how long should i wait before i give up?

[chicky_duck]

I put 7 eggs in my incubator on the 4th, three died in the first two weeks but the other four were looking good. on the 25th (yes, Christmas) two hatched, but I hav'nt seen any improvment on the other two, how long should i wait till i through them out, or is there a way that i can see if there alive?

 

[NatJ]

You could give them a few more days.

You could pick up each egg and sniff it. If it smells rotten, it's time to throw it out.

You could look carefully to see if it wiggles, and listen to see if it makes noise. Wiggling or noise means it's alive, but still and quiet could be dead or sleeping, so I wouldn't use that as the only test.

You could candle (shine a bright flashlight through the egg, in a dark room.) If they are alive, the eggshell should be mostly full of a big dark blob, with an aircell at one end, and you might see a beak poking into the air cell or a bit of movement. Movement proves it's alive. Completely still could mean dead or sleeping. But if the chick is much smaller than it shoudl be, it died (quite growing) some time ago.

I would probably look & listen, then sniff and throw out any that stink, then try candling, then leave any "maybe" eggs in the incubator for another two or three days just in case.

 

[ChookieG]

I put 7 eggs in my incubator on the 4th, three died in the first two weeks but the other four were looking good. on the 25th (yes, Christmas) two hatched, but I hav'nt seen any improvment on the other two, how long should i wait till i through them out, or is there a way that i can see if there alive?

Sorry to hear about the death of your chicks and congrats on the ones that's hatched.

When the eggs are this late I'll candle them to check for movement and whether they've pipped internally. For the former, you may not be able to see any movement if your candling source is not very bright. I can only see movement when I use a very strong LED headlight or equivalent.

What kind of incubator are you using? Did you notice any temperature fluctuations during the incubation period as this can affect the hatch rate. I have in the past kept my eggs till they're day 28. I think anything after that should be discarded especially if you're not seeing any movement.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Looks like you have some good tips to go off of

 

[chicky_duck]

i am using a small Magicfly incubator, during the first few days we kept them in our shed until i noticed that in the morning the temperature dropped to about 36 degrees celcious so i then moved them inside where it is a consistont temperature. i just candeled them and could see no movement or internal pip.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

i am using a small Magicfly incubator, during the first few days we kept them in our shed until i noticed that in the morning the temperature dropped to about 36 degrees celcious so i then moved them inside where it is a consistont temperature. i just candeled them and could see no movement or internal pip.

Can you post picks?

 

[ChookieG]

i am using a small Magicfly incubator, during the first few days we kept them in our shed until i noticed that in the morning the temperature dropped to about 36 degrees celcious so i then moved them inside where it is a consistont temperature. i just candeled them and could see no movement or internal pip.

36 degrees is still acceptable as that will normally mean they will hatch later but did you calibrate the incubator before incubating your eggs? Very often the indicated temperature can be out by 2-3 degrees (even more!) even for a good quality product.

I'm assuming the eggs were still in the incubator when you moved it? And the temperature didn't go down too much after you've plugged it back in when inside the house?

If there's no movement or internal pipping I'm guessing that they're no longer viable and you can safely discard them. Were these shipped eggs BTW? If so, a 50% mortality rate is not unheard of. My 2nd batch of eggs this year were shipped and only 1 hatched out of a dozen.

Also how are the Christmas chicks doing? Did they start walking around a few hours after hatching? I noticed fluctuating temperatures can often affect the strength of the chicks - they can often take 1-2 days longer to start walking.

 

[chicky_duck]

36 degrees is still acceptable as that will normally mean they will hatch later but did you calibrate the incubator before incubating your eggs? Very often the indicated temperature can be out by 2-3 degrees (even more!) even for a good quality product.

I'm assuming the eggs were still in the incubator when you moved it? And the temperature didn't go down too much after you've plugged it back in when inside the house?

If there's no movement or internal pipping I'm guessing that they're no longer viable and you can safely discard them. Were these shipped eggs BTW? If so, a 50% mortality rate is not unheard of. My 2nd batch of eggs this year were shipped and only 1 hatched out of a dozen.

Also how are the Christmas chicks doing? Did they start walking around a few hours after hatching? I noticed fluctuating temperatures can often affect the strength of the chicks - they can often take 1-2 days longer to start walking.

yes they were still in the incubator, and it only droped two degrees by the time i pluged it in.

they were not shipped, i took them straight from my friends coop to the incubator, (yes they were freash)

the Christmas chicks are doing great! they started walking good straight after i put them in the brooder.

 

[ChookieG]

yes they were still in the incubator, and it only droped two degrees by the time i pluged it in.

they were not shipped, i took them straight from my friends coop to the incubator, (yes they were freash)

the Christmas chicks are doing great! they started walking good straight after i put them in the brooder.

All the best with your Christmas Chicks! Hopefully you'll have better hatch rate next time. Just make sure you calibrate the temperature and humidity of your incubator if you haven't already done so. I can't see how else the hatch rates could be so low except for these two possible reasons.

Unless.......

Are you in the States? Eggs don't cope very well when the day temps are too high but if you're situated in the Northern Hemisphere it should be Winter there now so temperature shouldn't be such a big problem. How did the first three died? Was it blood-ringed?

 

[Tshell]

You could give them a few more days.

You could pick up each egg and sniff it. If it smells rotten, it's time to throw it out.

You could look carefully to see if it wiggles, and listen to see if it makes noise. Wiggling or noise means it's alive, but still and quiet could be dead or sleeping, so I wouldn't use that as the only test.

You could candle (shine a bright flashlight through the egg, in a dark room.) If they are alive, the eggshell should be mostly full of a big dark blob, with an aircell at one end, and you might see a beak poking into the air cell or a bit of movement. Movement proves it's alive. Completely still could mean dead or sleeping. But if the chick is much smaller than it shoudl be, it died (quite growing) some time ago.

I would probably look & listen, then sniff and throw out any that stink, then try candling, then leave any "maybe" eggs in the incubator for another two or three days just in case.

I have about 9 eggs left in the incubator that have all pipped. I lost one already during hatching. How long before I help them? They have been with the same hole for over 8 hrs, and it looks like it is breating heavily. I don't want to lose anymore. Any ideas?