Day 20, No activity.....Is this normal? Chicken mom freaking out! :)

[McChickenNugget]

Did any hatch yet?

 

[HamonyFarmHens]

No not yet! :'( I'm going to wait until day 25... Should I candle the egg?

 

[HumbleHen207]

Water candle. Place them in a deep dish of warm water, preferable temp is that of your incubator. Live embryos will wobble when allowed to float. This method will not cause any harm to the chicks.

 

[HamonyFarmHens]

Yes I forgot to post this- I did water candle and regular candle- no movement :'( I'm going to try again for the hatch along though!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Yes I forgot to post this- I did water candle and regular candle- no movement :'( I'm going to try again for the hatch along though!

Does your incubator have a thermostat---to cut the bulb/heat on and off??

 

[Zanlm]

I am also in lock down with my 3rd try in hatching eggs! I feel better about this hatch!

My husband and I made our incubator from a styrophome cooler (the large one) from Walmart. I can't begain to tell you how much better this hatch has gone. You will have lots of questions and concerns as wells as a high stress level. But I am sure you love what your doing when it's all done. It's such a AWSOME experience to be a part of.

Keep us updated on your babies!

 

[HumbleHen207]

I would calibrate your thermometers, they may not be accurate. I have had many problems with this, burned through 4 thermometers so far. Some can run as much as five degrees off!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I would calibrate your thermometers, they may not be accurate. I have had many problems with this, burned through 4 thermometers so far. Some can run as much as five degrees off!

My first hatch I bought a BRAND NEW thermometer/hygrometer. I never calibrated/checked it (figured it was new, right?) and only had that one thermometer in the incubator the whole time. Even though they were moving well at lockdown, they looked a little behind I was hoping it was just my inexperienced eye. Well day 24 I finally got one to hatch, day 25 the second hatched and died. I bought 3 thermometers for my second attempt and checked the other one to those. My first thermometer was between 6-7 degrees off!!! So when I thought it was 99-100 I was no where close and it compromised my hatch. Now I will never depend on one. I will always have the three in there.

 

[HamonyFarmHens]

I have calibrated it, I only have one thermometer.. I'm starting 5 new eggs tomorrow so hopefully I'll have a better hatch! So I think this time I will monitor the incubator a little more closely and I probably won't candle as often as I did IF at all, because I think I killed the embryo by candling it

 

[HumbleHen207]

I would definitely candle at least twice. If a quitter goes unnoticed for long periods of time, bacteria will grow inside it creating pressure. These eggs have the potential to explode, contaminating your remaining eggs. I failed to candle my last batch, I had a rather unpleasant surprise in my incubator at 2 weeks....