Incubating and hatching eggs yourself is a fun and rewarding practice . It ’s the least expensive way to acquire new domestic fowl for meat and eggs and is an exciting hobby for homesteaders and urban gardeners alike . But there are few thing more unsatisfying than hatch day total and going and finding that none of your egg have hatched . What causes pitiful hatching rates ? Why did n’t the eggs incubate ? These are skilful interrogation to postulate if you ’ve just experienced a bad batch of testicle .
Incubating eggs requires a hatful of longanimity – the eggs are on a moderately located hatching agenda . It will typically take 3 - 5 weeks to brood your eggs , depending on the type of bird you have in the incubator . ACoturnix quailwill typically hatch on day 18 , while aMuscovy ducktakes upwards of a calendar month . So when your brooding catamenia is over and just a few , or even zero ballock have hatched , it ’s an enormous disappointment . In this clause , we ’ll explore the most common understanding for a bad hatch .
Common causes of poor hatch rates
In my experience , there are four master reason that you did n’t have a good hatch charge per unit . The pursue tilt is ordered from most common to least vulgar reasons for a unsound hatching pace .
Inconsistent temperature or humidity
The most common ground for a unsound hatch rate is inconsistent temperature and humidness inside of the incubator . Most types of poultry require a temperature around 100 level Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of around 50 % for much of the incubation stop . If the eggs get too hot , the chicks acquire inwardly will become flat . If the humidness is too gamy or too broken , it can cause the skirt to die .
It is extremely of import that you ensure you have thermometer and hygrometers that are properly calibrated and able to put up accurate temperature and humidity readings . Even just a few hours off can kill your hachure .
Mishandled eggs
Eggs are fragile . The shells are quite wanton to crock up . If you ’ve ever made an omelette or scrambled up some eggs , you know this . Even more fragile are the ticklish parts inside of the testicle . If any of these component part are damaged , the chick inside will either not develop at all , or not arise properly and die during the brooding process . Eggs that have become damage during theodolite are fairly common when incubating shipped eggs and an equally common cause of poor hatching rate .
Another factor to debate with shipped ballock is allowing the eggs to settle down for a full 12 - 24 time of day before gear up in the incubator . coif your egg right aside can cause problems for the developing doll . If the orchis are cold and you introduce them to a hundred - arcdegree incubator , bacteria can evolve and toss off the growing chick at bottom . The egg ’s airwave cell also needs time to re - form properly after being ship . Do n’t skip this important step !
Contamination
Third on our list of most common cause for a poor hatching pace is taint . There are a few ways that testis can become contaminated with pathogens . The first is having a dirty incubator . An brooder that has been contaminated by some kind of pathogen can put a swift end to any developing embryos in the eggs you arrange . You have to right strip and hygienize your incubator before setting eggs , even if it ’s a new brooder . This is my brooder cleansing protocol – so far it has n’t steered me wrong .
Eggs that have not come to board temperature before being set in an brooder can also cause bacterial increase , as can wench that have died during incubation . It is authoritative to candle your eggs at around the tenth twenty-four hour period of incubation and chuck out any eggs that are clear or have terminate spring up .
Low fertility
If you have distaff shuttle living alongside a cock , cockerel , or drake , there is a very , very real chance that the eggs they put are fecundate . In my experience , the male counterpart of our favorite hen are very effective at their job . They are protective of their flocks and are prolific breeders . But even if you have a male , you’re able to have low birth rate among your hen . Why ?
There are a couple of grounds why your rooster may not be effectively mating with the biddy in his flock . It could be that they are young and not doing the act quite good , or it could be that you have too many hen and not enough roosters . A undecomposed ratio is one rooster for every 6 - 8 hens . If you have 20 hens and one rooster , he is likely not going to be capable to adequately pair with each biddy . He may choose just a few of his favourite and mostly ignore the others . This can cause low fertility , which is one reason for a poor hatching rate .
