Day 23

[denimeggs]

My Hovabator ran at ~98 for a few days before I caught it. Now my hatch is at day 23 without a pip. When last candled at day 15, all eggs showed signs of development. What are my chances? How long should I give them? Is it bad for them to go so many days without being turned anymore? I have so many great breeds in there...

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Leave them alone an they will hatch in a day or two.

 

[denimeggs]

Day 24 and still holding.

 

[denimeggs]

Day 25 and nothing. How much longer should I give them before I give up on them altogether? What could have gone so wrong that it would kill all of the eggs? They all showed some early development by candling, but I'm not enough of an expert to measure progress and really say more than that. A day or two at 98 shouldn't have killed them ALL should it? They got to 98 because my husband had noticed that they had gotten to 102, and turned it down without notifying me to go back and re-check, but even 102 for a short period shouldn't be universally lethal like that should it? I hate my hovabator, the temperatures are always fluctuating. But the last hatch did alright even though one time they got to 103.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Its hard to say when to give up? I would open up one at a time when I did an stop if I found one alive. Ive never had none hatch at all.

 

[barnwife]

I would do a smaple candling today, honestly. They might be slow starters, but this is a little longer!

When you candle you should look for a definate air sack on one end and everything else should be dark as night...you MIGHT be able to see movement. If you touch your fingers to the eggs, also, you should be able to feel light taps or movement in the shell. If you do, you might want to candle to see which end has the air sac, and make a tiny itsy hole on one end by gently tapping it or scraping it with a sewing needle or fishhook.

If it stinks, they are done for.

Another way to tell is to sniff each egg. If they stink a LOT, toss em. If they smell like a cooking omlette, keep em, and try one of the other methods.

It is definately time to do something to be able to avoid exploded eggs in your bator!

and 98 should not have hurt the eggs, just retarded the development a smidge.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

[denimeggs]

I left them until 1 week late. Then opened them. Most showed NO development, even though we thought we saw blood vessels when candling. None smelled particularly bad. Now I wonder if my thermometer was wrong and they were never warm enough? These eggs came from 2 different breeders and were carefully hand carried home in order to reduce post office trauma.

 

[barnwife]

you might be right about the thermometer. I use at least three to check the temps several times daily. It really helps when you have three to know if one of them is going bad....which can and does happen.

I am sorry for yourr loss. I hope your next try goes better!

 

[Backyard Farm]

So sorry for your loss.

It can be a number of things... or a combination.

...no matter the cause... so sad!!