Day 23 of first Incubation Attempt

[NEHorse]

Hey guys! First off, hello! This is my very first post. I will make a proper introduction shortly.

I am trying to hatch a small bundle of chicken eggs for the first time. These eggs are from my own hens, who were exposed to a rooster.

Tonight is night 23, and I hear no sounds, and see no movement. I gave each egg a very little wiggle, and one was sloshy. I tossed it right away. The others seem solid.

As far as candling, I'm not really sure what to look for this late in the game. When I first put them in there, I could see lots of veins, and half way through, it was easy to see the little developing black thing, with a good air sack in each egg. Now, two of them appear completely solid when I candle them, the others just have a lot of dark space near the top.

I am using a styrofoam incubator that I got from Tractor Supply, turning daily by hand. Temp is 99.5ish (not a digital thermometer) and humidity was at around 30%. I stopped turning on day 19.


I'm just wondering if there is still hope... how long should I wait before I actually open an egg and look? I'm very eager, but certainly don't want to open one up before its ready. But I don't want to wait too long either, if there is a chance they need help.


Help! I'm a first timer, and have no idea what to do!

 

[Nsampsel]

OK...here's what I would do:

Check closely for pips, watch for rocking eggs & when it gets dark enuf, candle them. Unless they are very dark or blue you should be able to easily see the air cell. Babies getting ready to hatch will be pushing at that air cell & you will be able to see it when you candle. Sometimes you will just see the membrane move & sometimes you will be able to actually see the beak in the air cell. If you candle them more than 2-3 times & see NO movement what-so-ever, and you are past 25 days I think you can probably consider them dead. However, if there is movement, let them do their thing. I have seen people have chicks hatch as late as day 28 if temps were running low.

 

[NEHorse]

Hey guys. Wanted to pop in and let you all know that none of the eggs made it.

I opened them up this morning. Two of them were fully developed, but dead. The others had stopped developing very early, to half way through.

Any insight on why this is? Could I have done something wrong?