Day 23.... And still no pips

[danahud]

This is our first try at incubating eggs. It is actually a project for my daughters homeschool science curriculum.
Anyway..... We set 9 eggs. All were fertilized upon egg disection which is a positive point I suppose, but all but 2 have died in the shell.
The 2 remaining eggs are at day 23. I water candled the eggs yesterday and there is still a lot of movement inside the eggs. Should I be optimistic at this point or go ahead and try a new batch?
I know we made a really big mistake.... This is a still air incubator and the eggs were incubated at around 99.5 for most of the incubation process until I read that I should set a still air at a higher temp... Would the lower temps cause the embryos to begin developing and then just stop?
I've had several very successful hatches from broody hens, so I know it's not my breeding stock.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Yes, drastic difference of temp will effect the hatch rate. It's good that you caught that before the entire hatch was over. 99.5 F is the egg temp. With still air people find 101.5 F measured at top level of eggs is best. The air temperature is layered in still airs.

People have hatched chicks as late as day 28. I don't put out much hope after day 25. Many miscount the days by counting 1 on day one. It's actually 24 hours later. Easy method for due date is same day of week you set three weeks later is day 21. Low temp delays hatch and higher temp speeds it. When you get to where the eggs start hatching day 20 and finish day 22 you know your running the proper temperature. No matter what your thermometer says, rarely accurate, if strattling day 21 that's the temp and level of measure you'll always use.

BTW, what is a water candle?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I do trust oral thermometers and have been thinking of an easy way to use one with a still air. We're not far past Easter so you probably have a plastic egg hanging around. Drill/cut a whole in fat end to be able to add water and take a temperature. Glue or plumber putty the two pieces together so it's water tight. Fill with warm water and put it in a egg holder along with your eggs and allow many hours for it to get up to temp. Take the temperature of the water in egg with your oral thermometer. When you get to 99.5 F that's the temp to run your incubator no mater what your other thermometer reads.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This is our first try at incubating eggs. It is actually a project for my daughters homeschool science curriculum.
Anyway..... We set 9 eggs. All were fertilized upon egg disection which is a positive point I suppose, but all but 2 have died in the shell.
The 2 remaining eggs are at day 23. I water candled the eggs yesterday and there is still a lot of movement inside the eggs. Should I be optimistic at this point or go ahead and try a new batch?
I know we made a really big mistake.... This is a still air incubator and the eggs were incubated at around 99.5 for most of the incubation process until I read that I should set a still air at a higher temp... Would the lower temps cause the embryos to begin developing and then just stop?
I've had several very successful hatches from broody hens, so I know it's not my breeding stock.

Deja vous. We did our very first incubation attempt as a project for our Oviparous animal study for homeschool as well. I say attempt, because like you, the first wasn't a big success. In my case I trusted a brand new thermometer w/o checking it. We went into lockdown with 17 chicks bouncing in their eggs, but day 21 came and went then day 22 and day 23 was turning into day 24 when we had an internal peeping and soon we had a pip. On day 24 our first ever chick hatched and a second had pipped. The second hatched on day 25, but he was very weak and didn't make it. After that I gave up (and I regret it now, but w/o eggtopsying them) and threw the rest out. I was so dissapointed. Happy we got one, we went to spoiling him. A couple weeks later we decided, though I was not intending to, to try again and we would start raising our own chickens. (Honestly never had an interest in chickens until we hatched one.) First thing we did was bought 3 new thermometers and checked the previous one. (It was 6 degrees off!!!) Now, armed with 3 thermometers and a whole lot more research. We set about to do another hatch, (this time with the low humidity incubation method, as described here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity ) and new thermometers. We've had nothing but good hatches since. I hope you do try again, because it's so worth the trial and error to get that first successful hatch.

BTW, what is a water candle?

The "float test" where you place the egg in a bowl of warm water and watch to see if it floats and moves to signify movement and life within the egg.

 

[danahud]

I will just chalk it all up to rookie mistakes. I bought another digital thermometer and hygrometer as well. Great idea with the easter egg full of water! I have my fingers crossed we will see something.
Even with out chicks hatching the process has been very educational for my daughter still. We have eggtopsied every quitter and she has been very interested to see each stage of development.
I put my ameracauna roo back in witht the girls so in a week we will try again. Im too stubborn not to!

 

[danahud]

So i did the float test this morning and there was no movement from one of the eggs so i candled it. The air cell is huge and the chick is clearly out of room.
I saw what looked to be a shadow in the air cell. Could this be a result of the air cell pulling away from the egg since it has been incubated for 24 days now?
uggggghhhhh.....
on a positive note my hens eggs have the bullseye again so i will be able to try another batch soon.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So i did the float test this morning and there was no movement from one of the eggs so i candled it. The air cell is huge and the chick is clearly out of room.
I saw what looked to be a shadow in the air cell. Could this be a result of the air cell pulling away from the egg since it has been incubated for 24 days now?
uggggghhhhh.....
on a positive note my hens eggs have the bullseye again so i will be able to try another batch soon.

Usually a shadow in the air cell is the beak's shadow which means that the chick internally pipped. It's possible that it internally pipped and died. If it's at day 24 I would mark the egg where you see the shadow and make a small hole on the mark and see if it's the beak and if there's any kind of movement/life left. If there is you can always wrap a wet paper towel around the back of the egg and stick it back in the bator, if not then you aren't holding out hope for something that isn't going to happen.

 

[danahud]

I did what you suggested and there was no sign of life .... The chick still hadn't absorbed the yolk yet and it was so big there was no room left for it in the shell.... Incubation round 2 will begin on Sunday so wish me luck!
Also have you or anyone else had any luck converting a lg9300 from still air to forced air using anything but the lg brand fan??? They seem to be ridiculously expensive for such a tiny addition!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I did what you suggested and there was no sign of life .... The chick still hadn't absorbed the yolk yet and it was so big there was no room left for it in the shell.... Incubation round 2 will begin on Sunday so wish me luck!
Also have you or anyone else had any luck converting a lg9300 from still air to forced air using anything but the lg brand fan??? They seem to be ridiculously expensive for such a tiny addition!

Yeah, they are, especially for how good they do..lol I know people have successfully used computer tower fans in incubators.

Good luck on your next hatch.

 

[danahud]

My hubby successfully wired a 6 dollar computer fan into the bator. I just set 8 more eggs, but dummy me set them at the still air temp!!! I'm such a dummy!!!
Anyway I quickly realized my mistake and am slowly bringing the temp back down to a reasonable level.