Why do i have to help my chicks out of their eggs in my Incubator?

Question

My chicks don't hatch. I got only 8 chicks out of 20 eggs we needed to help most of then out. On the 30th day we cracked the rest of the eggs open to see how many was fertile and we found 9 dead chicks. why did they not hatch.

Answer 1

The biggest cause of this is the wrong temp and humidity.  Usually if the temp is not high enough, the chicks will take longer to hatch.  If it is too high, they hatch too soon and can have deformities.  Too much humidity can cause soft shells and the chick will not hatch, not enough humidity and the chick will dehydrate and die. Chicks should not need to be helped out of the shell at all. Please read my profile

Answer 2

first of all you shouldn't have had to help them out in the first place!!

what kind of an incubator was it?

I think it was some kind of mistake by you or a fault in the incubator.

did you turn the eggs 3 times everyday? up until the 19th day.

was th humidity correct . .  for example if there wasn't enough moisture

then the shell became to hard and thus the chicks couldn't get out.

On the other hand if it was to humid the chicks would drown literally in their shells.

also was the temperature correct in the incubator?

If it was too cold that was slow the chick's growth down no end and often be fatal.

but it could have also been the eggs that were used.

were they fairly fresh?

were the parent birds healthy and disease free?

also were the eggs in good shape and cleanish?

all you do is check over what you did and try and find out what went wrong this time..

Better luck next Time :D

Answer 3

how did you make an incubator?

Answer 4

Not enough humidity! This is the main reason for 'sticky chicks'.

I do a lot of incubating and chickens should have  a medium level of humidity for successful incubation.

Firstly: what type of incubator are you using and how is the water stored? Check with the manufacture company for the desired amount or buy a new one that is digital themometer and adjustable air movement and humidity levels.

Secondly: don't turn the eggs from 3-4 days before they are ready to hatch because they need a higher level of humidity to hatch.

Thirdly: don't get excited and open the incubator during hatching. Wait until all chicks are hatched before opening the lid as you will lose the precious humidity. Most hatches are lost be premature opening of the incubator. Chicks can live in the incubator environment for up to 72hrs without needing food or water and this will allow late hatching to occur.

Remember to set all eggs at same time to avoid seperate hatching dates