

What do you experts think/recommend? Struggling if I should give it another go.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

How high was the humidity during lockdown? How high was the temperature?

 

[Mike1J]

During lockdown the temp was the same (99.6ish near the top and 98ish near the bottom). The humidity was 60-65, but not super confident in the reading.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Hmm. Do you have any pictures of the chicks in the eggs dead? What breed/s were they?

 

[Mike1J]

I didn't take any pictures. I had planned to but didn't. They looked about the same as the four that hatched. Breed is Lavender Orpington.

 

[JaeG]

At hatch the chicks need a constant supply of fresh air, so the plugs you talk about should have been removed on day 18 when you put them into lockdown. Some people take them out and leave them out. That's what I've done with my incubator (then I can never forget). It does mean I need to keep a close eye on the humidity and I have to top up the water daily, but I don't mind.

Humidity is something you have to play around with to get it right for your set-up. For chicken eggs I keep mine around 35-40%. If you have a gram scale you can weigh the eggs periodically to track their weight loss. You can weigh them all together rather than individually and work out the average. Over the first 18 days they should lose at least 11% of their start weight. An easy way to do this is to make a line graph with the days along the bottom, weight up the side. Plot the start weight on day 0 and the expected weight for day 18 (taking 11% off the start weight) and draw a line between those 2 points. Then on any day you can weigh them, work out the average and see if they are on track. Any eggs that need to be removed can be without affecting the weight as you are always working out the average. Sounds complicated but it is easy. I find that easier than trying to analyse the size of the air cells when candling, especially when you have wonky air cells if your eggs were shipped to you.

Do try again - it's a great sense of achievement when you do get a good hatch.

 

[Arielle2]

You will learn by doing. Dont give up.


Candle eggs thruout 21 days to verify correct growth of air sac.
Eggs kept big end up and turned often 3-4 times a day
toss the red plugs
attach a fan to increase fresh air
alter humity to create the correct air sac size
use a diagram when candli g and trace size of air cell

imho hotter is better....hatches that go too long seem to have poorer results

how did you calibrate the thermometers?? precise is not the same as accurate, if you get my meaning. I like fish thermometers: test in ice water, and in warm water. Hard to find two that measure thd same. Hatching tells you which is correct if in doubt. 21 days and all hatchlings healthy fluff balls.

care of eggs before setting important. were hens well fed? eggs kept cool and turned during storage ?

keep trying, or else your first effort was for nothing.

 

[Mike1J]

At hatch the chicks need a constant supply of fresh air, so the plugs you talk about should have been removed on day 18 when you put them into lockdown. Some people take them out and leave them out. That's what I've done with my incubator (then I can never forget). It does mean I need to keep a close eye on the humidity and I have to top up the water daily, but I don't mind.

Humidity is something you have to play around with to get it right for your set-up. For chicken eggs I keep mine around 35-40%. If you have a gram scale you can weigh the eggs periodically to track their weight loss. You can weigh them all together rather than individually and work out the average. Over the first 18 days they should lose at least 11% of their start weight. An easy way to do this is to make a line graph with the days along the bottom, weight up the side. Plot the start weight on day 0 and the expected weight for day 18 (taking 11% off the start weight) and draw a line between those 2 points. Then on any day you can weigh them, work out the average and see if they are on track. Any eggs that need to be removed can be without affecting the weight as you are always working out the average. Sounds complicated but it is easy. I find that easier than trying to analyse the size of the air cells when candling, especially when you have wonky air cells if your eggs were shipped to you.

Do try again - it's a great sense of achievement when you do get a good hatch.

So this 11% calculation is each day supposed to lose the same amount of weight? If for example the 11% is say 18 grams would I expect to see each day 1 gram of weight loss?

 

[Kiraeh]

It's about even throughout incubation. If you're uncertain what humidity level will give best results(it'll vary for everyone), weigh every week. It's much better to run to dryer early and raise the humidity later than run wet early and lower it late in incubation. In early incubation, evaporated water comes from the albumen. In late incubation, a portion of your weight loss is coming from the chick itself, so you don't want to be running too dry then.

 

[JaeG]

So this 11% calculation is each day supposed to lose the same amount of weight? If for example the 11% is say 18 grams would I expect to see each day 1 gram of weight loss?

Yes that's right, though a large-ish chicken egg of 70g would need to lose at least 7.7g over those first 18 days (so you'd be starting with a huge egg for it to need to lose a gram a day). Slightly higher weight loss is fine as I've seen 11%-16% quoted as the number to aim for but I prefer to stick to 11% especially if they are shipped eggs which may have sat around for a few days before being sent, and may have got delayed in the post (like my last batch did).