What a Bummer

I woke up to the sound of peeping at 4am (my hatcher is by the bed) and was thrilled to see one of my special eggs I had shipped from a few provinces over with a living chick already a quarter way zipped. Humidity was around 55%. Things looked good, I went back to bed.
By 7am the chick was dead, having drowned in a gush of liquid from too much humidity during incubation. (Day 1-17 in a Brinsea 20 with one water tray full) I am so kicking myself right now. I knew the risk was there because all the eggs had smallish air cells. So wish I would have broken my no helping rule now…and of course he’ll probably be the only chick to hatch. Nothing seems to be happening in the remaining eggs, so they’ve likely drowned too. From now on I’m sticking to dry incubation (25-30%) because this NEVER happens when I do…
just needed to vent my sadness. I was so hoping for a nice cockerel from these eggs.

Once they start hatching your humidity will very high .........don't add to it .Sorry to hear that you are having issues

Sorry Flicker Chick, it always seems those "special" eggs you have shipped out are the ones to have something go wrong with them.

I don't understand -- have I just been lucky? In every egg I've ever hatched, excluding the 2 dozen I had shipped in a couple months ago (so not from my stock), I've had very small air cells. And I mean very small, they have rarely gone down very much during incubation and I was, in fact, terrified something was wrong with my imported eggs because the sacks were so massive.

Generally, I have a 89%+ hatch rate, excluding the one hatch I screwed up on turning.

Air sacs or cells or compartments, in the fat end of the egg, are typically supposed to get bigger as the egg incubates.

However...I think if you have a large chick for the size of the egg, the chick itself is going to take up more room than normal. So his body will take up some of the air compartment room. Thus, the air compartment will not appear to get as big as it should. (this is just a theory)

If the air bubble does not seem to be big enough, judge by weight. Eggs are supposed to get lighter, as the moisture evaporates out. Supposed to lose around 14% of their weight. So if you have an egg that is getting lighter, but the air sac is not big enough, you might still be okay. You want that egg light, which tells you it's losing moisture, which HOPEFULLY means the chick will find air and not slime/goo or water when it pips.

I just set another 12 eggs in the WATERBATOR. I am going to get my gold scale out right now and weigh and mark the weights on the shells! And wish each one actually was gold, hee hee hee.

Flicker, sorry things went wrong for you. But my experience has been your experience. Things go sideways for me when I mess with humidity. WIth this second run of the Waterbator (humidity free hatching) I am leaving the lid OFF, because I think I didn't lose enough moisture last time, keeping the lid mostly on. Also..I am going to sand the shells a bit, just to allow more moisture out easier. I think really dense shell structure reduces air escape.

Thanks guys. It's good to share with others who understand. Hubby is sympathetic but doesn’t quite get why losing one little chick had me down in the dumps…chick was a black too. Sigh...


Sweetened, I think the journey through the mail has a lot to do with it. A rough trip can damage/detach air cells and decrease hatchability immensely. I find I can be a lot more loose with humidity (everything really) with my own flocks’ eggs. Nothing seems to slow them down from hatching.


Uno, weighing the eggs is a good idea. I already watch air cell growth, and like to trace them with a pencil on day 17 just before lockdown. It’s neat to see where the chick will pip in the end. And yeah, I’ll be sticking to what I know works from now on. And that’s dry incubation. Just wish my humidity vent probe thingy fit in my Brinsea. I’d like to know what it runs at dry versus one tray full. Good luck with your next Waterbator run!

Hi , You have all read about my success (sarcasm) in hatching eggs. I have not added any water to the Hovabators I have . I had 6 buff orp eggs due to hatch on June 4th. I woke up to cheeping., got all excited! One chick hatched . 2 chicks hatched. i could hear cheeping from 3 more eggs. went to work and came home to silent eggs. The chicks were dead. Out of 6 eggs I got 3 chicks . all solid yellow puff balls, allout of one trio. I opened up the dead eggs and the chicks seemed to be positioned badly . i doubt they could have gotten close to the shell to pip. Without adding any water the humidity was between 30 and 40 percent.
I was what iffing for a long time. but it comes down to wanting the best and the healthiest to hatch. And thatis what I have 3 very robust chicks. If I did help the others they mayhave passed on that inability to pip to their offspring. iI have nmore fertile eggs in bator and under hens. It seemed the roosters were shooting blanks until they were a year old. Sorry about the bad typing it is influence by Singha!!
Geri

PS I had a really really bad night at work and came home and induldged.

Good point Rasilon about wanting the healthiest and strongest to survive. Vigor is one of the most important things to have in ones bird’s imo, and something I’ll definitely be culling hard for in the future. Just need to get my initial population up first. I feel your frustration though. Especially when you get the eggs to the finish line, only to have them die near the end. Plain old sucks. I’m not about to give up, but it can get disheartening.
What kind of Hovabators do you have? I’ve heard some models without fans can be more finicky in general. I’m saving up my $$ to get a cabinet model of some sort. Probably a sportsman. I’m tired of messing around with the styrofoam boxes.

Too bad you weren't closer and we could indulge together.

Flicker Chick wrote:Good point Rasilon about wanting the healthiest and strongest to survive. Vigor is one of the most important things to have in ones bird’s imo, and something I’ll definitely be culling hard for in the future. Just need to get my initial population up first. I feel your frustration though. Especially when you get the eggs to the finish line, only to have them die near the end. Plain old sucks. I’m not about to give up, but it can get disheartening.
What kind of Hovabators do you have? I’ve heard some models without fans can be more finicky in general. I’m saving up my $$ to get a cabinet model of some sort. Probably a sportsman. I’m tired of messing around with the styrofoam boxes.

Too bad you weren't closer and we could indulge together.

My Hovabators have a fan and are the older models. They have windows and have square corners not the rounded ones you see advertised. Not sure how old they are. I bought one from a guy used and the same day won one in the silent auction at the clubs sale that was donated by the smae guy I bought one off of. I am using one for a hatcher. They do not hold many eggs but they will have to do.
Geri

FLicker, hold off on buying that Sportsman. I think the Waterbator will be the next big thing in incubating. They should hit the market as soon as I'm done with the patent process. I mean a light bulb and wine bag? What's not to love?

Haha Uno, sounds good. Does the patent process involve lots of empty wine bottles?

Rasilon wrote:

Flicker Chick wrote:Good point Rasilon about wanting the healthiest and strongest to survive. Vigor is one of the most important things to have in ones bird’s imo, and something I’ll definitely be culling hard for in the future. Just need to get my initial population up first. I feel your frustration though. Especially when you get the eggs to the finish line, only to have them die near the end. Plain old sucks. I’m not about to give up, but it can get disheartening.
What kind of Hovabators do you have? I’ve heard some models without fans can be more finicky in general. I’m saving up my $$ to get a cabinet model of some sort. Probably a sportsman. I’m tired of messing around with the styrofoam boxes.

Too bad you weren't closer and we could indulge together.

My Hovabators have a fan and are the older models. They have windows and have square corners not the rounded ones you see advertised. Not sure how old they are. I bought one from a guy used and the same day won one in the silent auction at the clubs sale that was donated by the smae guy I bought one off of. I am using one for a hatcher. They do not hold many eggs but they will have to do.
Geri

I use my Hovabator (1588 I believe the model is) as a hatcher too. Works alright, but cleanup isn't the easiest. I wish there was something that could be applied to the inside styrofoam to help with such matters....