Question on day 6

My little eggs are at day 6 of being incubated. I have a concern about my white leghorn egg. It was developing so great and now I'm not seeing veins. I guess I'm wondering if it is possible that it is all deep in the middle? Or did it somehow "quit." 4 others are still showing veins and then I have 1 that has an air cell but has never had any veins that I can see. I'll uploa pictures of the egg in question. I have never incubated eggs so it is all new to me. First picture is from day 3.

Second picture is from today

Wow... First of all thats good progress for a 3rd day and then it does look like it "quit"

I thought the same! I think maybe for some reason it was developing too quickly. Darn it. I'll keep it in there for a little while just to make sure!

acovey24 said:

My little eggs are at day 6 of being incubated. I have a concern about my white leghorn egg. It was developing so great and now I'm not seeing veins. I guess I'm wondering if it is possible that it is all deep in the middle? Or did it somehow "quit." 4 others are still showing veins and then I have 1 that has an air cell but has never had any veins that I can see. I'll uploa pictures of the egg in question. I have never incubated eggs so it is all new to me. First picture is from day 3.

Second picture is from today

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If it looks like that all the way around, then yes, it looks like a quitter.

CascadiaRiver said:

Wow... First of all thats good progress for a 3rd day and then it does look like it "quit"

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acovey24 said:

I thought the same! I think maybe for some reason it was developing too quickly. Darn it. I'll keep it in there for a little while just to make sure!

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That is good growth for day 3. My incubator is usually running slightly warm, so I have slightly advanced growth too. It wouldn't hurt to check thermometers. Are you using an automatic turner?

My thermometer goes between 100-102. The incubator does not have a fan. And I am hand turning 4-6 times a day. Maybe I am not turning them enough? I also don't have a hygrometer IN the incubator but I have one for the room. It had been around 38% but noticed this morning it was at 50% in the room. It was also pretty humid outside this morning for whatever reason. My mom got me this incubator for my birthday and it isn't a brand name so I dont know if that makes a difference!

acovey24 said:

My thermometer goes between 100-102. The incubator does not have a fan. And I am hand turning 4-6 times a day. Maybe I am not turning them enough? I also don't have a hygrometer IN the incubator but I have one for the room. It had been around 38% but noticed this morning it was at 50% in the room. It was also pretty humid outside this morning for whatever reason. My mom got me this incubator for my birthday and it isn't a brand name so I dont know if that makes a difference!

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Still air needs 101-102, so if those are accurate readings the temps are decent. I switched from automatic turning to hand turning (and I prefer it) and I turn on the average 3 times, 5 if I can get in a couple extra, but generally 3 times. Has the thermometer ever been checked? If it hasn't and it's a degree or two off, it can make a big difference. Never trust a thermometer or incubator unless it's been checked- even if it is brand new. Humidity is a little more forgiving. Drops or spikes in humidity isn't going to compromise your hatch during incubation. As long as your eggs are loosing enough moisture over the incubation period and you have decent humidity at hatch, you should fair well. Here's more on humidity and how to monitor it if you are interested:http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

Are the eggs shipped or local eggs?

Sometimes eggs quite for no known reason early on. Could be something as simple as bacteria or with shipped eggs you get more fragile eggs because of handling and more damage done at the cellular level. One of my hatches I had set 42 eggs, 100% fertility. Local eggs and one night I had 4 that were quitters just like that one you have. I think it was about day 4 or 5. I had 36 go into lockdown and 33 hatch. You can expect to have the occasional egg start to develop and quit, but if you are having a large number of them quitting, then you have to question either egg quality or incubation methods.

I found 2-3 of mine that were quitters were right beside my automatic turner's motor and were excellerated growth I believe was due to the extra heat the turner motor gave off. That's why I quite using the turner. I had my two best hatches, including a 100% hatch hand turning.

How many other eggs do you have and how do they look?

How awesome! Well I placed 6 in there. 1 white egg which is the quitter and 5 light brown eggs, different breeds. They are from my hens. I have 1 that has never developed that I can tell and the other 4 all have veins and what seems to be an embryo/ dark spot. Thanks for all the info! I believe my thermometer is accurate but it wouldn't hurt for me to check it again. I'm not sure how but I can google it! I would upload pictures of those but they are hard to see!

acovey24 said:

How awesome! Well I placed 6 in there. 1 white egg which is the quitter and 5 light brown eggs, different breeds. They are from my hens. I have 1 that has never developed that I can tell and the other 4 all have veins and what seems to be an embryo/ dark spot. Thanks for all the info! I believe my thermometer is accurate but it wouldn't hurt for me to check it again. I'm not sure how but I can google it! I would upload pictures of those but they are hard to see!

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Well, on the other 4 and I hope you keep us posted!

Aww thank you! I will! I am sure I will have more questions also! I wish I had a broody hen! Lol

acovey24 said:

Aww thank you! I will! I am sure I will have more questions also! I wish I had a broody hen! Lol

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I had my first broody hens last year and I am probably one of the few that hated it...lol I had no control over anything....lol