Day 22- No pips, movement, or peeps

[PantherWaltz]

So I put some eggs to hatch on the 4th. These were the last fertilized eggs from my rooster, and I was hoping to get some of his kids (we had to get rid of him because he was picking on one of our hens.)

Everything seemed well, heartbeats and Development seemed to match. This was day 18.

It is now towards the end of day 22, and nothing. I decided to go make the bathroom humid, and bring them there to candle. All don't seem to match development, I don't think I saw any movement, and the air cell seems small. There is 1 egg that seems to match development, and has a large air cel, but no peeps when I tapped it.

I'd be happy if even 1 hatched, but I'm loosing hope. I know, story as old as time.

I think that maybe I messed up with the humidity, I put 2 cups of water in the incubator for the entire time to ensure it was very humid. I'm reading now that that was probably a mistake, and I might have drowned most of them.

I'll add photos when I have the chance

 

[DemeterAD9]

Small air cells and failure to hatch does sound like too high humidity. I prefer to dry incubate and only add water during lockdown.

What was the humidity % during incubation and lockdown?

 

[PantherWaltz]

Small air cells and failure to hatch does sound like too high humidity. I prefer to dry incubate and only add water during lockdown.

What was the humidity % during incubation and lockdown?

I don't have a humidity thermometer, and the incubator doesn't show that, so honestly no idea, but I'd guess pretty high since the water needed to be replaced every 3 days and there was always condensation when I would open it up

 

[DemeterAD9]

Hmm well sounds like it was indeed a humidity problem if there was condensation throughout incubation. Sorry it didn’t work quite as planned I’d give them another day or 2 then start opening them up to make sure they are indeed gone. Always be careful when checking unhatched eggs just in case you have a live one. Start at the air cells end, if there is movement then there is life.

Next time be sure to have something to read humidity and temp so you can make sure they are on track. Depending on the incubator, temp of 99.5-101 and humidity 30-40% for the first 18 days then up to 60-70% for lockdown until hatch is the general consensus for wet hatching.

 

[PantherWaltz]

Hmm well sounds like it was indeed a humidity problem if there was condensation throughout incubation. Sorry it didn’t work quite as planned I’d give them another day or 2 then start opening them up to make sure they are indeed gone. Always be careful when checking unhatched eggs just in case you have a live one. Start at the air cells end, if there is movement then there is life.

Next time be sure to have something to read humidity and temp so you can make sure they are on track. Depending on the incubator, temp of 99.5-101 and humidity 30-40% for the first 18 days then up to 60-70% for lockdown until hatch is the general consensus for wet hatching.

Mine is forced air so I think that means it doesn't need to be on the higher end of that temperature, I had it at 37.7 - 38.0 Celsius which according to the guide it came with Is Right (I didn't know how to change it to Fahrenheit.)

I'll probably try a dry hatch next time, only adding water at the end.

Hopefully at least number two hatches

 

[PantherWaltz]

Here are all the eggs, as well as a good shot of their air cells. (Also #5 seems to have 2?)

5-7 are newer, and should be on day 19

 

[DemeterAD9]

1 and 2 are the only ones looking like they have a mostly developed chick in them. All the others look like they may have died around day 8 or so as I see no clear veins. A chick should fill almost the entire egg by day 18 so the egg should be nearly completely dark. Something else may have been the problem if they were dying off early on. I’d not trust the temperature reading on the incubator, best to have a second or even third thermometer to make sure. My cheap bator is off by a few degrees so I have to keep tabs on it with an aquarium thermometer.

These are from my last hatch, day 19-20ish. Only visible veins are right near the air cells. The last one was shadowing, indicating it was internally pipped.

These are at day 7 or so. Dark spot is the eye, veins clear are spreading towards the pointy end.

 

[PantherWaltz]

Thank you! Well hopefully 1 and 2 are able to make it. Should I just toss the rest? I'm guessing an issue might be because some of the eggs had been washed before I decided to try hatching. Some were also pretty old, so that probably was a reason.

 

[DemeterAD9]

Age could definitely be a factor as could the washing. I’d toss the rest for sure, they may start stinking soon. Just double check for movement and toss if you don’t see anything.

 

[PantherWaltz]

I candled the rest and there was no movement, opened them up and yep they were very undeveloped. One of them had liquid in the air cell in fact. Oh well, hopefully these last two make it