Can the eggs still hatch?

[rse]

Hello, first time posting.

Recently I built an incubator (electronics student), to hatch my chicken eggs they started laying a month ago.

Tonight the heat wire losened somehow and the incubator lost heat power, my incubator plots the heat and humidity in a chart.

Sadly I was going to code an alert system if the temp / humidity goes out of range, but I was too anxious to hatch the first batch that I did not finished this feature and took 4 hours until I realized that the problem ocurred.

so you guys think the eggs can still hatch based on the graph?

Or should I start a new batch already.

 

[rse]

I forgot to mention, this ocurred on the day 4 of incubation

 

[nuthatched]

Well, since your girls just started laying, I wouldn't hatch any eggs from them. Pullet eggs are usually too small to hatch viable chicks. Wait 5-6 months for their bodies to mature to lay better eggs.
Do you have a rooster?

 

[rse]

Thank you for your reply, I did not tought about that, actually I have 3 hens and they are 7 months old: one polish bantam that lays a big egg, the other two I dont know the breed: one lays a medium sized egg and one that is laying a really small egg. I have 2 roosters.

 

[Picklethequail]

Thank you for your reply, I did not tought about that, actually I have 3 hens and they are 7 months old: one polish bantam that lays a big egg, the other two I dont know the breed: one lays a medium sized egg and one that is laying a really small egg. I have 2 roosters.

Hello in your last post on this you said that you have 3 hens and 2 roosters. The minimum amount of hens that you are supposed to have per rooster is at least 4 hens per roo. So you should probably consider getting more hens

 

[Ridgerunner]

so you guys think the eggs can still hatch based on the graph?

I would keep going and expect success. It's not unusual for a broody hen to stay off the eggs for a while. She leaves the nest to eat, drink, poop, and maybe take a dust bath. They can cool off some from that. I've had a hen go back to the wrong nest several times. By the time I find them and put them back on the right nest the eggs are sometimes really cold to the touch. I remember that happening one time, the eggs were really cold. That broody hen hatched 11 out of 11 eggs, the cooling off did not bother them at all. They even hatched a day early.

Brinsea markets an incubator that can be programmed to allow the eggs to cool off. They quote a study that says it helps improve hatching. That study is about geese, not chickens, so I don't pay it too much attention but it still supports that constant heat isn't required.

For an egg to cool off enough to cause problems the center of the egg has to cool off. What you are measuring is not the core of the egg where the embryo is. You are measuring air temperature. The egg is much denser than air, it takes a while to cool off.

I'd candle the eggs if you haven't yet to get a benchmark. You might not even be able to see anything yet, though at four days you might see something, depends some on egg shell color and your candling method. Then candle again in four or five days an see if they are still developing before you make any rash decisions.

I hatch pullet eggs. The experts at commercial hatcheries do recommend you not hatch pullet eggs for various reasons. I find that when I hatch pullet eggs my hatch rate is often not as good as when I hatch hen eggs. This does not always mean a horrible hatch rate, just that on average the rate is a bit less. Sometime it is still a great hatch rate. I almost never have a chick die that I hatch. I do occasionally lose one but it is rare. When I do lose one it is often one that hatched from a pullet egg. I don't try to set 120,000 eggs in one incubator each time. There a small difference in hatch rate means a lot of chicks over a year. With my goals I'm OK if that hatch rate is sometimes a bit lower.

I do find that things are better if the pullet has been laying about a month before I set eggs, these differences are less than if a pullet just started.

 

[rse]

so you guys think the eggs can still hatch based on the graph?

I would keep going and expect success. It's not unusual for a broody hen to stay off the eggs for a while. She leaves the nest to eat, drink, poop, and maybe take a dust bath. They can cool off some from that. I've had a hen go back to the wrong nest several times. By the time I find them and put them back on the right nest the eggs are sometimes really cold to the touch. I remember that happening one time, the eggs were really cold. That broody hen hatched 11 out of 11 eggs, the cooling off did not bother them at all. They even hatched a day early.

Brinsea markets an incubator that can be programmed to allow the eggs to cool off. They quote a study that says it helps improve hatching. That study is about geese, not chickens, so I don't pay it too much attention but it still supports that constant heat isn't required.

For an egg to cool off enough to cause problems the center of the egg has to cool off. What you are measuring is not the core of the egg where the embryo is. You are measuring air temperature. The egg is much denser than air, it takes a while to cool off.

I'd candle the eggs if you haven't yet to get a benchmark. You might not even be able to see anything yet, though at four days you might see something, depends some on egg shell color and your candling method. Then candle again in four or five days an see if they are still developing before you make any rash decisions.

I hatch pullet eggs. The experts at commercial hatcheries do recommend you not hatch pullet eggs for various reasons. I find that when I hatch pullet eggs my hatch rate is often not as good as when I hatch hen eggs. This does not always mean a horrible hatch rate, just that on average the rate is a bit less. Sometime it is still a great hatch rate. I almost never have a chick die that I hatch. I do occasionally lose one but it is rare. When I do lose one it is often one that hatched from a pullet egg. I don't try to set 120,000 eggs in one incubator each time. There a small difference in hatch rate means a lot of chicks over a year. With my goals I'm OK if that hatch rate is sometimes a bit lower.

I do find that things are better if the pullet has been laying about a month before I set eggs, these differences are less than if a pullet just started.

Thank you for your reply, I candled the eggs and I was able to see the embrio and a few blood veins, I will wait a few days and then candle again to see if they develops further.

I will update the topic in case of success or failure, thank you.

 

[rse]

Hello in your last post on this you said that you have 3 hens and 2 roosters. The minimum amount of hens that you are supposed to have per rooster is at least 4 hens per roo. So you should probably consider getting more hens

Yes I read about it, but I got all of them when they were chicks and I was hoping that all were female, but I kept all. They get along well.

 

[Picklethequail]

Yes I read about it, but I got all of them when they were chicks and I was hoping that all were female, but I kept all. They get along well.

Oh ok

 

[rse]

Hello, Today is day 15 and I think I have one dead.

The others are occupying almost the full size of the shell.
Should I remove it or wait?

And what your opinion regarding the air sack of the eggs, looks alright for day 15?

On the day 18 I plan to remove the egg tray/turner and place the eggs on the floor of the incubator, should I have problems as they are in the vertical position and they will be in the horizontal position?

Thank you.