Worried about my Eggs

[New2chickensnky]

As a few of you already know , I was due to have eggs hatching on the 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15, and 16th of this month..
So far I have NONE !!!!

This has made me very sad and downhearted ..We ended up disposing of the 9's and 10's and 11's yesterday ,and there was only 2 that had a very small underdeveloped baby , that stoped growing right after eyes were developed. I candled the ones that are due tomorrow last week and one , and maybe 2 are almost completley black in color. One moves when u place light under it , although I have not touched the eggs in a few days. Do you all think that this means something? If the others died , why would this one live and survive? This is our first hatch and we are already ready to give up , out of 40 some eggs , you would think that you would get a few to hatch.

What can cause them to die after such a short time?

Thanks to all who answer

 

[silkiechicken]

With such a staggered hatch, I wonder if putting in "cold" eggs daily affected anything in the early stages. Usually it is best to put them in all at one time and monitor from there on. Mostly clears or early deaths tell me something is up with the parent flock or there was too much flux in the bator leading to their early death. Maybe we can give more advice if you could tell us more about the set up, temp, humidity, how often you turned, if you had to open the bator and so on. In addition, are these shipped eggs?

 

[New2chickensnky]

These were eggs from our chickens , I told my hubby to wait and set them all the same day , but he would not listen , we had a turner that worked so no need to open the bator and turn them, I just opened every few days to add my water for the humity. The only flux that I can remember is that it was up a bit high on day , for maybe 2 hours while I was gone , this was our first time doing this and I wanted to run a test run and add just a few for the starting and he wanted to add every egg that we got.

He got too excited. Th temp stayed between 99 and 101, and humity was anywhere between 35 and 50.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

My suggestion...start over, set your eggs all on the same day, too much opening the bator and staggering a hatch.......your lucky egg just happened to be in the right range for hatching in my opinion...

I think you will see a big difference in your hatching abilities if you set them all at the same time....

 

[MissPrissy]

Collect your eggs from your chickens and crack them to look specifically for signs of fertility. Clears tell me someone is most likely not being mated or is mated haphazzardly. There is a thread by speckledhen with photos of eggs you can look at to help determine what a frtile eggs looks like.

The ones that started and stopped could be due to the early temp flunctuations of adding eggs each day. It takes several hours for the eggs int he incubator to come up to internal temp. In the mean time that means the other eggs were subjected to cooling off at the same time. The heating and cooling could very easily kill the embryo. It could also mean the hen and roo pairing is not the best genetically and the eggs are less viable.

What incubator are you using? Still air? Forced air?

Opening the bator and handling the eggs also can be a reason they don't develop. These least amount of fussing with them the better off they are. Also what was the weather like and the daily temps when the eggs were collected?

 

[New2chickensnky]

It is a still air , styrofom incubator , I think I posted in an earlier post that we bought this used. We are in the process of buying a new little giant ,which I have a question about as well , can we use the same turner in that we already have , to cout down on cost?
Anyhow , I think that you all are right , all eggs should be set the same day , also , the temps were different on the collection says , I am in Kentucky , so the weather is never what is is supposed to be anyhow it was at least 21 days ago , so I would say it was one of those days that it was around 40-50 degrees .

So what is the ideal temp. I know someone told me 101-102 , and then I have read elsewhere it should be 98.9 and so on , will the new bator be preset ? Also , someone who works with my hubby and used to hatch out eggs , said that you need to disinfect the bator after each hatch. Eventhough we had no hatch , we were planing on doing this anyhow just in case some kind of funk is living in it , I know that high temps helps things t breed. Thanks so much , I have always take your advice before anyone else's because you all seem to know what you are doing .

My hubby has even learned to listen to me when I say that I got it from you all. He is slowly learning ..

Thanks again , you all are wonderful people . And Like I have told u all before , When , if and all that , I get a set to hatch , I will be naming them after u all , those will be my backyard chicken gang .. LOL take care and thanks

 

[MissPrissy]

Since your incubator was purchased used I have to question how sterile it is. How did you clean it before using and what did you clean it with? You can't see bacteria that can kill the embryos. If you never cleaned it I would have to say this is one of the main reasons your hatches have been very poor.

The second reason would most likely be the temps. In a still air bator the temps should be measured at the top of the eggs and should be between 101 - 102.

Little Giants are the very low end of chain for incubators. Save your money and buy a beter one. The hovabator 1588 is the best in this style. It is virtually plug and play. It is the only small bator with a preset thermostat and circulated air.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

You do need to disinfect your incubators after every hatch..Bacteria can get into the next set of eggs and cause problems....I use warm soapy bleach water, wipe and rinse well and then set mine in the sun for a day...

LG still air temps are 101 to 102....I don't think LG are pre-set, someone correct me if I'm wrong...and on the turner just ask when you go to buy the new one if the model turner you have will fit and work...

I have a Hova #1583 that is working wonderfully...just get your temps set right before you even think of adding eggs and you will have great hatches....I've not had to adjust anything on mine...

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Link to Speckledhen's egg fertility thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

 

[New2chickensnky]

Hello. Just wanted to give an update . None of the babies hatched .

We ended cracking the eggs open last night and there was 2 that you could see everything , a beak had already formed , little wings and legs.. I was heart broken ,and cried over them. They were only about a inch to an inch and a half long so not sure how far they made it . These were the ones that should have hatched last week . We are buying the new incubator that everyone has suggested , and we will clean this one out really good as well and try again in both. Thanks to you all for your help.