Day 27 - Did float test - questions? **update**

[JLS]

The eggs are on day 27. One hatched last night. I did a float test just now. Three eggs sank, the others floated to the top. What does that mean? If it sinks is it still good? What do I do now?
As a side note: the chick that hatched has deformed feet.

 

[JLS]

okay, I just searched and it appears that the floaters are the viable eggs!! Wow! That gives me hope. 14 eggs floated

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

I have never used the float test. If it floats, it means the air sac is larger.....not necessarily the chick is alive still. It could be, but it could also be dead.

Why day 27? Did you have power outages? Low temps?

If I have no pips, I candle on day 22 to look for movement or see if anyone has pipped internally. I have helped those on day 22-23, depending on what I see when I candle.

The longer the chick is in the shell past say day 23, the more likely it is to have foot issues, like curled toes.

 

[Gypsy07]

The float test really only tells you how much moisture the eggs lost during incubation. If they sink it means they hardly lost any moisture (think about putting an eating egg in water to see how fresh it is) and so were probably not fertile. If they float too high they lost too much moisture and any chick in there will be dried out and dead. If they just float a little bit out of the water that means that potentially you have a good chick in there. It DOESN'T tell you whether the chick developed fully to day 19 or so and then died. That scenario would give you a low floating egg too.

What you're really looking for is eggs that are low floating and jiggling about in the water, causing ripples. That means your chick is struggling to pip the shell and is doing its best to hatch out. By day 27 if you don't have wrigglers, I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be very optimistic for them all. I do hope I'm wrong though...

 

[For The Love of Peeps]

Hi There,

This is my experience with my setting hen's eggs. I did the float test about 2 months ago. I'm sorry...none of the floaters were even developed. We were so in hopes, for baby chicks, but I finally removed her eggs at about day 30, as they were beginning to have a "rotting" smell.

 

[puredelite]

Gypsy07 is spot-on with the info given, sinkers are eggs that are totally bad; floaters do have an air sac and the ones that jiggle should be quickly taken out and put back into the incubator. Sometimes curled toes( so I've been told) are caused by too high humidity during the first 18 days of incubation. I use LG's and since I began using the "dry hatch" method have had better hatches with no curled toes. Also too high humidity can cause the chicks to drown in the shell before hatching. Hope you do better on your next hatch! Charlie

 

[puredelite]

Oh, forgot to add that as it took the one chick that long to hatch your temps were probably too low in the 'bator. Best to use 2 or even 3 thermometers and average the readings....

 

[JLS]

So they are most likely dead? My humidity during the first 18 days was 50-52% Then I popped up the humidity. The humidity for the first day was 80% then I got it to drop to 70% and it has been very stable since then. The temp was 99.5F - 100.5F. I have a still air LG. I used an automatic turner up to day 18.

I have to go on a trip and I must move the incubator. Should I even bother??

 

[yinepu]

At this late stage here's what I would do

take each egg and carefully poke a hole in the air cell.. it won't kill the chick this far along.. but it will allow you to see if you have any internal pips.. if the chicks are alive, dead or just what

if they are bad you certainly do not want to leave them in the incubator while you are away.. you may come back to a very nasty surprise if you do

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
That's your problem right there. 99.5F is the temp you should be aiming for in a fan assisted bator. For a still air one, it should be (I think - please check this info!) 101.5F at the level of the tops of the eggs. You're still aiming to get the middle of the eggs up to 99.5F, but in a still air bator with no fan to whoosh the air around, you get what is known as thermal layering, where the air at the bottom of the bator is cooler than the air at the top. 101.5F at the tops of the eggs produces the right temperature inside the eggs.

Don't beat yourself up about it, but adjust your bator and try again. Incubation is difficult and most people take a few tries to get it right.

I'd say if your eggs aren't wriggling now, the chicks are most likely not viable. 27 days is pretty much the outside limit for eggs to hatch. Sorry.