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Hi! I've got a Grumbach incubator that I am trying to use to hatch Macaw eggs. The last couple I've put in have developed to PIP and gone dead in shell before hatch...not making it into the air sac for assisted hatch...I've got the incubator set to rotate 4 times per day and following the humidity charts for the eggs inside but no success...Any ideas, comments - specifics on settings,etc that have been successful would be appreciated!!!

cma wrote:Hi! I've got a Grumbach incubator that I am trying to use to hatch Macaw eggs. The last couple I've put in have developed to PIP and gone dead in shell before hatch...not making it into the air sac for assisted hatch...I've got the incubator set to rotate 4 times per day and following the humidity charts for the eggs inside but no success...Any ideas, comments - specifics on settings,etc that have been successful would be appreciated!!!

First use a good egg wash. I use Brinsea, follow the directions on the bottle.

I had my Macaw rotation set at every three hours, 24/7 and the egg should stop rotating two days before hatch. You have to be on top of this because if it keeps rotating the chick will come into stress and not hatch out. So I usually have my data set to make sure it stops at 24 days in the cycle. The temp is at 98.2, humidity is set at 50% with a heated/direct air humidifier, water is distilled, filter changed and cleaned every three days. I am crazy clean inside there, and I use Brinsea to clean out the inside all the time, in fact I put a small amount of Brinsea in the water supply for the humidifier.

When you see a pip raise that pip to the top and leave it alone, do not assist! Remember this is natures way of "Only the strong survive" and no matter what your intentions are sometimes things are best left the way they go. I know how hard this is believe me.

A couple of other notes, do not keep candling all the time. Be careful not kill the baby inside there by using a high powered light. Be specific with the bulb you use. If you are lucky to hatch out, write me for more specific instructions how to handle the rest of the order of things to follow.