Day 21 and no signs of babies:(

[Chickenlady1440]

This is my first time to hatch eggs in an incubator. On day 15, our power went out for five hours. I was worried about the chicks, however, I candled a few and saw some movement. Today is day 21 and I do not see any signs of the babies. I put a few eggs under a broody hen one day earlier than I put the eggs in the incubator and all of those eggs under the broody hen have already hatched. Should I be worried? Do some eggs hatch after day 21 in an incubator?

 

[SavKel&RynKel]

If you can guarantee none have pipped yet i would open it up and candle one. Sounds bad to me, but yes they can come out late. Maybe that temp drop only slowed them down a bit...

 

[lazy gardener]

I would not intervene until AFTER tomorrow. Are you sure you counted your days right? If they went in on a Monday, they should hatch on a Monday. You had a power outage, so I would not expect to see them until Tuesday. Did you calibrate your thermometer and your hygrometer? If you did not calibrate, all bets are off.

 

[naf_appaz]

Did you count day one as the day you started incubator? common mistake as that would be day 0....hang in there I have dealt with power outs just as long and longer and still had success, I always pile up some towels for insulation when it happens, how cool did your incubator get during power out?

 

[MelissaRose]

I've heard that if they get cooled down for a while it can delay them by twenty-four hours
I just had a chick hatch on the twenty third day perfectly fine!
hope they hatch

 

[Chickenlady1440]

Ok! I counted the day I put them in the incubator as day one. I put them in on a Tuesday. It was April 3. I miss counted and they should be born tomorrow then?? Thank you for everyone’s input!

 

[Morrigan]

It depends a lot on your incubator. If it is slightly on the low temperature side, they may hatch on day 22 or even 23. And, getting chilled during incubation will add time as well. I would not start worrying, or candling, until the end of day 22, at the earliest.

And, yes, make sure you are counting the days correctly. For example, if you put your eggs in the incubator, say on Monday, April 2, at noon, day 21 would START, on Monday, April 23rd at noon. And it is still day 21, until Tuesday, April 24th at noon.

Edited to add: I missed your last post while as was typing. It sounds like you've sorted out the counting issue.

 

[MelissaRose]

I think that's correct

 

[bobbi-j]

Sometimes eggs hatch later in an incubator. It could be that the temperature was a little low, or your power outage delayed the hatch a bit. No need to panic just yet. Under perfect conditions (as in, under a broody hen) eggs are more likely to hatch “on time” than in an incubator. Lots of artificially incubated eggs do hatch at 21 days, but there are also many variables that can affect a hatch. I’d give it at least a couple of more days before getting too concerned.

 

[Noah209]

Hey so I'm new to all of this and this is my first time. My broody hen has been sitting on the eggs for the past 21 days and there are no pips yet, do they usually hatch on day 21