Why are chicks just dying in their shell? :(

[savannahRoos22]

Same thing happens to me and I live in central texas where the humidity is actually pretty high. All mine died my last batch. 2 made it to the last week. One died day 17, no reasoning as to why frm the eggtopsy. The last one pipped on the face down portion of the egg and suffocated while I was at work.
I set 10 chicken eggs and 5 duck eggs (3 not fertile, 1 died at day 8, and the last one is in there not moving anymore) Right now I have about 6 chicken eggs left after throwing out the no good ones. One I don't know if it's still alive because it's not moving inside but it pipped internally. I did everything I could this time. I didn't candle until the last week after the 7 day mark, i used gloves, and I kept everything stable. I wonder if this is why my hens aren't broody bc maybe their children aren't meant to be here. If I can just get 2 or 3 to hatch I think I may feel somewhat capable lol. I have a cheap-o Little Giant incubator.
This makes me want to quit but, My birds are laying all these eggs and I hate for them to just sit out there and go to waste when we want more birds. I've been giving eggs away. I haven't started eating them myself until I'm done trying to incubate them. It would feel weird to eat them while I'm incubating their siblings LOL.

Oh my gosh. Wow i am so so sorry for you! I really hope future ones hatch. This seems so sad and you've tried really hard! Thank you for posting I really enjoyed reading yours, and I have faith you will have success sometime.
I" haven't started eating them myself until I'm done trying to incubate them. It would feel weird to eat them while I'm incubating their siblings LOL." Love this part so much!

 

[savannahRoos22]

Yea, all at the same time. Ducks and chickens only need diff incubation needs at hatch I thought. I've read many instances of ppl incubating them together but, I've decided not to after this little fiasco and set nothing but ducks next go round.

I've heard of lots of success! Usually not a problem! Especially they have very few differences

 

[savannahRoos22]

Are you setting all the eggs at the same time? If you are continually adding eggs to your incubator, you are going to run into issues because the eggs that are almost ready to hatch need a humidity level that will drown chicks that are more a week or two from hatching. Ducks and chickens have different incubation periods and different humidity needs, so they really do best incubated separately.

Thank you for helping and for replies!

 

[junebuggena]

Yea, all at the same time. Ducks and chickens only need diff incubation needs at hatch I thought. I've read many instances of ppl incubating them together but, I've decided not to after this little fiasco and set nothing but ducks next go round.

Chicken eggs take 21 days to incubate. Most duck eggs take 28 days to incubate. Muscovy duck eggs take 35 days to incubate. Chicken eggs incubate best when humidity is kept at about 30 to 45 percent. Ducks do best at about 45 to 60 percent. Chicken eggs need a hatching humidity of at least 60 percent. Ducks need it to be around 80%. While some have managed to successfully incubate both duck and chicken eggs at the same time, the chicken eggs must be added at least one week after the duck eggs are set for best results.

 

[NDgoatgirlNV]

This guys article really helped me out when I was having no success hatching...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...h-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method.47694/

 

[Tavia Rose]

This guys article really helped me out when I was having no success hatching...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...h-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method.47694/

I just read that yesterday. Lockdown is very hard for me especially in an incubator that doesn't like to keep it's humidity.

 

[aliciaplus3]

What works for one person may be a complete bust for another...... case in point, my first couple hatches were ok 9 out of 17 and 17 out of 30.... ok not stellar but not terrible either. But I kept reading about the dry incubation method and how it improved the hatch rate for those using it, so I decided to try and failed miserably. my hatches dropped to 2 out of 48 and 4 out of 50! Wholly molly that hurt. But what I didn't take into consideration was that I live in a dry climate at about 6000 feet above sea level and most of the people having success going dry were in humid places much closer to sea level. My next couple tries I raised my humidity to 50% for the incubation period and then bumped it up to 65ish for hatching and I saw my hatch rates increase, I hatched 12 out of 22 and 10 out of 17 shipped eggs! I guses my point is you will have to find what works in your area.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Ps I have found that I am a hands on hatcher, my hatching bator regains humidity quite well so I can open to assist if needed. I just make sure to add hot water when needed