Day 22 - sad, sad day - any help for a newbie?

[sjutton]

We homeschool + we're studying birds + I grew up on a farm with chickens = sweet daughter raking leaves like a maniac to buy her own incubator.

The whole family (parents, grandparents and great grandparents) were counting down the days to "Chickee Day"... it was yesterday.

Today we still have 12 eggs in our incubator. Our temperature has been a constant 99.5. We have only opened it to add water. The eggs came from a local free range chicken farm with LOTS of roos!

What went wrong? We have heard nothing from the eggs. (I stopped calling them chickees last night)

I have read lots of the posts and pages here on this site. The only difference we can find is the lady we got the eggs from had put oil on them. We haven't read to do that anywhere else. She seems knowledgeable but her "girls" hatch the eggs for her. She hasn't used an incubator. Did the oil block the pores in the shell?

We want to try again. Any helpful advice? The eggs will stay put for another week to make sure but I think I've just got 12 rotten eggs sitting in the computer room!

HELP!?!

 

[BirdBrain]

Have you candled them to see if there is any development? There are some wonderful sites that show development of eggs each day up to hatch. If there is development in your eggs, it is possible that your temps may have been on the low side (like in the night) when you weren't aware of it and they are taking longer to hatch. The oil doesn't sound like a great idea to me. I would try again with UN-oiled eggs.

 

[sjutton]

We did not candle.

We weren't sure if we would know what we were looking for anyway! I think we will try again and request no oil. It can't be that important since it's not mentioned anywhere else I've read.

 

[MissPrissy]

The eggs can absorb through the shell. I have never heard of eggs being oiled before incubating.

I am even terrified if marking the eggs with anything but a pencil. (I do know of people who have marked them with a marker who had less than good hatch rates.) The change in temps when washing an egg can cause contanimates and bacteria from the outside to be pulled into the inside through the shell. So for hatching eggs I use the utmost precautions.

You can candle the eggs and see what is there, if you see dark spots you will at least know the eggs where fertile and started developing to some point. If they are clear and you just see the shadow of the yolk floating you'll know the development never even began.

If the eggs are clear you might even want to crack them to see if they were even fertile. Just because a roo is thrown into the mix it doesn't mean he is doing his job.

Better luck next time!

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi and welcome!
That is really sad

I've never heard of oiling eggs, but if I had to guess --- I'd say that was your downfall.
Are you using a still-air incubator or an incubator with a fan? Temp is 99.5 for bator w/ fan and 101.5 for still-air (at egg height).

Lisa

 

[sjutton]

Thank you MissPrissy!

I am more convinced than ever that the problem was the oil...or at least part of it!

Now if I can just convince my 8 year old that we need to toss these! She was distraught yesterday about just throwing away the "chickees"!

 

[sjutton]

Used the "Little Giant" with the fan and the automatic egg turner.

 

[Basia]

If you candle and find nothing...
Lessons learned (could be good for your daughter... "never count your chickens before they hatch"...) List all of the do's and don'ts...
No oil.. No soap.. No Toxic markers - better none at all...
Learn new things .. like.. What to do when they hatch... Temps, shelf liner, how long to leave them in the bator before the brooder... what to do if they pip and stop... do you want to help knowing what can happen?...
So many things to learn and discuss. We are all still learning and helping eachother. Life is an unpredictable addiction! And we all got it!
Then Sterilize the bator and get fresh "non-oiled" "non-washed" eggs.
Check with your local 4H for someone else close by if you don't think the eggs were fertile to begin with... or there are allot of great people here with real fertile eggs LOL
Good Luck
and welcome to the addiction!

 

[MissPrissy]

You are welcome.

Pssstt - you do know there are people here who will ship you awesome eggs? Pick a breed and ask around - you will get eggs fast LOL

 

[sjutton]

Any recommendations for a breed which is "easier" to hatch and care for?