Day 21 but Candled Eggs look only 17/18 Days - Urgent Help Please.

[Gypsy07]

Hi DrRob. Reading through your post made me think of a couple of things. Firstly, just checking, I take it your incubator is one with a fan in it? You don't say, and if it's a still air one, your temps should be higher. Secondly, have you checked that the thermometer you are using is accurate, and also that it's placed properly in the incubator to accurately measure the temperature that the eggs are at. I'm just thinking of the most basic things first, cause from your descriptions it sounds like your temps may be low. (And I'm just thinking of the mistakes I made at first...)

What happened with your first hatch? Was it similar to this one?

Also I have one of the Oxford/SIL/Lincu incubators and I'm thinking of upgrading to the RCom Suro or The Brinsea Advance. There's nothing really wrong with mine but the way it's designed makes it very difficult to disinfect and clean out properly. From what I've read, both the RComs and the Brinseas take apart for proper scrubbing. Plus the SIL is £120 for the 12 egg model with the auto turner, and the Suro20 is £135 for the 20 egg model with auto turning and full humidity control. If you can get a Suro for £100 I'd say go for it!

 

[DrRob]

Hi and Sorry for my vagueness - yes it has a fan to circulate the warm air about, I did regularly test the temperatures when I did a test run, it was giving an accurate reading using multiple thermometers.
I have now purchased the RCOM 20 and it is sat heating up at the moment, so hopefully future hatches will be improved.

Dr Rob.

 

[Gypsy07]

You weren't vague - I'm just pedantic. LOL! Okay, so it looks like your thermometer's good and you had your temps right. Is the measuring bulb bit of your thermometers at the same level as the tops of the eggs? I know that you're supposed to be able to put your thermometer anywhere in a fan assisted incubator as the circulating air means the temp is the same everywhere in the bator, but that's not always the case. I did three (not very successful) hatches in my SIL bator before I realised that the thermometer was badly placed a couple of inches above the eggs. When it read 99.5, the temp at the top of the eggs was only 98! I made the necessary adjustments and my next hatch was great.

Brinsea's troubleshooting guide gives these reasons for late hatchers:
- Big eggs
- Old parent birds
- Eggs stored for too long
- Bator temp too low
- Humidity too high
- Inbreeding and/or weak embryos

Bad hatches are dispiriting but at least you have the benefit of a regular supply of eggs from your own birds, so you can afford to experiment. If you're not squeamish, you can learn a lot from looking inside all your eggs after a bad hatch. This can give you valuable clues as to what went wrong. There's no sense in changing something unless you have good reason to suspect that that thing was what caused the bad hatch.There's no sense in changing to a dry hatch unless you're fairly sure your humidity was too high before. It pays to at least try to be scientific about it, not just random hit and miss changes.

Good luck with the RCom, I'd LOVE one of those!

 

[DrRob]

Thanks again Gypsy,

When I collected the RCOM 20 from the lady she let us have some hatching eggs of variousness, 6 Buff Pekin Bantams, Chocolate Orphingtons and a single duck egg, I also had 7 Bantam eggs from my own flock of Pekin Frizzle. I also removed my 2 - 13 day incubated eggs and 6 8 day incubated eggs from the polystyrene incubator and put them all into the RCOM - now I think " What have I done " maybe I should have just left the others in the old incubator and started afresh.
The remaining 4 22 day Bantam eggs I left in the old incubator to see if anything will happen but I feel that I may have lost them now as I have not heard any tapping for over 24 hours.
Something I did learn from the lady was I may have had the temperature in the old incubator too high as on the fact sheet I got when I bought it the instructions said to set it to 38 degrees centigrade - which I did but the RCOM is set to 36.7 (Which is what the lady who had it before had used successfully).

I will watch your staggered hatch with interest as I may need to use your expertise when mine are due.

It is so good to have someone who can help as my partner and I feel so helpless not having anyone to pose questions too.

Many thanks again.

Dr Rob.

 

[DrRob]

** UPDATE **

Its good news and bad news - out of the 4 left - I opened up the end to check the condition of the membrane to the air sac - I was black and smelly and like soupy - so I lost that one, one was fine and just about to pop through the air sac, and the other 2 I am not yet sure about but I think one is moving about inside and one is not so maybe I will get 2 out of the 4 which would be fantastic !!

Regards
Dr Rob.

 

[DrRob]

It is 4 am here in the UK and I am nursing my weak chick - I only managed to save one but he is a real fighter, here is the photo I just took - sorry it is a little blurred as I took it with him/her in the incubator.

Facebook photo: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150099302793396&set=a.392814953395.172486.758498395&theater

Regards
Dr Rob.

 

[ICanSpeakChicken]

Good luck DrRob

Ive seen a few temperatures mentioned on this thread and Im sure you know the correct temperature for a fan forced is 37.5 C

I have a RCom 20 and love it!!

 

[DrRob]

Unfortunately he/she did not make it - We have it our best shot but it was not to be this time !
Here is hoping for better luck now that all the eggs are in a more secure environment with the R-Com 20. Next 2 are due to hatch Next Saturday or there about - I will update everyone on how this goes.

I appreciate everyone's advice on this challenge.

Many thanks from
Dr Rob and the family
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