Can eggs hatch without being turned?

[Hummer]

I feel so dumb! It has been a long time since I have set up my brinsea advanced mini. I had the egg tray placed upside down in the incubator, so it was not turning the eggs! I was not certain any of the eggs would hatch from the start, but at least two eggs were fertile. But then they didn’t get turned AT ALL!!! I didn’t notice! I heard the turner rotate, so thought it was working. I checked the water pot every few days, but didn’t even notice that the eggs weren’t turning. The incubator was set up in upstairs bathroom away from our pets. I just candled and see air sacks, and dark areas in the eggs. Not sure if chicks are dead or alive. I don’t know what to do. I have 4 days left and only two days til lock down. From what I have read, it is unlikely the chicks that developed in the 2 fertile eggs have survived or will be healthy. Has anyone ever had this happen? If so, did any chicks live? I really don’t want deformed chicks to hatch either. It is hard for me to tell if anything is alive in the eggs. I thought I saw movement in one, but can’t be sure. I have added several different pics of the two eggs. There are only 4 days left til hatch date, so I think the chicks are most likely dead from not getting turned properly.

 

[redinator]

Following . . . . I haven't had this happen, so I don't have any advice, but I'm curious what others have to say in case it does in the future. I hope it works out. Good luck.

 

[Tookie]

When the eggs aren't being turned, your hatch rate goes way down. So no, eggs can't really hatch without being turned. When they don't get turned the embryo gets stuck and will die.

Out of the two eggs, one is alive and one is dead.
The second and third pictures the chick looks alive to me! Three and four are dead. I can't tell in the first and last picture.

 

[Hummer]

When the eggs aren't being turned, your hatch rate goes way down. So no, eggs can't really hatch without being turned. When they don't get turned the embryo gets stuck and will die.

Out of the two eggs, one is alive and one is dead.
The second and third pictures the chick looks alive to me! Three and four are dead. I can't tell in the first and last picture.

Thank you for your reply. I have a video, not a very good one, but I thought I saw movement. Thread doesn’t give me option to upload a video it seems.. but the one I thought I saw movement in are the pics that you think the chick could be alive. I guess I’ll wait and see. The eggs are turning now, not that 2 days are going to make much difference.

 

[gullinkambe]

Oh no! So sorry for you

Hard to tell by the pic's, but pic 3 looks alive, at least there are proper veins.

I suppose there's nothing you can do except wait it out the last 4 days. My concern with lack of turning would be bad absorption of fluids, which is a big hatch-hazard as the chick can drown. So be prepared to assist!

Do you have a backup-plan in case you only get one chick?

 

[redinator]

Thank you for your reply. I have a video, not a very good one, but I thought I saw movement. Thread doesn’t give me option to upload a video it seems.. but the one I thought I saw movement in are the pics that you think the chick could be alive. I guess I’ll wait and see. The eggs are turning now, not that 2 days are going to make much difference.

You can upload the video to YouTube then post the link here . . .

 

[Hummer]

Oh no! So sorry for you

Hard to tell by the pic's, but pic 3 looks alive, at least there are proper veins.

I suppose there's nothing you can do except wait it out the last 4 days. My concern with lack of turning would be bad absorption of fluids, which is a big hatch-hazard as the chick can drown. So be prepared to assist!

Do you have a backup-plan in case you only get one chick?

Not really. About 4 weeks ago we had a stray dog, possibly 2, break into our pen and killed all chickens, but one hen. After about a week, my husband suggested I try to hatch some of the eggs we had left on the counter. I knew most eggs were fresh, but I think one was refrigerated. Anyway, I candled the eggs and saw what looked like 3 viable eggs. 2 definitely had or have developing chicks. I could kick myself for not checking that the egg plate was in the right position. I think it was packed up wrong, so I didn’t even notice that it was upside down. It is my fault for not paying close attention while setting up and when periodically checking the water level. A friend gave me a 7 month old lavender Orpington rooster and I just bought three 12 week old rainbow pullets, so at least I have some hens.. they were all I could find close to where I live that were fully feathered and I could tell which ones were hens. Will be interesting to see what color eggs they lay. They are a mix of several different kinds of chickens.

 

[CheekyChook13]

I stopped turning too early on a hatch be prepared if chicks survive till hatching you will likely need to fully assist the chicks and early before they suffocate from malpositioning

 

[Hummer]

I stopped turning too early on a hatch be prepared if chicks survive till hatching you will likely need to fully assist the chicks and early before they suffocate from malpositioning

I did find another thread, I think it was turkeys, that someone had an incubator that malfunctioned and the eggs were not turned for several days.. not sure what the outcome was. I would rather all the chicks be dead than a suffering chick! But I will be watching them close to see if they need help. I know not to take the lid off during lock down very often though, because that can cause the chicks to dry out, too. Will check every 6 hours, if necessary. One other thing I opted not to do on the setting controls is to set a cooling period. I had read that it isn’t necessary. Also, chicks may hatch sooner…. I read that cooling is mainly for waterfowl..but I do know a mother hen will get off the nest to eat and drink at least once a day. Do you have recommendations about to set cooling or not, if I try hatching eggs again?

 

[redinator]

I did find another thread, I think it was turkeys, that someone had an incubator that malfunctioned and the eggs were not turned for several days.. not sure what the outcome was. I would rather all the chicks be dead than a suffering chick! But I will be watching them close to see if they need help. I know not to take the lid off during lock down very often though, because that can cause the chicks to dry out, too. Will check every 6 hours, if necessary. One other thing I opted not to do on the setting controls is to set a cooling period. I had read that it isn’t necessary. Also, chicks may hatch sooner…. I read that cooling is mainly for waterfowl..but I do know a mother hen will get off the nest to eat and drink at least once a day. Do you have recommendations about to set cooling or not, if I try hatching eggs again?

This is the first time I'm hearing about a cooling period . . . . my incubators don't have a setting for it. What type of incubator are you using?