What causes poor hatchability?
It could be a number of things. My experiences tell me that firstly, look at the feeding regime of the parent birds. Breeding fowls must have a high protein diet which can be supplemented with avian multi-vitamins. It is important that the diet be high in the Vitamin B group. Feeding each bird a yeast tablet once a week is a safe way to ensure high Vitamin B levels. Breeding birds should be on this diet for some weeks before collecting the eggs for incubating. Secondly, what kind of incubator are you using? Sometimes when the eggs go down into the hatching tray, the bottom section of the incubator may be slightly cooler, which slows the chicks’ metabolism sufficiently to stop the hatching process. Another cause for chicks dying upon pipping, is a build up of bacteria to levels that kill the chicks as soon as they breathe their first air. Fumigation of the incubator should be carried out on a regular basis, and a light misting every once in a while with a warm solution of phenyl may hel
