I think all my eggs are dead!

[Farmin Momma]

So my eggs were suppose to hatch yesterday. I have 6 and on Friday they were all moving, Saturday I saw 3 moving and then yesterday only one was moving a very tiny bit! There are no pips, so I decided to candle them just now. There was no move meant and the air cells are off to the side in 3 of them, and one has a VERY large air cell. But no movement. I am so disappointed! I don't know what I did Wrong?

 

[smchickfarm]

well, they could just be late. Keep them in the incubator. What is your temp? What is your humidity?

 

[Farmin Momma]

My temp is @ 99.5 and the humidity was @ 45% untill lockdown then I raised it to 75% .

 

[smchickfarm]

Well, your temp is good. Your humidity seems a little high, but that is just my opinion. I am no expert. I keep my humidity about 65-70 during lockdown and of course, when chicks start hatching it will go up.

I would leave the eggs in the incubator for 2-3 more days and see what happens.

good luck and keep us posted

 

[miniegg]

I'm in the same situation, mine should have hatched on Saturday though (although it was late saturday when I put them in, so more or less in same position as you). My inci is preset temp that can be adjusted a little if not correct & you just fill a bowl and keep it topped for humidity. So, my problem could be that it isn't giving a true temperature. I'm definitely getting a digital thermometer & humidity thing (sorry can't remember the word) for next hatch.... I did have to adjust the temp upwards a couple of days in so maybe it's just late. I'm just clutching at straws really.

I had very little movement from one egg this morning, then absolutely nothing. I put a rolled up wet jay cloth in there this morning, in desperation that it might up the humidity, thinking that is a possible problem as my house is so well insulated it is very dry.. The instructions just say to fill the container and keep it topped up. I've seen posts from others who've had success using the same inci as me.... Just my luck!

I've been so looking forward to the hatch as well, as I'm sure everyone does. I set 7 of my own eggs first off and none were fertile, they were very early season eggs and my cockerel has only just started to tread the hens.... So, I then bought myself 10 eggs from a local breeder, so they didn't go through the postal system. All her stock are very healthy and unrelated. She hatches lots each year with great success, so if mine don't hatch it can only be my hatching conditions.

I got a mix of leghorns and orpingtons.

I'm so fed up :'(

 

[Farmin Momma]

All my eggs are from my flock. I first tried a home made incubator tested it for a few hours and everything was fine. So I put my 31 eggs in. Woke up the next morning and the temp had spiked up to 103, so i took them out and bought a bator. Then found out that my digital thermometer/ Hydrometer was off by several degrees ( so my 31 eggs might have been just fine :0( ) So I began again with my new bator and set 25 eggs, out of those only 2 were either not fertile or died very early and then from that day on I lost 2 at a time for the next few days until I got down to 6 eggs just before lock down. Needless to say when I saw all 6 moving around for the first day or two I was thrilled. But now nothing and when I candled today I saw no movement.

My eggs are all mutts out of my flock of many breeds. I will try again in a few weeks days! LOL

I will be buying a few new thermometers though.

 

[smchickfarm]

i am sorry about your hatch. I hope you have better luck with the next one!

 

[miniegg]

Yeh, i'll be trying again on Saturday to, maybe sooner. I did the float test on a few of mine last night and there were signs of life in 2/3, but still nothing today and it's day 24 now. No movement at all back in the inci, so I'm not hopeful. I don't think I can bring myself to chuck them until I've given them another few days though.

I'm going to buy a decent thermo too. I'm gutted that reading online I found that I should have filled the second container with water in my inci, it's running a constant 50% humidity with only the mid one full.... The instructions don't mention this at all, they just say to fill the middle container, but they are translated. it's an italian make, obviously translation of the instructions is bad. I see a lot of people hatching at 50% humidity and even dry hatch, yet I get nothing! i kept thinking something was wrong that I had 2 containers but only needed to use 1. I'm so mad at myself for not finding the post sooner, obviously this person is having success with this method. I filled the second container last night, but at the end of day 23 I think it's too little too late and they're probably all stuck because the membrane is too tough, I also added a damp cloth at the start of day 23 as I thought it seemed dry.

Good luck with the next hatch

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It really seems to be a temperature problem. Very late to day 24 indicates low temperature. Could also be why you lost so many during incubation.

Turn your eggs twice a day to day 18. Adjust your humidity based on weight loss or air cell growth. If when candling day 10 your air cell looks small then adjust humidity down. Water evaporation is based on surface area. If your middle water reservior maintains a good humidity then that's all you need. I use a tumbler of water placed in incubator to give me 40%. Every climate is different as to how much water you need to add to maintain a set humidity. For last few days filling only the larger outer reservior may give your the 60-70% you need, filling both may be too much. Check what it takes and play some with your incubator to get comfortable changing humidity for a day before setting a new batch. That and get a good thermometer.

 

[Farmin Momma]

Thanks so much for the help! It did turn out that all 6 eggs were dead. I will play with the baotr before I set my next batch indeed.