why did my chicks hatch so late

[laurenwoods]

Hi everyone

Im new to this forum but would like some advice, usually i incubate duck eggs and have great results with little problems but i thought i would try chicks this time. By day 17 i was left with 23 eggs that when candled all looked very strong. On day 21 i had 9 chicks hatch all nice and healthy and strong then day 22 another 4 hatched day 23 another 2 all healthy and strong. Then on day 24 i looked in the incubator to see another egg had started to hatch i kept checking it through out the day and it had made little progress as it got to about 14 hours later i decided to try to help i peeled away the shell slowly untill the chick was able to push itself out but the membrane was stuck to the chick so i put it back in the bater to have a rest then had another try later and had to completly free the chick from his shell i was a little worried as i no its said that you shouldnt completely free the chick it has to try itself but luckily the chick was strong and is now running around my brooder with the rest. Anyway on day 25 i started to candle the remaining eggs just to double check before i turned the bator off and as i picked an egg up on the underside was a hole with a tiny beak sticking out the little chick started to faintly cheep all aroung the hole was dried membrane i had to help the chick completely out of the egg. Although today day 26 he looks a sorry state with dried membrane stuck to him ( i keep washing him with warm water just a little at a time) he is also now in the brooder running around.
Even though i got 17 chicks out of my 23 i was just wondering why these 2 hatched so late and why they had trouble getting out. Any advice would be gratefully recieved .....

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

what kind of incubator do you have, forced air or still sir, if still air you have hot spots (cool spots) in you 'bator, the difference in temps will cause that problem

 

[laurenwoods]

hi and thanks for the reply i have a R com king suro 20 incubator, the thing that is baffling me is ive never had any trouble with incubating duck eggs

 

[dsqard]

I would suspect either your temps ran low the entire hatch or like the other poster said, you had cool spots in your incubator. I had a late hatch on my first try and that is when I discovered that my incubator was running about a degree cooler than I thought.

 

[laurenwoods]

Hi my temp was set at 37.5 c for the whole hatch is this to low then?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Quote:
Converting that to Farenhiet...99.5 F. Perfect. I suspect cool spots in your incubator too. I have a still air I put a fan in, checked all around it to find the hot and cold spots then put my eggs where it's steady temp. If I filled it I'd have a staggerd hatch too due to the varying temp.

 

[laurenwoods]

ok thanks it probably does make sense as both chicks i had trouble with where right at the egde of the incubator. Thanks for the advice im glad ive found this forum loads of help x

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unless you calibrate your thermometer, you do not know what temperature you were actually incubating at. Manufacturing tolerances can throw them off. As an example, next time you are in a place that sells thermometers that measure outside temperature, look at several on the shelf. Thermometers manufactured by the same company setting on the same shelf in a climate controlled store can vary by several degrees.

Calibrate a Thermometer
http://www.allfoodbusiness.com/calibrating_thermometers.php

Also, some thermometers are accurate to within 1 or 2 degrees Fahrenheit. These are the ones usually intended to measure the outside temperature. You need one that is good to within 0.1 degrees. This is different than the manufacturing tolerances. What this means is that the thermometer will return to the same temperature within this range. The thermometer may be off due to manufacturing tolerances buy several degreees, but this means that it will always return to the same temperature, even if it is wrong.

I know I did not explain it very well, but just get a thermometer that is accurate to 0.1 degrees (does not matter if that is F or C) and calibrate it and you will be OK.

 

[laurenwoods]

Thanks this is good advice i guess i just trusted that the temperature was spot on i will get another thermometer for my next hatch...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not familair with that incubator but I kind of suspect cold spots too. You might consider moving the eggs around when you open the incubator to add water. That might average out the incubating temperature if cold spots are a problem.