Are all my eggs infertile or have I bought a rubbish incubator?? HELP

[42withington]

I bought a small incubator on eBay a few weeks ago. It is one where you stand the eggs upside down in it & the leaflet with it says that because of that you don't have to turn the eggs as the air bubble sits at the top of the egg. I thought this would be easier as we are out at work a lot & it was also good value for money.
The first 2 eggs we put in were due to hatch yesterday (05th July) but there is no sign of anything yet. The next 3 are due today & then 2 more tomorrow.
We don't hatch eggs very often as we only have 5 hens & a cockerel but I was hoping to have a few chicks.
I suppose what I'm asking is if I've bought a rubbish incubator or is it possible that all of the eggs are infertile?
I'm so disappointed already & we might still get something out of it.
Please advise.

 

[chiqita]

Have you candled to see if they have been developing? What have the temperatures been? Have you checked them?

If the incubator is running high or low it will affect the chicks.

Also when you crack open your eating eggs do they have a bullseye in them?

If there are no pips I would candle they eggs and see if they are clear or have a mass of chick in them . Then go from there.

 

[42withington]

The temperature has been set to 38 the whole time as advised in the info that came with the incubator. It has been running on or very close to that as the incubator works that if the temp goes below 38 it starts to work to bring it back up. There is also a water pool in the bottom so that you keep topped up so that it is humid.

We have been candling them but some of the eggs are very dark shelled so it is hard to see anything. We did see something in 1 of the eggs which is due today so hopefully there might be 1 chick.

Before we tried the incubator we also had a broody hen so tried to hatch some eggs under her but unfortunately only 2 were fertile & they died soon after pipping.

 

[loveourbirds]

you do need to turn the eggs, if the embryo sticks in the egg it dies. if you have candled them often (a lot of first timers do) you may have turned them enough for something to hatch.

I will do my best to get you good instructions, what type of incubator is it?

 

[42withington]

It is called an intelligent mini incubator. If u search on google or eBay u should be able to see it.
We have been checking the eggs regularly but not turning them as thr info with the incubator says they will be fine standing on the small end.
I'm gonna be gutted if nothing hatches as we've tried once before already.
Which incubator would u recommend for only hatching a few chicks?

 

[loveourbirds]

can you get a picture of it?

i started with little giant incubators, they were good for a few eggs.

ive never owned one, but brisnea incubators get high reviews. everyone ive talked to that has one, loves it.

r com incubators seem to be pretty nice, again i have never owned one. the biggest complaint i have heard on them is replacement parts are sometimes hard to get.

 

[Tj11]

Hi I have a brin sea mini advance incubator and its fantastic. It only holds 7 eggs but everything is automatic and we have had 6 or 7 hatch out of every batch we have incubated. Well worth the money

 

[42withington]

Yeah, I think I might have to invest in a better incubator if we get nothing from this batch. I will be contacting the people I bought this

one off though to let them know that their selling a rubbish product.
I have attached a picture of the incubator with the eggs in it.

 

[98Luna]

From what I've heard, turning is so the embryo doesn't get stuck to the sides of the egg, and so it can absorb all of the nutrients in the egg juices, instead of just the nutrients at the bottom etc if they don't get turned. I think.

 

[sumi]

I see 2 problems here: first of all letting the eggs stand upright with the pointy end down is correct, but you still need to turn, or in this case tilt, them. If you incubate them upright, like you are doing, the eggs needs to be tilted a minimum of 3 times a day, ideally more, through a 90* angle. I.e. tilt them 45* over to the left, wait a few hours tilt them to the right, so they are again at a 45* angle, wait a few hours, repeat. Continue doing this until day 18 when you lockdown. The reason it is important to turn or tilt them, purely for interest sake, is as follows:

- It prevents the embryo adhering to the inner shell membrane.
- It stimulates the rate of development if area vasculosa (the membrane growing around the yolk, which is rich in blood vessels). This membrane is important sub-embryonic fluid formation, as well us yolk uptake later in incubation.
- Allows normal transfer of albumen (egg white) protein into the amniotic fluid, promoting optimum use of the albumen.
- Supports the growth of the chorio-allantois (blood vessels in the inner membrane covering the chick) that absorbs oxygen and basically breathes for the developing embryo.
- Helps the embryo develop and grow at the correct rate.
- Encourages the embryo to to move into the normal hatching position, thereby reducing malpositions.

Secondly, have you been monitoring the humidity? Do you have a hygrometer in there? I know you are in lockdown now, but judging by the condensation inside that dome the humidity in there is very high. Incorrect humidity and not turning or tilting the eggs during incubation (especially the first 14 days) is a recipe for disaster, regardless of the quality of your incubator. I have seen incubator instructions leaflets saying to fill up those channels and these pots, but the RH in the room your incubator is in can have quite a big effect, so it is better to buy a reliable hygrometer and measure and monitor and adjust the humidity as needed, instead of relying on instruction leaflets. If your humidity is too high during incubation the air cell in the egg will not develop at the required rate, the chick may be "swollen" and unable to hatch, or it may pip into the air cell at the start of the hatch and drown in excess fluid accumulated there. Too low humidity, on the other hand, will also cause incorrect air cell development, the egg will lose too much fluid and the embryo can get "shrink wrapped" in the inner membrane, unable to move or hatch unassisted.

Sorry about the lecture, but I'm hoping this information will help you understand what may have gone wrong here. There is a lot more to successful hatching than the quality of your incubator. And the instructions that comes with some incubators can range from misleading to completely incorrect. One memorable one I've seen said to set the eggs with their pointy ends up! For more (reliable ;-) instructions, tips and wonderful information have a look at this article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101