Day 23, No Signs Of Hatching - New Photos

[Honeycluckle]

Hello loves.

I put sixteen show silkie eggs in the incubator on the 2nd of February. By lockdown, I only had eight viable eggs. Not a surprise, since these eggs were shipped. It's now officially day 22 of incubation, and I have no pips, and I really couldn't be sure I have had movement. They seem to of remained in just about the same place.

They went into lockdown on day eighteen of their incubation, removing the turners so they could settle into their hatching positions, and they have had a steady temp of 37.7 celsius since lockdown (as per instructions provided by the breeder), and their humidity has stayed between 62-65 percent. I have not broke lockdown to candle, or otherwise check over the eggs. I have not heard any noise.

My question is.. how long should I maintain the lockdown before I try to check on them? They were candled the day of lockdown, and all eight that went into lockdown were seemingly exactly where they should be, mobile, and with good air pockets.

I have photos of their lockdown day candling, if that helps I will provide them as well. I know they can take a few extra days, but I want to be sure of what my next step should be if they do not pip soon?​

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMHO, without pipping you can check on them.
My first 3 guesses are:
that (regardless of your thermometer readings) temps may have been a bit low
Eggs were stored too long before being sent to you
Breeder nutrition was inadequate.

Possibly all three, as well as other causes.

 

[Honeycluckle]

IMHO, without pipping you can check on them.
My first 3 guesses are:
that (regardless of your thermometer readings) temps may have been a bit low
Eggs were stored too long before being sent to you
Breeder nutrition was inadequate.

Possibly all three, as well as other causes.

I cannot be certain of the latter two, but I did make sure to run my incubator for days prior to the eggs going in, and I put a stand alone temp/humidity gauge in to make sure it was reading the same temps the incubator was displaying- and rechecked it periodically up until lockdown with this method. It's always a possibility that the stand alone one was also inaccurate, but eh! I kept them at 38 celsius until lockdown, when I dropped it to 37.7 celsius and upped the humidity.

That's part of why I am worried to check them just yet- I don't want the humidity/temp drop to cause problems. Incubation is always such a wild ride, haha.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If no pipping has happened and you know you can quickly bring humidity back up, you can do a quick check.

ALL thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. Unless you have calibrated or checked it against a guaranteed accurate thermometer, you can rest assured it is probably wrong.

 

[Honeycluckle]

True enough, can only do so much with thermometers I suppose. Still going to recheck temps and stuff.

I think I will see about checking them this evening. It's day 23 now, with no pips or real signs of movement, so I think it's going to have to happen. If I can do it in a timely enough manner to take some candling photos, I will provide those.​

 

[ChickenCanoe]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

 

[Honeycluckle]

We took them out and candled.. I see no movement. Pretty sure they are lost. But here are photos, and I did place them back in for the moment until I get opinions..

I am honestly very down trodden about this, so if you intend to be harsh please reconsider. I am already upset enough at myself for all involved.

Ideas of where to go from here welcome..​