day 21 and nothing

[Leslie In North Pole]

Yes, they quite often look like that if they are internally pipped. I have candled at that stage before.

You do need to remember that if your broody hen and your incubator both started with eggs at the same time, your broody will hatch a day earlier. If you think that you may have had some incubator temps that were a little low, it will slow down incubation causing a delayed hatch, this is normal. Your broody hens have thousands of generations of genetic memory to guide them, a good broody is hard to beat. Given the opportunity, you will be successful at this and you will be able to have great hatches. Don't give up on this one yet, you know what they say about counting your chicks before they hatch...

I know it is hard the first couple of times running an incubator. You want to do it right, you want all of the eggs to develop, you want to do everything you can to make every egg hatch out perfectly. The reality is you learn from trying and that you can do more by monitoring from a little bit of a distance than you can by hoovering over the bator.

 

[tbckaren]

I appreciate what you are saying here truly. The broody hens chicks were due today and mine (bator) were due Friday (except for two) I peeked in on the broody hen (gotta love her) and there is a gorgeous white silkie chick in there and another one that is black or blue?? I put the Jersey Giant chick in with them too and everybody is getting along okay. What a sight- my Buff Orpinton hen with a Jersey Giant and Silkie chicks!!

Still nothing from the incubator (other than the Jersey Giant chick that hatched Thursday night) If the others don't hatch by tommorow I guess it'll be time to open them up and figure out what happened.

 

[equine chick]

horse chick-anything going on today?

 

[horsechick]

nothing yet.
Have to candle and see whats up.
Bummed.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[horsechick]

Hi,
I candled it and still see a good sized air cell, but no movement.
I think its goner. . . .

We're at day 23-24 now.
When you guys loose them this far along do you crack open to see or just throw away?

Thanks so much!
Angela

 

[brooster]

try to do a c-section, carefully break off the air cell, then you will be able to see the chick, and if it is alive.

 

[horsechick]

Hi,
Ok just broke off and small hole and took flashlight, looked in, watched, no movement, I made the hole a little bigger, staying in air cell area. Still nothing, so I went ahead and opened.
It is dead but formed and everything, I noticed the yolks was not "all" the way inside of it yet.
Maybe humidity trouble?
Poor little guy!
Thanks,
Angela

 

[brooster]

You had the vent open right? If so, It as probably caused by a temp spike, or improper turning, you stoped turning the last three days right?

Well, you have more on the way.

 

[tbckaren]

Well I eggcropsied

the eggs in the bator. There is one that I couldn't be sure was dead but everybody else was, so I left the one egg in the bator. The dead chicks were fully developed, some smaller than others, none of them had pipped.
On a happier note

my broody hen has hatched 4 chicks so far, all were supposed to be silkies but the buff hen decided to lay 2 of her own eggs (which were fertilized by my Barred Rock rooster) so I now have 1 Jersey Giant chick, 2 Buff X Barred Rock chicks from my own flock, and two silkie chicks. Patience, my broody hen, still has 6 eggs in there but has booted one of them out. She has been nice enough to adopt our Jersey Giant chick.

Both hubby and I are debating where to go from here, do we order chicks? Order eggs again and put them under a broody hen? Hatch some of our own eggs in the bator (clearly we need more practice)

 

[hinkjc]

I am sorry that your chicks didn't hatch. I would review the troubleshooting guide for future reference. It sounds to me like temps were too low, which makes the chicks grow too slowly and eventually perish at or around hatch time without pipping thru the membrane. Only you would be familiar with other variables depending on where you got your eggs. http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/trouble.htm

Jody