chick in egg too small for 16 days

[scbatz33]

I'm concerned my chick isn't growing properly. It is barely taking up 1/4rd of the egg. the air sack is quite visible and my husband says he can see it moving. I put the egg in on the 6th. Is it possible that the embryo didn't start growing immediately? could there be a delay in the growing? This is my first hatch and only 1 egg of 8 was actually fertilized - I need to talk to my rooster - and I'm nervous I'm not doing something correctly.

 

[UrbanMama]

What are you incubating in? If it's a still air bator, many times they have pockets of air that are cooler...and the cooler it is in the bator, the slower they develope. What have your temps/humidity been running at?

 

[tiki244]

It may still be good. What are your temps and humidity at? That could be the key there.

Your rooster might be fertilizing the eggs too.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
It's a still air and I've been trying to keep it as close to 102 as possible. I checked it again last night and it seems to have had a growth spurt in just a couple days!

I guess I'm worrying over nothing. I'll find out in 3 more days. I'm banning myself from touching anything til Tuesday!

I don't thing I was this nervous with my own pregnancies!!

 

[tiki244]

What is the humidity!?

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
You know what, I haven't got a clue. I've added some water today to help with the hatching but that's the most I've done with any water.

I must say, I was surprised at the growth in just 2 days.....I think I'm being overly anxious.

 

[tiki244]

Humidity is very important to the size of the chick, the developement and the hatching. Humidity should be approximately 40% for the first 18 days and 60% day 18 on. If the humidity was too low that may have been why the chick was small. But it sounds like everything is going better now. People incubate anywhere from 30%-50% humidity the first 18 days. As long as it is fairly consistent. Not a huge worry , but something to think about. Can you get a hygrometer?

 

[scbatz33]

I need to get one...I didn't realize what it was until after I had gotten this set going. I am still figuring all the details. I thought i had read enough but I'm still finding new stuff. My newest problem is that I will only have one chick. I guess I'll need to buy some day old chicks so it isn't by itself.

I need to figure out how to get my rooster to breed ALL the hens.

 

[tiki244]

maybe you can crack some fresh eggs open and see if they have been fertilized to check.

 

[scbatz33]

I can tell which hens he's breeding. They have the usual feather loss. The problem is knowing which eggs belong to which hens. I know he isn't breeding the Orpington. And her eggs are larger than the RIR. But, I have 3 RIR and they lay each day. However, he is only breeding 2 of them - and clearly he's not even doing that successfully since I only had one egg that was fertilized.

That's why we are starting small - so we can work out all the little kinks and figure out what to do and what works.