Fully formed coturnix died in shell

[cowboy joe]

I've hatched quite a few coturnix and have had an occasional chick that has pipped but did not make it out of the shell.  I always assumed that the chick was too weak, in a poor position to break through, or had a tough shell / lining.

I use a LG incubator with an auto turner.  Humidity levels are maintained at ~60% days 1-14, then at ~70% for the remainder of the hatch.  The temp is set to 99F through out the incubation period.

This last hatch was different.  Yesterday was day 18.  Out of 80 eggs, 15 have hatched with decent chicks, 10 were removed with dead, fully formed chicks who had begun to peep but never made it, 4 shells were unfertilized blanks.  The rest are still in the incubator as my experiences show that the chicks will begin to hatch around day 16 and continue until day 21 or 22.

The inside of the shells were moist but not wet so I have ruled out drowning due to too much water and sticking to the shells from too little moisture.  All of the chicks started to pep but only went as far as a small hole in the shell.  I have gone through the list in my mind of possible causes for the dead, unhatched chicks...poor stock, possible but doubtful power failure that I was unaware of (no blinking clocks in the house), disease / chemical poisoning (the incubator was cleaned with bleach, rinsed, dried, rinsed, then left with the top on for a few days to dry out - SOP for me), old eggs (the oldest had been stored in a 55F environment for 8 days) or just dumb luck.

Any ideas or suggestions?  I'm gathering another set of eggs to hatch after this hatch is done & the incubator is cleaned. Thanks.

[Hinkjc]

Joe,
 I'd say they where probally weak birds.

 We've hatched many chicken eggs and have that same problem once and a while also. Its like they just give up while others are doing there thing.

 Just carry on, its normal that they dont all hatch. We do get better hatch rates with Our own eggs that our birds lay,

Eggs being shipped is problly some of peoples problems when hatching. Cold ,rough handling of boxed eggs, poor air, poor humidity, exc. all play roles in shipped eggs.

We also check un hatched eggs out after the given time for them to hatch. For us, its a learning experience every time.

We have 2 incubators we use. 1 GQF Hova, 1 LG Hova.

Good luck with future eggs, But just enjoy what you can hatch!
Its something most people will never see or have the fun of just hatching and seeing life born right before your very own eye's. :lol:

Charlie

[Yippy-Dog]

Any more luck? Re-evaluate your settings and try increasing your humidity
slightly. On my quail hatches in a GQF cabinate, I keep incubation humidity near 70% and hatch in the upper 70's, not above 81% and have an 85% hatch rate.

[Jake Levi]

If, they wernt poor eggs my next guess would be too low humidity. Were they your eggs or shipped in?