AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi ,I have just completed my second hatch in my home made incubator.It was a great success ,I put down 12 eggs and 10 hatched within 12 hour of the 21 day period.However the remaining 2 didn't hatch.I left them for 1 extra day & today I turned the incubator off & removed the eggs.I was somewhat surprised to find 2 perfectly formed chicks within the eggs when I broke them open (no sign of life) My question is ,should I have left them for longer to hatch or would I assume they were never going to hatch.The remaining chicks are doing very well.
Brian

They were not going to hatch its called died in shell can happen if the chicks are weak or the temp is to high 10 from 12 is very good

I just had the same thing but with 4 of my eggs I think the temperature went to high because the others hatched all in about 6 hours so it got to hot for them to hatch

agree - 10 from 12 is excellent

dont be offended by my answer = I am just stating facts

dead in shell is to be expected – always expect some to not hatch and you will never be disappointed

some die at day 18 to 21 they are just weak - others die as they may be attempting to hatch from a pullet egg = pullet eggs have a thicker shell making it difficult for some, impossible for others, to crack open – there is only 24hrs ‘air’ in the shell once the chicks break thru the membrane and start pecking away at the shell – if they don’t break thru the shell and get fresh air in this time they are dead via suffocation = check = if the membrane is not broken they are dead in shell – if it is broken ask yourself “was that a pullet egg?” and if so – that is probably the answer
I don’t recommend using pullet eggs for this and other reasons – but many want chicks asap when they get new birds hence the use of pullet eggs and the reports that last few years of higher numbers of chicks not hatching = using only hen eggs (pullets become hens after their first moult or turn one year old whichever comes first) - sometimes a bit of patience makes a big difference = hen eggs have a thinner shell making it easier for the chicks to hatch = the older the hen the thinner the shell the easier for the chick to hatch

other chicks can drown in the shell as the egg may be rolled over by hatched chicks and the one trying to break out is now facing downwards = unable to breath as some of the ‘liquid’ surrounding the chick while still in the membrane is now over its beak

the use of egg cartons can help reduce this problem = the eggs are not moved by hatching/hatched chicks = place the eggs in the receptacles pointy end down = most chicks hatch via the rounded end = if any appear to be trying to hatch pointy end = place that egg pointy end up
but remember ONLY the strong will be able to push up and out using this method of hatching = meaning you will only have the strongest growing out = this is the ideal

if you had of 'helped these out' they may not have survived anyway = it is not recommended to try to grow out weak chicks

the strong ones are growing enjoy them

Thanks gold soozorps pays to ask the knowing

Thanks for all the responses,I clearly made mistakes,I did think that during the hot weather I was in trouble as I struggled to keep the temp under 39-40 degrees.I opened the incubator up & turned off all the heat for a period of about 6 hours.I am also using pullet eggs .My chooks are only 8 months old now.I am learning lots about incubating chicks.My next trick is to convince my family to toughen up & agree to eat our surplus roosters.
Thanks all
Brian