any hope left

[lsnyder43]

Sorry I am new to hatching so lots of questions. On day 21 first chick pipped but died before hatching. On day 22 chick #2 (who also pipped on day 21) hatched but died. Chick #3 quickly pipped and hatched and is doing very well, but today on day 23 still does not look fluffy. No other pips, movement or sound from the remaining 16 eggs. Any hope left? How long should I wait?

 

[rosemi78]

I'm sorry to read about the rough hatch you're having. It's not easy. There is a thread for something called a "float test" on here. It would help determine if any of the other non-pipped eggs had any life in them. Hopefully someone else will see this and be able to link it in a comment. I'm on my phone, otherwise I'd figure it out and do it...

As far as the one who has hatched, I've only incubated twice (today is actually day22 for the 2nd batch), but even after 24+ hours I noticed that some of mine wouldn't go totally fluffy in the bator, either. I chalked it up to the elevated humidity & laying around on the damp rags I have in there. Could your baby be staying a little damp because of the same reasons?

 

[Bill 101]

If your chicks don't show some sign of drying within the first hour of hatch, your humidity is to high. Course, walking around on wet towels don't help

 

[sumi]

For late/overdue eggs you can candle to see if it pipped internally and/or tap, hold the eggs against your ear and tap it. Listen for a response from the chick. As a last resort you can open the egg to investigate. Candle the eggs and mark the air sac line with a pencil. Carefully make a hole in the fat end of the egg, just big enough for you to see into the egg and then use a wet Q-tip to way the membrane covering the chick. Look for movement from the chick. If the chick is still alive look for it's beak and carefully clear the membrane just enough to open it's beak so it can breathe. Put the egg back in the incubator with the humidity up so it won't dry out and have a look at this assisted hatch article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

There are some great pics showing what to look for and explanations on how to do assist and when. Good luck!