What went wrong?

[naparocks]

I'm looking for some input from others more experienced with incubating than I am. Right now I'm feeling pretty discouraged but from everything I had researched and read I believe I did everything right. I incubated 16 eggs, 5 black copper marans, 5 cream legbars, 1 olive egger, and 5 golden lace wyandotte. Only 6 successfully hatched on about day 22. Today is day 24 and I have done as the seller recommended (candling) and then, for the ones I was unable to determine from that the float test recommended somewhere on this site I believe.

The following pictures 1-6 showed no life by candling, and two (7 & 8) that were "floated". The third floated one died on what appeared to be day 18 or 19 and the other one was put back in the incubator after floating. Would love to hear what experienced egg incubators think. It's a big ask, but would appreciate any help and feedback.

 

[Yardmom]

Were the eggs shipped?

 

[naparocks]

Were the eggs shipped?

No, I picked them up relatively close to where I live. They rode home carefully held in my lap.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Probably the best I can do is link you to these troubleshooting guides. As you can see there are a lot of different things that can cause them to not develop or hatch. You were looking at them, I wasn't. Maybe you can see something that explains some of them.

In general, and of course there are exceptions, if the egg did not develop or stopped developing early in incubation that's because of something that happened before the eggs went in the incubator. If they stop during the last week of incubation that probably has something to do with incubation.

Incubation Troubleshooting - Incubation and Embryology - University of Illinois Extension

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

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

No, I picked them up relatively close to where I live. They rode home carefully held in my lap.

Excellent. I once set the eggs on the floorboard of the car and took them home over pretty rough country roads. That was a horrible hatch. You did that part right.

Some common problems before they go in the incubator are that they got too hot or too cold or they were stored too long. Shaking them up is bad. Them cycling between hot and cold is rough on them. Health and nutrition of the parent flock is important but I generally would not expect your results due to poor nutrition.

The main problems during incubation are heat or humidity related. Sometimes a temperature spike can kill them. Incubating them pointy side up can cause problems, especially during hatch. Turning helps.

Not sure how you did the float test. I consider this float test a last minute desperate check just before you toss the eggs. You don't want to treat hatching eggs this way unless you are desperate. As long as the egg has not pipped, if you put the eggs in a container of calm water, the egg will wiggle if there is a live chick in it. They should all float at this age, if they don't something is wrong.

One thing I recommend is to calibrate your thermometer to make sure the temperature is where it should be. If you got 6 put of 16 it should not be off that much but it's a common problem.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I wonder if the ones that hatched are all girls... Maybe your temp was lower then what you set it to?

 

[naparocks]

Probably the best I can do is link you to these troubleshooting guides. As you can see there are a lot of different things that can cause them to not develop or hatch. You were looking at them, I wasn't. Maybe you can see something that explains some of them.

In general, and of course there are exceptions, if the egg did not develop or stopped developing early in incubation that's because of something that happened before the eggs went in the incubator. If they stop during the last week of incubation that probably has something to do with incubation.

Incubation Troubleshooting - Incubation and Embryology - University of Illinois Extension

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

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


Excellent. I once set the eggs on the floorboard of the car and took them home over pretty rough country roads. That was a horrible hatch. You did that part right.

Some common problems before they go in the incubator are that they got too hot or too cold or they were stored too long. Shaking them up is bad. Them cycling between hot and cold is rough on them. Health and nutrition of the parent flock is important but I generally would not expect your results due to poor nutrition.

The main problems during incubation are heat or humidity related. Sometimes a temperature spike can kill them. Incubating them pointy side up can cause problems, especially during hatch. Turning helps.

Not sure how you did the float test. I consider this float test a last minute desperate check just before you toss the eggs. You don't want to treat hatching eggs this way unless you are desperate. As long as the egg has not pipped, if you put the eggs in a container of calm water, the egg will wiggle if there is a live chick in it. They should all float at this age, if they don't something is wrong.

One thing I recommend is to calibrate your thermometer to make sure the temperature is where it should be. If you got 6 put of 16 it should not be off that much but it's a common problem.

Right now I can't effectively check the temperature in the incubator but it was factory set at 99.5 (I know that is no guarantee). The eggs were not jostled, at least not from the time I received them. The room where the incubator is stays pretty constant between 70-75 degrees, no drafts, out of direct light. There is an automatic egg turner which was working fine (incubator is in my home office so monitored throughout the day) and the eggs were at an incline in the incubator with the pointy end down. The humidity through both incubation periods were what was recommended by the manufacturer and there were no abnormalities during the course (this is the NR 360). My son took the evening shift since his work is at night so even at night they were monitored.

The float test was done on day 25 (I was wrong above, the candling was done on day 24, not the float test). The water was 100 degrees and still. Two of the eggs sunk right to the bottom. One floated vertically, one floated at an angle. They were all floated separately.

In looking at the eggs I wasn't sure if at least two were even fertilized. One (the last picture) had two partially formed chicks. It seems to me that all of the ones pictured but that one never really reached more than a day or two of development. The one maran egg that hatched out of the five was the largest (and the freshest by the seller's account) and was the smallest chick. It appears to be navigating around ok but it appears that there is something wrong with the feet (not splayed, something else).

I noticed when I got home with the eggs that several were dirty and /or had small shaving stuck to them. I contacted the seller and was told they were fine, that they hatch ones like this all of the time with no problems.

I don't know under what conditions they were stored prior to my receiving them, what age the hens or roosters were, or how/what they are fed. This is a small business I purchased them from and not a backyard breeder (if that applies to chickens! )

 

[naparocks]

I wonder if the ones that hatched are all girls... Maybe your temp was lower then what you set it to?

The temp was factory set at 99.5 but I will be checking the accuracy. I think at least one of the chicks (a legbar) was a male.