I've got a homemade incubator that's been giving me a world of grief! The first few hatches were great. I had so many chicks I didn't know what to do with them. Then all of the sudden my hatch date fell to around 20-25%. I don't know why. Nothing at that point had changed. Recently, I've had numerous eggs pip at the wrong end. I know its not the chickens or the eggs causing this. The eggs were fresh. They came from various coops from my house. Its something to do with the incubator. Can anyone help figure this out. I'm almost at wits end.
I've never even seen an incubator, but that just doesn't make sense to me. My bet is it's a bit like hatching a dozen and getting 10 roosters; just the luck of the draw.
The only thing that makes any sense to me is if you are incubating them with the pointy end up instead of down. Sounds like you probably know this. When I go into lockdown, I lay my eggs on their side in the bottom of the incubator. Some people position the eggs for hatch with the pointy side down. Different people have different opinions on that, but both seem to work. Not much help, I know.
