Day 21 only 5 out of 18 hatched

[ALong12]

I have never had this big of a failure, ever! Of course I’ve always incubated my own eggs instead of buy from another source, but as we all do... I wanted to add a different breed
so started with 24 down to lockdown 18 alive 100% Temp perfect 99.5 throughout, humidity first 18 45%, then upped to 60-65 sometimes it’d drop a little lower when I wasn’t home but never below 55

6 hatch on day 19 & 20, 1 died with wry neck even after trying to save.
The last remaining eggs in the incubator are at day 22... I see a slight bit of movement from a couple... how long do y’all usually wait until calling the hatch quits...

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Sorry to hear that the hatch didn't go as well as hoped. Were they shipped eggs?

I consider +2 days to be within the realm of a "normal" hatching timeframe for chicken eggs. At day 24, though, I'd candle unhatched eggs without too much hope that they'd hatch; I know it's possible, but in my experience, not likely...especially if the incubator wasn't running low temps during incubation.

Hope you get more healthy chicks out of the remaining eggs (could still happen!) and congrats on the 5 that already hatched!

 

[ALong12]

Sorry to hear that the hatch didn't go as well as hoped. Were they shipped eggs?

I consider +2 days to be within the realm of a "normal" hatching timeframe for chicken eggs. At day 24, though, I'd candle unhatched eggs without too much hope that they'd hatch; I know it's possible, but in my experience, not likely...especially if the incubator wasn't running low temps during incubation.

Hope you get more healthy chicks out of the remaining eggs (could still happen!) and congrats on the 5 that already hatched!

No, were not shipped... I bought them from a lady just north of me, we met each other about half way
She said she turned everyday after being hatched, I left them settle for 6 hours before putting in incubator, she said this was a ultra rare breed super blues... eggs were porous in my opinion, she just told me this morning with this breed they only have a 30-50% hatch rate ... if I would have know that, I would not have spent $30 on 2 dozen eggs ... lesson learned I guess

 

[ALong12]

Just a update, the little 5 are doing well, happy & healthy- even the one with cross beak, hopefully she can live a good life, yes it has worsened BUT she’s still eating, drinking & thriving

 

[Mosey2003]

Considering she flat told you she hasn't gotten better than a 50% hatch rate, that's probably most of the problem. She's bred them for their egg color alone and has let hatchability decline. If I were you, I'd get a good, completely unrelated blue egg layer male for them if you choose to breed this blue line, a little hybrid vigor should help the hatchability. And if you get enough non-porous eggs to be choosy, you could also select for that as well.

 

[ALong12]

Considering she flat told you she hasn't gotten better than a 50% hatch rate, that's probably most of the problem. She's bred them for their egg color alone and has let hatchability decline. If I were you, I'd get a good, completely unrelated blue egg layer male for them if you choose to breed this blue line, a little hybrid vigor should help the hatchability. And if you get enough non-porous eggs to be choosy, you could also select for that as well.

Already have a EE egg layer plus my own thats about to hatch in 10-13 days
so hopefully that will fix it