Why do you think my eggs are not hatching?

[cuckooformarans]

Hello,
I have several breeds of chickens that I am trying to incubate eggs from. I have two incubators, both are the Little Giant still air incubators. I have the temp at 101 degrees at the top of the eggs. I have one incubator that I keep the eggs in till they are ready for lock down, then I move them into the other incubator. Once they go into the "lock down" incubator I don't touch it. I opened up the first group that I put into the second incubator on day 26, and all but one were full term, but dead. Now i've had the second group in the "lock down" incubator. One finally did hatch, I think it was a day late, but its been a couple days and no more have hatched. I witnessed three of the other eggs wiggling around a couple days before our one hatched, and one was wiggling while the one was hatching, but still no others ever hatched.
I'm stumped on why they are obviously alive in the "lock down" incubator, but not hatching.
The only thing I can't really monitor is humidity. I have water and a sponge in both incubators. If I see condensation then I open both vent holes.
Any suggestions on what we are doing wrong?
I understand that these incubators are not very successful to begin with, so please don't just respond that my incubators suck.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I use an LG, so I don't think they suck. But, I do think they are a little trickier than other models
I think your humidity is the problem. If you're seeing condensation on the windows, its too high. When the humidity is too high at hatch time, it creates too much moisture inside the egg. When the chicks pip into the air cell, they drown in the excess moisture. On the flip side, if your eggs aren't dry enough the first 18 days, they won't loose enough moisture and the chicks end up too big to hatch.

So, long story short, knowing your humidity is pretty important. Hygrometers are pretty cheap and those few dollars will save you alot of wasted eggs. I use a hygrometer/thermometer combo so I don't have a bunch of instruments inside the bator. If you don't want to use a hygro, you'll need to weigh the eggs once a weekof or measure the air cells to make sure they're on track.

I keep my humidity around 25-30% for the first 18 days, then bump it up to around 60-65% at hatch time. Your humidity may need to be higher or lower depending on where you live and the weather conditions (for example, I usually can't get mime below 45% in the summer because of the outside humidity). I've had much better luck dry hatching than by following the instructions that came with my bator and I've had MUCH better hatches knowing what my humidity is. I used to wing it, it was pretty hit or miss. And very disappointing.

I hope this helps, better luck next time