Day 19 chicks are hatching???

[Ks1063]

I put 30 eggs in my Hovabator 19 days ago at 9 am. This was an experiment, because the eggs were from the coop, the kitchen table, and the refrigerator. I marked them accordingly. The part to adjust the temp on the incubator was missing, so I would adjust the lid to let the heat out.
I didn't think I would get much, if anything, from this experiment, because the temp has gone from 92° up to 109°, and the humidity from 28-78 %.. I've thrown out 5 bad eggs since day 1. This is day 19. I heard peeping coming from my bathroom this morning! The chick had hatched completely and was walking around! More have pipped their shells!
This is my first attempt at hatching in an incubator, and I'm super excited, but confused. Why are they hatching at 19 days? And why are the air cells very crooked?

 

[Sonya9]

Wild temp fluctuations can supposedly lead to birth defects/foot problems in addition to dead/aborted chicks.

 

[Ks1063]

I thought I could control the temp better since I've hatched goose eggs in a box with a lamp more than once and easily kept the temp between 99 and 101. I was getting 12-14 eggs per day from my girls and thought "What the hay?"

They're hatching now, and everyone looks okay so far. The 19 days is still a mystery to me.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Slightly higher temps can cause an early hatch. Also smaller or bantam eggs can hatch a little early too. I hatch mainly polish and have had them hatch day 19/20. Also hot spots in the incubator could cause certain eggs to be exposed to higher temps than other eggs therefore causing an early hatch with some. 21 days is just a guide nothing set in stone when it comes to a chick deciding to hatch. Your day 19 chick obviously could not wait!!

When you say the air sacs are crooked are you saying they are in an angle or very wonky like misshapen? You only usually get very wonky air sacs from shipped eggs but then again this could depend on how you stored your eggs prior to incubation. They should be stored pointy end down in egg cartons. Here is a pic of of how an air sac generally develops.

Here is a lovely article on incubating > https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

Wishing you the very best of luck with the rest of your hatch.

 

[Ks1063]

Thank you, Yorkshire Coop for the info and link! I don't have bantams. I have buff orpington, americauna, barred rock, brahma, jersey giant and copper maran. They free-range together, so I've got a lot of mixes, too.

The air cells are different in the eggs. Some look normal, one is in the center of the egg, some have a definite line while others have no particular shape and are blurry. I do see movement in all of them.

I moved them to the bathroom last night b/c I can't get the humidity up high enough for hatching with having to leave the lid slightly open b/c of the heat. I have a humidifier running in there and no air conditioning going to that room.

I'm putting the chicks in with my americauna who hatched 10 this morning. She seems to love them all!

 

[Ks1063]

I really need ADVICE! The one egg's air cell is on the SIDE of the egg. A perfectly oval-shaped air cell. The egg was moving a good bit yesterday, but no pip, and I don't hear or see anything when candling now except the air cell. Today is day 20, but I've already had 10 chicks hatch in this incubator batch. Do I just wait? Is he in trouble? I hate to think of him needing help and me not doing anything. I also don't want to open him early.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I really need ADVICE! The one egg's air cell is on the SIDE of the egg. A perfectly oval-shaped air cell. The egg was moving a good bit yesterday, but no pip, and I don't hear or see anything when candling now except the air cell. Today is day 20, but I've already had 10 chicks hatch in this incubator batch. Do I just wait? Is he in trouble? I hate to think of him needing help and me not doing anything. I also don't want to open him early.

Just wait. There is not much you can do at this point. I'm a big one for helping or assisting but I also acknowledge there is a time to let nature be the deciding factor and for me that time is before the external pip. Chances are if the chick does not externally pip itself there is nothing you can do that is going to benefit it and probably any "help" you try before the pip is going to do more damage than good. I say this because after a chick pips it takes HOURS for the vascular system between the chick and egg to shut down. To go in before the chick has pipped and had that time for nature to do it's thing is almost a certainty that you will cause the chick to bleed out because the veins are still drawing from the attachment to the membranes. (There are odd cases that would prove this wrong, I'm sure, but the norm is what it is.) There's a chance that he will not be able to hatch, but there's just as much chance that he will. No matter what you decide, you will second guess whether it was right or not, it comes with the territory.

 

[Ks1063]

Now, I have one that pipped the wrong end! Omygeezy! I can see his beak! I also see the bright red veins of the membrane! I propped him up so hopefully he won't break a vein and drown. This is so stressful.

 

[JadeFarms]

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