What Did I Do Wrong? 7 Reasons Why Your Eggs Didn't Hatch

You know the feeling…when you breathlessly wait three whole weeks for those adorable little peepers…and only one or two eggs hatch out of the batch…if any. It’s discouraging. You check the instructions that came with the incubator, but you did everything right.

What happened?

What Did I Do Wrong? 7 Reasons Why Your Eggs Didn't Hatch

As it turns out, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong and affect your hatch rate. What follows are seven things that can cause detrimental effects to your hatch, and how to prevent them.

1.    You Set the Eggs Before the Incubator

A very common beginner mistake is to place the eggs in the incubator and then turn it on…and tweak the incubator with the eggs inside. Your incubator should be up and running at least a day before putting any eggs in it…preferably two or three days. This allows the incubator to acclimate to the room and run at a stable temperature, without subjecting the eggs to all sorts of temperature fluctuations.

2.    Your Incubator Isn’t Running at the Correct Temperature

Just because the thermostat reads the right temperature, doesn’t mean it’s right. In fact, it’s fairly common for incubators to run a bit high or a bit low. Always put a separate thermometer on the inside to check the temperature, and adjust the thermostat accordingly. Better yet, put in two thermometers, far apart from each other, as temperatures can run differently in different parts of the incubator.

3.    The Humidity Isn’t Right

Humidity can be tricky and is often something you have to experiment with, and far too many beginners overstress about it and end up harming the hatch by accident. If you live in a humid climate or you’re hatching in spring and summer when the humidity is higher, you are probably best off not putting any water in the incubator until the last one or two days. And yes, you read that correctly…in my experience, hatches turn out best when you wait until about a day before they pip to increase the humidity, rather than two days or more.

If it’s winter or you’re in a climate with low humidity, then definitely add some water during incubation. This will minimize problems such as curled toes and chicks getting shrink wrapped inside their shells.

Be aware that it’s easy to be overzealous about keeping the humidity high enough and end up drowning your chicks inside their shells. A good rule of thumb is if in doubt, keep a bit of water in one of the incubator’s water reservoirs at all times, and don’t worry about the humidity reading the incubator gives you. Chances are it’s not accurate anyway. If you know other people who hatch in your area, ask around and find out what works best for them.

4.    The Incubator Is Full of Germs

We all know the importance of sanitizing the incubator between hatches, but if this isn’t done properly…it can be detrimental to future hatches. The main sign of bacteria buildup is eggs quitting often during incubation.

 And something far more sinister can happen that many unsuspecting folks are unaware of.

You may get a cheap Styrofoam incubator from TSC and use it to hatch a couple batches of chicks just fine. It works beautifully.

But then something happens.

The eggs you put in the incubator no longer hatch as well. In fact, barely any are hatching, and the chicks that do hatch are sickly. You’re doing everything right. Your rooster’s doing his job. You sanitized the incubator between hatches. What happened?

Well, Sherlock, what happened was that the bacteria left over from previous hatches got into the Styrofoam, and no amount of sanitizing will ever get those sneaky buggers out.

Avoid Styrofoam like the plague. I fell victim to it before, back when I was none the wiser. You will never get it clean, and you will end up having to buy a new incubator. Get a Brinsea or a Nurture Right 360 incubator instead, and stay far away from Styrofoam.

5.    The Eggs Weren’t Stored Correctly Prior to Incubation

Storing eggs before incubation is an important but often overlooked factor that plays into your hatches. Eggs should be stored with the small end down, in a cool place that preferably doesn’t get higher than 70 degrees or lower than 40 degrees. It should ideally be between 40-60 degrees. A good place is in a cool basement. They shouldn’t be stored for more than ten days because fertility drops rapidly after that. If you store them on their side, turn them at least once a day to prevent the yolks from sticking to the sides.

Also, try to avoid touching hatching eggs with your bare hands. The bacteria on your hands can enter through the pores in the shell and affect the developing embryo. Wear gloves whenever possible or wash your hands thoroughly before handling the eggs.

6.    The Incubator Is in a Room That Fluctuates Temperature.

Placing your incubator in the right place is very important. It should be out of direct sunlight and away from heaters or radiators. It should ideally be placed in a room around 70-80 degrees, one that stays at a steady temperature. Temperature fluctuations can cause fluctuations in the incubator, which can damage the hatch.

7.    Your Eggs Aren’t Well-sourced

This one refers to if you got your eggs either from another breeder locally or shipped from far away. In all cases, let the eggs rest for twelve hours with the small ends down, to allow them to settle. It’s best to hatch shipped eggs in a turning rack that keeps them upright, and not turn them at all for the first week of incubation.

Problems can arise when buying off eBay. If you decide to buy in an auction, watch out for a few things before you bid. Generally, the seller will have the eggs on hand when making the auction and send them out within 24 hours of the auction closing. So ensure the listing is not over a day or two old. Otherwise, the eggs will be very old by the time they get to you. Also, make sure the auction is at the beginning of the week and not on a Thursday or Friday, which could result in eggs getting held at the post office over the weekend. When this happens you are losing precious time that equals fertility, and the eggs are also likely to go through more brutal USPS handling.

Ask that the eggs be held at the post office for you to pick up, rather than being driven around in a delivery vehicle to get to your house.

You should check the seller’s reviews also. The reviews are generally about the packaging because the seller cannot control anything that happens to the eggs once they leave his/her custody. But if you notice a high number of negative reviews, it may be wise to avoid them. If they have no reviews, ask if they’ve had good fertility rates and how they intend to package the eggs. The eggs should be packaged in foam or bubble wrap and preferably double-boxed and surrounded by newspapers or Styrofoam.

Conclusion

Incubation is an art as much as a science, which means it can take a bit of time and practice to excel at. If you want to learn more about honing your incubation skills, be sure to click here to buy my full guide, which will give you all the information you need to get great hatch rates and never fail another hatch again.