Why?

[chicken stick]

I'm finding that a few of the chicks die after they pip the shell? And some die fully formed. I have the hooverbator 1588 on my 2nd hatch day 21 and only 3 chicks out of 16 hatched, 2 dead pips and a few I could c no movement when I candled quick after putting chicks into brooder ? Any info will b appreciated. So sad

 

[PhoredaBurds]

There are many possible reasons for failure to pip externally. Many good threads here to help u tho. Sally sunshine's hatching 101 is fantastic as is the diary & notes - shipped eggs thread. Sometimes it's something w/in our control like humidity levels but often it's other things like embryos damaged in shipping or parent birds too closely related. Learn from ur experience and keep trying. Good luck!

 

[kuchchicks]

I have the Hova Bator 1588 and I love it. I know that it is preset but just to confirm... do you have other thermometers in there to double check temp? Also what was your humidity during days 1-17 and then at lock down? Were your eggs local or shipped?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Try reading through these to get some ideas of what might have happened. As was mentioned there are a lot of different possible causes. As a general rule of thumb if the chick never developed or died in the first week of incubation it had to do with something that happened before incubation even started. If they died like yours in the last week it probably has something to do with the actual incubation.

Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting
http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/trouble.html

Illinois Incubation troubleshooting
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html

Heat and humidity are really important. Don’t trust the factory setting and calibrate your thermometer and hygrometer so you know what you are dealing with.

Rebel’s Thermometer Calibration
http://cmfarm.us/ThermometerCalibration.html

Rebel’s Hygrometer Calibration
http://cmfarm.us/HygrometerCalibration.html

Also important is not incubating them pointy side up or not turning them, they especially need to be turned in the first week or two of incubation. I also have the 1588 and it is a forced air so this is probably not the problem but did you have that plug out? The chicks are living animals. Late in incubation they need to breathe fresh air, either through the porous shell or after they external pip. If you don’t have air exchange they can suffocate.

Good luck on figuring it out.