Why would my eggs be dying in lockdown?

[Chickmathcasualty]

hello experienced chicken friends,

I have had zero problemos in the past (this spring 3+ rounds) hatching eggs in my incubator. However this time I’m hatching some of my own chicken eggs and I’m emotionally invested. I wrote dates on the shells so I know when I put them in and they’ve been locked down but 2 days ago I had my first egg not hatch after it’s 23 days so I popped it out to candle and there was no movement. I checked inside with a little hole and sure enough no heartbeat.

Fully formed baby. No internal pip and no heartbeat. Panicking I then candled my remaining eggs (I only put in 4 this round) and all 3 had movement and healthy air sacs and good veins and in hatch position. Now today egg #2 passed its 23 days so I checked again and once again. No heartbeat. But fully formed and in hatch position. No internal pip. Membrane is not dry.

I checked the other 2, still several days till they are due to hatch and movement and veins looking good but now I’m really anxious.

Any thoughts or experiences on why this is happening?? I get that there’s a lot of random things but also a mother hen does not monitor humidity and definitely doesn’t make sure an egg is turned an exact amount per day so there’s definitely wiggle room despite all the rules.

I’m just stumped and a little sad I was so excited for these babies

 

[Debbie292d]

If the eggs are in the same incubator all along, then I have no idea what would cause them to die days before they are due to hatch. Do you up the humidity a bit the last few days? I shoot for near 70% at the end.

The only other thing I could think of is the source of the eggs. Are they from the same hen or did you buy them? I would try different eggs than whatever you just tried to hatch as it really makes no sense if you've successfully hatched before x3.

 

[TwoCrows]

I am so sorry you are having trouble. Are your vents wide open when you go into lockdown? Not enough oxygen after pipping can kill them. Humidity needs to be up at least 60 to 65% to soften the shell and inner membranes.

 

[Chickmathcasualty]

I am so sorry you are having trouble. Are your vents wide open when you go into lockdown? Not enough oxygen after pipping can kill them. Humidity needs to be up at least 60 to 65% to soften the shell and inner membranes.

They haven’t even pipped. Neither of them even got to the point of internally pipping which why I’m so confused. Visually there is nothing wrong with the chicks but they just never pipped. Membranes are not super hard to poke through either, not dried out. No oxygen seems likely since they never got to any oxygen.

 

[Chickmathcasualty]

I am so sorry you are having trouble. Are your vents wide open when you go into lockdown? Not enough oxygen after pipping can kill them. Humidity needs to be up at least 60 to 65% to soften the shell and inner membranes.

I often add an extra cup of warm water when they enter lockdown and when I top up the water I add warm water to bump the temp and humidity.

If the eggs are in the same incubator all along, then I have no idea what would cause them to die days before they are due to hatch. Do you up the humidity a bit the last few days? I shoot for near 70% at the end.

The only other thing I could think of is the source of the eggs. Are they from the same hen or did you buy them? I would try different eggs than whatever you just tried to hatch as it really makes no sense if you've successfully hatched before x3.

Humidity is always bumped up the last week and the babies are fully formed so it doesn’t appear to be a genetic issue. There shouldn’t be a genetic trigger for this it’s just that they form and don’t pip? It’s so crazy. These are directly from my own hens and there are two diff hens that are different breeds… same rooster but again genetics shouldn’t determine wether they pip, only wether then develop properly which they seem to be doing just fine

 

[TwoCrows]

They haven’t even pipped. Neither of them even got to the point of internally pipping which why I’m so confused. Visually there is nothing wrong with the chicks but they just never pipped. Membranes are not super hard to poke through either, not dried out. No oxygen seems likely since they never got to any oxygen.

I am not 100% sure but it could be your incubation temps. Here is a troubleshooting chart on chicks making it to just before pipping and dying...

Machines do come out of calibration, I like to use an extra temp/humidity guage I keep inside the machine with the eggs for comparison to the incubator indicators.

 

[Nomadicus]

Are you sure that the temp didn't get to high? I seen that some lower the temp by a degree or 2 instead of raising it.

 

[Yardmom]

There are many factors that could cause deaths late in the hatching stage. Being they never internally pipped it may be that they never turned to the correct hatch position. Depending on your weather Another thing to consider is the humidity being to high. Here we have higher humidity during the summer than other seasons.

 

[Chickmathcasualty]

Are you sure that the temp didn't get to high? I seen that some lower the temp by a degree or 2 instead of raising it.

Tbh I am not sure of anything at this point other then that I haven’t changed anything since my previous successful hatchings, I’m simply stumped

 

[TwoCrows]

hello experienced chicken friends,

I have had zero problemos in the past (this spring 3+ rounds) hatching eggs in my incubator. However this time I’m hatching some of my own chicken eggs and I’m emotionally invested. I wrote dates on the shells so I know when I put them in and they’ve been locked down but 2 days ago I had my first egg not hatch after it’s 23 days so I popped it out to candle and there was no movement. I checked inside with a little hole and sure enough no heartbeat.

Fully formed baby. No internal pip and no heartbeat. Panicking I then candled my remaining eggs (I only put in 4 this round) and all 3 had movement and healthy air sacs and good veins and in hatch position. Now today egg #2 passed its 23 days so I checked again and once again. No heartbeat. But fully formed and in hatch position. No internal pip. Membrane is not dry.

I checked the other 2, still several days till they are due to hatch and movement and veins looking good but now I’m really anxious.

Any thoughts or experiences on why this is happening?? I get that there’s a lot of random things but also a mother hen does not monitor humidity and definitely doesn’t make sure an egg is turned an exact amount per day so there’s definitely wiggle room despite all the rules.

I’m just stumped and a little sad I was so excited for these babies

In your photo, where is the air cell in relation to the chick?