Day 26 of Incubation

[Dezchickenmama]

I had 5 viable eggs in my incubator going into lockdown—one hatched on day 21. It’s now day 26 and the other 4 have not hatched. 3 of them are still moving around a ton. Should I just keep waiting? Is this something anyone has dealt with before? Thank you!

 

[sourland]

Is there any possibility they were incubated at a low temperature? Did you check/calibrate the incubator thermometer?

 

[Dezchickenmama]

Is there any possibility they were incubated at a low temperature? Did you check/calibrate the incubator thermometer?

I did! And I have a separate thermometer and hydrometer in there as well. A couple times temp dropped to 98 but I have checked diligently and corrected every time, so no drastic drops for any significant period of time. I am so stumped!

 

[Debbie292d]

I had 5 viable eggs in my incubator going into lockdown—one hatched on day 21. It’s now day 26 and the other 4 have not hatched. 3 of them are still moving around a ton. Should I just keep waiting? Is this something anyone has dealt with before? Thank you!

It does seem strange but you still see movement so I'd leave them alone.

We had late hatchers once and my issue was the temp gauge was off. Got a bigger incubator, that one was off too. We wound up buying 2 Govees and another set of two other brand thermometer/hygrometers.

 

[Dezchickenmama]

My sad update: I gently opened the shells up on day 27 and they were all dead. Perfectly formed chicks, but the membrane was shrink wrapped. My humidity must have dipped when I removed the one hatched chick. Next time I’ll intervene sooner.