Help troubleshooting 0% hatch please.

[Colorfulchickens]

Hi!
My eggs just reached day 23 with no signs of life, so I candled. The 4 that made it to lockdown were clearly very dead. Eggtopsies show 4 fully grown chicks, looked like appropriate positioning (head under wing), none had absorbed egg yolks, and none had internally pipped. I’d appreciate some guidance to help me improve, cause this was just super sad.

Shipped eggs (8 total), two with bad air cells never really started and were discarded on day 10. The other 6 looked good. Air cells and weight loss progressing nicely until we had a complete incubator power failure on day 14. They were definitely in non ideal conditions for approx 10 hours until we could get the incubator replaced. Lost one on day 16, and 1 more by lockdown. But I was shocked that 4 still had beautiful veining, had lost 13% egg weight and great movement. Thought we’d lose everyone due to the mishap, but was hopeful for the ones that made it to lockdown.

Day 1-18 (except during the incubator mishap), temp was steady 99.5 and humidity 35%, +/- 5%, used a Govee gauge that bluetoothed to my phone, so have very consistent data there. Raised humidity to 65% (occ drop to 60%) at lockdown, temp dropped to 99.1-99.3. Eggs were incubated upright and “tilted” side to side day 1-18, laid down on side at lockdown. Both incubators were forced air.

Any thoughts? Any ideas why the 4 made it through the mishap, then died during lockdown? Things to double check before trying a new batch??

Thank you for your time. Much appreciated.

 

[jher77]

What incubator are you using?

Sounds like you have a good understanding on how to hatch so it could have been the shipped eggs and/or power failure? Have you successfully hatched before?

Like people, some eggs are just tougher than others.

 

[Colorfulchickens]

This was my first hatch attempt. That’s why I’m asking, because I’d like to learn. I thought I’d done thorough research, but clearly I missed something.

My very clear newbie mistake was not purchasing a reliable incubator. The one with the power failure was just one off Amazon with “good” reviews.... I didn’t know better. It failed at 11pm on day 14 so I ran out first thing to Tractir supply and got one of the two options they had. I chose the Farm Innovations product over the NurtureRight simply because I thought it was more feasible to keep the eggs upright in the Farm Innovations incubator. I didn’t really have time to research/ shop around for the second one... just had to get the poor kids back in a stable environment!!

Thanks for helping me try to troubleshoot/ improve!!

 

[americanchicks]

Sorry for your poor hatching. Don't beat yourself up to much about it. A lot of people go though bad hatches. I lost all the eggs the first time I tried to hatch. Its hard to say for sure what the problem was. Did you have different thermometers to make sure your temp was right? Losing heat for 10 hours is a long time. Could of been the eggs too. Damage during shipping, the hens that laid the eggs may not of had the proper nutrition, or even a genetic problem.
The last batch I hatched I think there was a problem with the eggs. I had 4 chicks all die in their eggs. All fully developed, absorbed yolk, 2 piped, all internally piped they just died. Like they where too weak to break out. I had to assist chicks too and I never have to assist in hatching.
I say try again! Maybe get fertilized eggs local. Like off craigslist or at a poultry auction or something. That way you don't have to spend a lot on eggs if you are trying to work the bugs out. And if it works then you know not to get eggs again from that first source.
Happy Hatching!

 

[JaeG]

I've had shipped eggs where none have hatched. I've also had shipped eggs where they get close to hatching, but don't. It's heartbreaking.

 

[LynnaePB]

I'm so sorry to hear your first incubating experience didn't go well.

I doubt it was anything you did, it sounds like you really put a lot of effort into getting everything right that you could. I bet if you are able to find some local eggs from a decent source you will have much better results!

Inadequate ventilation can be a problem that could cause late term quitters. I always keep the vents fully open during the entire incubation to avoid this. If your vents were at least half way open that shouldn't be the issue though.

Shipped eggs are a huge gamble and it is not unusual at all for them to quit right before hatch (even for experienced hatchers). Given how they hadn't even internally pipped or absorbed their yolks yet there was likely nothing you could have done to save them.

Trying to hatch shipped eggs as a first time hatcher is not something I'd want to undertake if I could help it. Partly due to them frequently being difficult to hatch in general but even more so because the incidence of chicks needing assistance is often much higher (with my shipped silkie eggs I get a lot more incidences of malpositions that prevent pipping). Without being very hands on it can be difficult to even realize they need the assistance before it is too late. It definitely doesn't sound like this was the case with your eggs but something that might be useful to keep in mind for future shipped egg hatching endeavors.

Assisting isn't for everyone but if you don't object to it and you do try to tackle shipped eggs again soon this is a great assisting resource.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Of course some people choose not to assist and that is a valid choice too.

I hope whether you decide to try shipped eggs again or get some locally you have much better results on your next try!