Day 21 seeing nothing

[leahbean793]

This is my first batch of hatching chicks on my own. We have kept the humidity pretty consistent through the whole incubation period and upped it substantially once the chicks were in lockdown. Interestingly, we had one chick start hatching on day 19 and hatched fully that evening. I thought I heard others pipping that day as well but nothing since. We have now taken that chick out and he is doing well in the brooder but it is now day 21 of our hatch and I still see nothing from the other eggs. We did candle them and we had a few duds but most were all black with an air pocket in them that could be seen. I’m not sure why I’m not seeing any pips yet when the other one hatched so early. Any advice?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

This is my first batch of hatching chicks on my own. We have kept the humidity pretty consistent through the whole incubation period and upped it substantially once the chicks were in lockdown. Interestingly, we had one chick start hatching on day 19 and hatched fully that evening. I thought I heard others pipping that day as well but nothing since. We have now taken that chick out and he is doing well in the brooder but it is now day 21 of our hatch and I still see nothing from the other eggs. We did candle them and we had a few duds but most were all black with an air pocket in them that could be seen. I’m not sure why I’m not seeing any pips yet when the other one hatched so early. Any advice?

Did you calibrate a thermometer and keep inside the bator ?
Often the bator ones are not accurate and cause delays in hatching.
If there is no external pips I would open the bator and candle the eggs
See if babies are in the air cell yet

 

[fluffycrow]

Did you count day 1 as day 0? It's still day 21 though, don't stress about it, the can take longer than that

 

[leahbean793]

Did you calibrate a thermometer and keep inside the bator ?
Often the bator ones are not accurate and cause delays in hatching.
If there is no external pips I would open the bator and candle the eggs
See if babies are in the air cell yet

Yes we had a hygrometer to check humidity and it read temp too. It did read slightly below our temp on our incubator but we weren’t to worried about that because the incubator temp was fine and is a brinsea incubator and the hygrometer was a cheap one from Amazon. We did candle them recently when we removed the other chick and they looked all black with an air sac (many of them). But no pips today and it’s just odd that one hatched and the others didn’t yet.

 

[leahbean793]

Did you count day 1 as day 0? It's still day 21 though, don't stress about it, the can take longer than that

Yes we counted the first day as zero. And I hope so. I’m just confused why one hatched on day 19.

 

[MROO]

Yes we counted the first day as zero. And I hope so. I’m just confused why one hatched on day 19.

Just like any other baby, incubation/gestation can vary from one individual to another. Some breeds take longer, too. My Nankins (bantams) often hatch at 19 days, with holdouts making me wait as long as 24. It may have something to do with their placement in the incubator. It can also depend on the location of the air sac. Odd placement can mean a tougher pip-n-zip, which can take a lot longer to complete than usual.
Good Luck!

 

[leahbean793]

Just like any other baby, incubation/gestation can vary from one individual to another. Some breeds take longer, too. My Nankins (bantams) often hatch at 19 days, with holdouts making me wait as long as 24. It may have something to do with their placement in the incubator. It can also depend on the location of the air sac. Odd placement can mean a tougher pip-n-zip, which can take a lot longer to complete than usual.
Good Luck!

Thank you! Fingers crossed they hatch soon!

 

[CrazyBirdLady12]

Hatching takes time just like any other “birthing”. I’m on day 25 for 1 group and day 22 for the other group. Waiting is excruciating sometimes, especially when some have hatched already, but just be patient!