Why are my chicks dying??

[Finlay]

Hi, I’m just after some advice.
Iv recently had 3 duck eggs, the first egg had been incubating 3 days head of the other 2, so 2 of the 3 started progressing really well the 3rd just never did anything so I removed that from the incubator, other 2 eggs were developing well could see the chicks starting to grow! Then the first chick then died on day 10, so iv had one left and it seemed to be doing very well candled it 2 days ago on day 11 and seemed good could see the chick jumping about, now today on day 13 it looks like it has died! Is it normal for them to be dying this many days along as I read it normally happens first 3 days and last 3 days.
Iv had my incubator at 37.5 and when iv candled then I usually leave them in the incubator not to handle them much and it’s always with clean hands, iv also been hand turning them about 5 times a day! Am i doing anything wrong or is it just one of those things? The only problem iv had is the humidity the incubator doesn’t tell me the humidity so I ordered a humidity reader but it just has taken a long time in the post, the incubator has little water pockets that I fill every day and iv been spraying the egg with water some days! If anyone can help me out I would appreciate it

 

[Pyxis]

Are these duck eggs or chicken eggs you're hatching? I couldn't tell because you said duck eggs at first, but then were calling the developing babies chicks and not ducklings, so I'm not sure if this is two separate hatches you are talking about, or if you were incubating duck eggs and chickens eggs together.

Regardless, have you used an outside thermometer you have calibrated to confirm that the temperature really is 37.5? Humidity could also be the issue; without a humidity gauge, for now you could weigh the eggs to track moisture loss, but you need a starting weight from before incubation began to be able to do that.

 

[Boccom]

alot of people call ducklings chicks

 

[Pyxis]

alot of people call ducklings chicks

That very well could be the case, but I just want to clarify since ducks and chickens have different incubation periods

 

[Finlay]

Are these duck eggs or chicken eggs you're hatching? I couldn't tell because you said duck eggs at first, but then were calling the developing babies chicks and not ducklings, so I'm not sure if this is two separate hatches you are talking about, or if you were incubating duck eggs and chickens eggs together.

Regardless, have you used an outside thermometer you have calibrated to confirm that the temperature really is 37.5? Humidity could also be the issue; without a humidity gauge, for now you could weigh the eggs to track moisture loss, but you need a starting weight from before incubation began to be able to do that.

Hello, yes sorry they are ducks.
No I haven’t got a separate one iv just been going off what the incubator has been saying, can they sometimes not be true readings? The 2 I had left had sadly died now I just wanted to know for next time, to make sure they weren’t dying from anything iv been doing

 

[Finlay]

Hello, yes sorry they are ducks.
No I haven’t got a separate one iv just been going off what the incubator has been saying, can they sometimes not be true readings? The 2 I had left had sadly died now I just wanted to know for next time, to make sure they weren’t dying from anything iv been doing

Also my incubator is very small it was very misleading when I purchased it, I think it would be perfect for quail eggs or something although it did state it was for duck eggs, could this be effecting the eggs?

 

[Pyxis]

Yeah, sometimes the readings can be off from what the incubator says, so it's best to always double check.

What type of incubator are you using? Could you post a link to it here?