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Incubator issues, Will the eggs still hatch?

post #1 of 30
Thread Starter 

My incubator had a water issue.  The humidity went to high and i had the eggs in a cardboard box to avoid the huge mess in the incubator.  I removed the box, they are now on the wire instead.  Will the chicks drown in their shells?
I know I shouldn't have but i candled them to see how they are doing.  one is for sure a live (moving around in the shell)  I am not for sure what day of incubation.  People were adding eggs behind my back over a week.  I believe they should hatch tomorrow (but can't be sure).
This is the first time with this incubator.  I've had success in the past with a different one. 

Also one egg is bleeding.  no holes in the egg but there is blood on it.  Is that from blood left by the hen on the outside of the shell? 
I'm going to leave them in the incubator til tuesday just to see if anyone hatches. 
What should an egg about to hatch look like if candled?  Several eggs were just dark with a tiny air pocket. 

post #2 of 30

i think good amount of them will survive, as long as the humidity was not high for such a long time i think they may be ok

 

as far as candling goes, a chick close to hatching but not yet pipping should have its beak drawn towards the air pocket

 

for the rest of the questions, i am intrigued and want to know the answers idunno.gif

post #3 of 30
Thread Starter 

Thank you.  I'm leaving them in the incubator so hopefully they will hatch.  My dog that didn't notice there was something there on that table earlier went over circling it sniffing at the vents in it.  Hoping that he's hearing something I'm not.  His reaction first was like he heard a sound, then he went to smell it. 
My other dog that has been around chicks and there for the hatch hasn't told me yet that there is a chick.   I checked to make sure, no chicks yet. 
I'm hoping at least one hatches these eggs were free to get the incubator tested out.  I ordered some expensive ones.  Hoping my incubator has all the kinks worked out of it.
 

post #4 of 30
Thread Starter 

Also another ?
If my thermometer is wrong and it's colder then it says will it take longer for the eggs to hatch (if they are showing signs of life inside like movement)?
While I have hatched chicks for years I've never had so many issues with an incubator. and equipment.  I put a second thermometer in there to find that it's incubating the eggs at 97 to 99 not the 99.5 to 100.5 i thought it was at. 

 

post #5 of 30

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetlilbaby View Post

Thank you.  I'm leaving them in the incubator so hopefully they will hatch.  My dog that didn't notice there was something there on that table earlier went over circling it sniffing at the vents in it.  Hoping that he's hearing something I'm not.  His reaction first was like he heard a sound, then he went to smell it. 
My other dog that has been around chicks and there for the hatch hasn't told me yet that there is a chick.   I checked to make sure, no chicks yet. 
I'm hoping at least one hatches these eggs were free to get the incubator tested out.  I ordered some expensive ones.  Hoping my incubator has all the kinks worked out of it.
 

 

yeah, i am on the same page as you, my eggs were free to test out my incubator too. hopefully, i will get some silkie eggs later

post #6 of 30

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetlilbaby View Post

Also another ?
If my thermometer is wrong and it's colder then it says will it take longer for the eggs to hatch (if they are showing signs of life inside like movement)?
While I have hatched chicks for years I've never had so many issues with an incubator. and equipment.  I put a second thermometer in there to find that it's incubating the eggs at 97 to 99 not the 99.5 to 100.5 i thought it was at. 

 

 

they may hatch out a little later than average , but chances are they are likely healthy. as far as the incubator + equipment goes, is it a still air ?

post #7 of 30
Thread Starter 

Yeah I've always used still air incubators.  The lower temp (99.5 to 100.5) usually resulted in more hens then roosters. 
I checked it this morning, nobody has hatched.  the incubator is at 100.8 Which is great. 
Hoping they hatch but just are late. 


 

post #8 of 30

keep my fingers crossed for you fl.gif

 

and the low temp thing is pretty handy, cuz i am aiming towards getting hens instead of roosters

i will try that on my next clutch 

post #9 of 30
Thread Starter 

Still no hatching. Am still hopeful though. What sucks is not knowing what date they were due on either. Anywhere from monday to today would be their day 21. They were free eggs, They were slipped into my incubator on spring break. I had a dozen in there that were close to hatch time (unsuccessful) and more appeared in there.  soon there were 18 more eggs in there. 
I've also ordered a new thermometer.  I want to get a second (or possibly even third) thermometer in the incubator to make sure that it's the right temp.
I've managed to keep it between 99.8 and 100.8 for a day.  Hoping it stays at that for now on. 
I'm keeping it at 65% to 70% humidity for the hatch.  I kept it at 55% for most of the incubation. 
If nobody hatches my new eggs showed up in the mail today.  I am putting them in my bathroom (it's 55 degrees in there) for a day.  Then putting them in the incubator.  I've heard letting them rest before going into the incubator helps their hatch rate.
then in a month, Going to go to my moms and get 24 eggs to hatch. 
Basically plan to hatch 12 to 24 chicks every month once i get this incubator to work properly.  I live in the city but my mom has a ton of property in the country.  I have chickens at her place.  Use to have 30 and then there was a new neighbor (pet) problem.    new rooster (very aggressive) so that is no longer an issue.
the eggs I ordered are for silkie mix's (hope i spelled that right).  I've heard they are a really broody breed.  Hoping that next year or the year after will have a few hens in my back yard that will want to go all broody so i could get eggs and slip under them in their nests that are fertile.

 

post #10 of 30
Thread Starter 

One of the eggs blew up.  It had a dead chick inside (looks like it stopped forming a week ago or so).  Should I just toss all of them out?  Or should I still wait til monday to toss them?
I cleaned out the incubator and set  it all back up again. 

Funny thing is, it smelt bad but not rotten egg bad.  thought it would smell far worse then that. 

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