I've got some questions I'm sure some you guys and gals could help me with. I'm having only mediocre chick hatch rates (around maybe 50%, sometimes more or less), but among those that hatch there always seems to be a few who pip and start, but die before they actually finish hatching. Some hatch or start up to 7 days after they should have. The weak hatchers are pretty evenly dispersed among those that are both late or on time. After the hatch stops, I usually break the remaining eggs to see inside. I just cleaned up my latest hatch and found that of the 50% that didn't hatch I have about half that are just blanks, and the other half have died at some point. A few died almost fully formed, but most seemed less than half way developed or decomposed so that I couldn't tell how old they were. Two of those eggs were duck eggs (One toxic sludge, and one was actually fully formed and moving a bit after I cracked it, but at over a week past due he was incredibly weak and hadn't even tried to hatch. Also his yolk didn't seem to be absorbed). My ducks eggs worked out better than chickens, with 6 live hatched to 3 not (Although the 3rd was blank when I candled and I removed it before hatching).

What can I do to help boost my fertility as well as my hatch rates? I've got a fair sized flock that averages about 4 to 5 hens per rooster. The roos and many hens are copper marans, but I also have some mixed heavy breed hens and a few sex links we just keep for eating egg production. Unfortunately right now all our turkeys, ducks, and chickens are all together while we wait for our paddock to dry up so we can build them all seperate runs. The turkey eggs are due to start around Thursday so I will keep a better record of how they do. I've noticed the occasional fluctuation in incubator temp but it's never been longer than 12 hours before it gets corrected, and was never more than 2 degrees. I've got a pet store humidity gauge and I keep it around 55% but our house air is very dry so I find myself adding water often and it fluctuates, especially when I try to keep it higher for hatching. Due to the drawn out nature of my hatches I also have trouble going into 'lockdown'. When they only hatch one or two at a time I often find myself opening the incubator more than I should so that the chicks can be moved into our little brooder box while others are still hatching. I try to wait it out but it seems there is never more than one or two who are dried off and ready to move and also within 48 hours of hatching. I'm hoping if I can at least tighten up the hatching times to within a few days of each other I can cut out some of the other problems.

hi, well for me.. I would say three things, first its always much riskier to run batches will different hatching times, I personally will not do it.. I hatch one kind per setting.

Two, you gave a classic to me case of the issues on tends to have when dry hatching, which sounds like a combo of low humid, opening the equipment when lockdown and shrink issues of the membrane which again is related to those listed above

three.. are you having trouble finding your bad eggs at the mid way check-candle point and removing them