Chicks hatched on day 19

Has anyone else had incubated chicks hatch early? I did a test run on my Janoel 12 incubator and had all 7 of 8 eggs hatch on day 20.

Now I'm doing my 2nd hatch with 20 eggs and one hatched at 10 am (so technically 18 1/2 day hatch since I put them in at 10 pm on 1/30/16)

Is that abnormal? The 2 chicks are walking and seem fine, but I'm a little concerned if that's bad.

My temp with the Janoel is very consistent and at 99.5 to 100 degrees always.

Any thoughts?

Sounds like temp is running high.

Have you checked the incubator thermostat against other certified thermometers.

I have a temp/ hygrometer digital in the bator always and I check several times a day with another probe temp.

Im just worried. I adopted 3 chickens last summer with cross beak that the breeder said was from their high temp in their bator. I didn't have an incubator then and didn't think anything of it. Well the chickens died from starvation, sadly, and now I'm very concerned. Also the breeder said not to breed with those chickens which is weird now that I think about it. If it was from high temps, then it wouldn't be a genetic issue. Or is it?

Cross beak could come from temp swings usually high. Nutrition. Wrong position while incubating. Maybe even genetic.

Some won't breed birds with abnormalities. Bad temperament. As could be potentially inherited.

Sorry you lost your hens. Are the eggs from their offspring?

I don't have bantams. But they aren't those as I think they take less than 21 days. They other thing a hen wouldn't have started incubation process before it was put in bator.

Good luck with your current batch.

Triplecross said:

Has anyone else had incubated chicks hatch early? I did a test run on my Janoel 12 incubator and had all 7 of 8 eggs hatch on day 20.

Now I'm doing my 2nd hatch with 20 eggs and one hatched at 10 am (so technically 18 1/2 day hatch since I put them in at 10 pm on 1/30/16)

Is that abnormal? The 2 chicks are walking and seem fine, but I'm a little concerned if that's bad.

My temp with the Janoel is very consistent and at 99.5 to 100 degrees always.

Any thoughts?

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Early hatches could be because your incubator was a bit too warm, or it could just be normal for those particular eggs. When I hatch chicks from my flock's eggs, they always hatch on day 19/20. I've ruled out high temps, because they hatch at the same time whether incubated by a broody or in an incubator. It's just normal for my flock's eggs. It could just be normal for your's.

I use the same incubator, I've inly done a few hatches but one I had 4 of seven chicks hatch early, they where all one breed. They are all very healthy. Did you manage to incubate 20 eggs in your Janoel 12? I think I have caused problems in two of my hatches by overloading the turner, I'd be interested to know how you turned the eggs.

Triplecross said:

Has anyone else had incubated chicks hatch early? I did a test run on my Janoel 12 incubator and had all 7 of 8 eggs hatch on day 20.

Now I'm doing my 2nd hatch with 20 eggs and one hatched at 10 am (so technically 18 1/2 day hatch since I put them in at 10 pm on 1/30/16)

Is that abnormal? The 2 chicks are walking and seem fine, but I'm a little concerned if that's bad.

My temp with the Janoel is very consistent and at 99.5 to 100 degrees always.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

My LG9200 usually averages slightly warm and I almost always hatch out day 19/20 and have had nothing but healthy thriving chicks, no leg or navel issues. Bantams especially are known for hatching day 19/20 as well. I had one hatch that pipped day 18, but took almost an entire 24 hours before zipping.

RonoKT, I'll add a pic on how I do lots of eggs. This is from others on BYC that had the idea, not me, but happy to pass along. Use egg cartons and cut to fit in your bator. Then under the bator put a book at one end so the device is tipped up. Now 3x's a day remove the book and slid it to the other end and prop it up.

Hope I explained it ok.

Thanks everyone who shared their early hatch experiences. It really put my mind at ease

Triplecross said:

Thanks everyone who shared their early hatch experiences. It really put my mind at ease

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Good luck!