Day 21 with no pips - just seeing if I forgot to do something for the babies.

[ashleymr44]

Hey everyone! This is my first hatch and I am on day 21 with no pips. WHILE I still have hope, I figured I would stop in and ask a few questions.
I am using a little giant incubator and I have kept the temp steady at 99.5 degrees. Didn't have a hygrometer until they went into lockdown.
I wasn't able to see any movement in the eggs until about day 9 or 10. BUT when they went into lock down I noticed most of the 35 eggs had a lot of movement.
I did notice that their air cell did grow, since I marked it at different stages. Not sure how big it needs to be, though.

My question is: Did I do something wrong? There are so many articles and I tried to read through the majority of them.
Is it possible they are just a little slow to develop?
Here is to hoping they are still viable!

 

[sourland]

Did you calibrate your thermometer prior to incubation? If the temperature has been slightly low throughout the incubation, they may take a bit longer to hatch. I wish you good luck.

 

[FridayYet]

Does your LG have a fan? If not, your temps should have been closer to 101.5 measured at the top of the eggs. Here's hoping your temps were a little low and your hatch is delayed a bit.

Compare your air cells to this diagram and see what you think:


Good luck!

 

[ashleymr44]

My air cells look similar but maybe slightly smaller. I do not have a fan for it. Does it make a big difference?

 

[FridayYet]

Yes. With a fan the temperature is more even throughout the incubator because the fan pushes the heat around from top to bottom, side to side. Without, the incubator is warmer at the top and cooler at the bottom.

Next time you hatch, you might want to increase the temperature and double check it with a second, calibrated thermometer. It will probably help your hatch.

Also, LG's are notoriously inaccurate in their temps!

 

[ashleymr44]

Thank you all! I had a few pips and a hatch this morning!

 

[FridayYet]

Thank you all! I had a few pips and a hatch this morning!

Congratulations! Enjoy your new babies.

 

[sourland]

How many have hatched?

 

[ashleymr44]

7/35 with quite a few pips going!
Today is day 23 so i bet it was a slightly low temp causing them to hatch slowly.

 

[FridayYet]

Hope you get a bunch more!