Day 21!!! aaaand....nothing???

[Amy's Animals]

Hi everyone, it is nearing the end of day 21 and still no chickies! I listened to the eggs a couple times while Mom was off for a break. I thought I heard some scratching and pecking inside some of the eggs and felt movement; in one I heard nothing. A couple hours later, I still see nothing. Did I imagine hearing/feeling something? I'm sure the eggs are fertilized because my rooster had been penned up with her alone for a couple months before she went broody. Will my chicks hatch? Are they just late-ish? I'm really worried and kind of nervous, does anyone have any answers or advice????????

 

[Sillystunt]

I was told to wait until day 25~ Just incase you have some late bloomers. I just had a bad hatch and i feel your pain~

 

[FluffyColor]

Leave the mama hen alone.After day 23 try to collect the eggs from under her.If she fluffes up her feathers or anything that indicates she is still broody,don't give up.If she lets you grab them,she's given up,and if she's hopeless enough to give up on her own children,you can let her.I hope they hatch.

I've never experienced a bad hatch,but it must be the most frustrating thing in the world.

I try to offer to order chicks and give them away to people who have experienced bad hatches,but I don't know if I can do it yet.

P.S.I have NO experience with broodies,and very little experience with hatching.I just wanted that noted!

_____________________________________________________________________________
A day without chickens is a day wasted.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

At what point did you begin counting your 21 days?
If a hen is going broody she will lay a clutch of eggs. She can lay one egg a day. If she lays 10 eggs for her clutch and then stops laying then this is the point at which time she starts to set. Her goal is to have all the chicks hatch at about the same time. So she will move the eggs around under her to regulate growth. If the eggs were to all hatch on the 21st day after she went broody then the last egg she layed would only be 11 days of setting. So, you have to figure from the last day of laying and also figure that she is regulating all the eggs to obtain the same growth rate. So they may naturally go 22 to 25 days after the point of set.
Let nature take it's course. Mama always knows best.
If you have a few hatch and then no more hatch for a few days, then you might want to check to see if there is any movement. She will usually get off the eggs after 4 to 5 days so that she can be with the chicks that do hatch. At this point you can pretty much bet that she is done with that clutch.

 

[Amy's Animals]

We've had a heat wave these last couple weeks, about 100-105 every day for about 2 weeks. Could that have had something to do with it??? Sometimes I've noticed that she sat more next to the eggs then on them because of the heat, is this good or bad? I began counting the day after she layed her last egg and started setting, because she started setting at about 7:30 in the evening and I was told you count the next day as day 1 when they start setting in the afternoon or evening. She didn't even sit on her "clutch" until she became broody, I just left her eggs in the nest box because I wanted her to set on them and she fortunatly became broody and sat on the eggs. I really hope they'll hatch, but if they haven't hatched after day 25, I think I'll have to remove them as I don't want to kill my hen (it is possible, especially with this heat).

 

[saddina]

I'm having quail eggs hatch 5 days late today, so far 3 healthy chicks, I was getting to the cleaning out and I felt a chip missing, sure enough 12 hours later it's out, sometimes it takes a while to bust out of the egg.

 

[Amy's Animals]

Day 22...*sigh* still nothing. Altough I did notice one egg has cracks in the shell on the big end and small end that were subsurface cracks just yesterday, does that mean I've got one hatching??????????? What end of the egg do they "crawl" out of???

 

[FluffyColor]

Amy's Animals :

Day 22...*sigh* still nothing. Altough I did notice one egg has cracks in the shell on the big end and small end that were subsurface cracks just yesterday, does that mean I've got one hatching??????????? What end of the egg do they "crawl" out of???

Waiting..waiting...keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[JessaLynn]

I'm going threw the same thing right now.First broody hen and this is day 22!! Nothing yet still.All were put under her the same day and I did see movement before with them.Now they are solid with just air cell visible.

Yours hatch yet??????

 

[Amy's Animals]

Day 24, still nothing.....