Chicks from my own eggs are consistently dying at hatch

[Pullety]

What is going on???

I have been hatching my own eggs for a few years. No issues.

This year, despite fertility being almost 100%, and using three different incubators, I’m getting a 25% hatch (and survive) rate. Those that do survive appear perfectly normal.

Embryos are dying within a few days of lockdown, after lockdown, after pipping, zipping, and even right after hatching.

Could my flock have some bacteria that is affecting chick development??

I am feeding a higher protein feed. The eggs are fresh. Humidity is precise. I only set clean eggs. I have hatched turkey eggs in the same incubators this year with a 100% hatch rate.

My main incubator is an Rcom that I have never hatched in, only incubated. My backup incubator and hatcher are Nurture Right 360s. I clean and sanitize them meticulously.

I looked in my hatching book and it’s lists about 15 - 20 reasons a chick could die around hatch.

Any advice or resources to look into?? I would be grateful. Thanks.

 

[Debbie292d]

Since you're saying that every single thing you are doing is exactly the same as in the past, then the only thing left to take a look at is who is giving you the eggs.

How many roosters could be fertilizing them?

Do you have older hens or brand new hens? I'd change it up a little bit with which hens' eggs you hatch to see as it appears to me that one hen is laying good, strong eggs, and the others aren't. Something's just not right with a hen or more is my guess.

Also, have you brought in new genes or are these all related several generations? That could do it too.

 

[Pullety]

Since you're saying that every single thing you are doing is exactly the same as in the past, then the only thing left to take a look at is who is giving you the eggs.

How many roosters could be fertilizing them?

Do you have older hens or brand new hens? I'd change it up a little bit with which hens' eggs you hatch to see as it appears to me that one hen is laying good, strong eggs, and the others aren't. Something's just not right with a hen or more is my guess.

Also, have you brought in new genes or are these all related several generations? That could do it too.

Okay; thanks for replying and thank you for your thoughts. I will look back to my notes about which hens’ eggs didn’t work out to see if there’s a pattern, but I think it was a mix.

One rooster. Fertility is near 100%
Hens are around a year old.

I am just thinking there could be some bacteria or illness among my hens that only shows up or shows up first in hatchability. I know very little about that stuff.

 

[Debbie292d]

Whatever it is, it's not all of your hens obviously, so if possible, you could mark each hens eggs differently. That is tough to do I'm sure, but if you could at least get a few of each marked, that should be enough to tell you, and you can go from there. I do not know of anything a hen could have that could transfer into her eggs and affect the embryo.

If they were all making it as far as pipping and hatching and then dying, I'd think it was something transferred from the hen to the outside of the egg, and I'd suggest you read my article in my signature. But that doesn't explain the ones that never broke through the eggshell.

 

[NatJ]

I am just thinking there could be some bacteria or illness among my hens that only shows up or shows up first in hatchability. I know very little about that stuff.

I'm wondering if there could be some kind of nutritional deficiency, because some of those also cause hatching issues before they cause obvious symptoms in the adult chickens.

Unfortunately I don't know what deficiency it might be, but I have sometimes found big charts or tables of all the problems they can cause.

As for how they might have a deficiency: I would guess an error when the feed was manufactured, or a problem with one of the ingredients in the feed. If it isn't bad enough to cause symptoms in the adult chickens, it probably isn't bad enough for most people to even notice. Or the manufacturer could even have changed the feed to a new level of some nutrient, thinking that level is acceptable.

If the problem is a deficiency, to really treat it, you would need to figure out what it is and provide the right amount of the right nutrient(s). You can't just give extra of everything because too much of some things will cause new problems.

Or you could try just buying a bag of a different feed, and using that for a while. If there is a problem with the feed you have been using, this might gradually fix the problem. If you want to try that, I suggest a chick starter or flock raiser type feed that comes in pellets or crumbles (not a whole-grain feed). If you were already using a feed like that, maybe try a different brand. I mention chick starter or flock raiser because they usually have higher levels of nutrients than feeds labeled "layer," and I suggest avoiding whole-grain feeds because chickens can pick through to eat their favorite parts and miss some of the things they need. For investigating a maybe-deficiency, those details might be important.