Did I kill a chick?

[LongRanch]

This is my first time incubating (with a homemade incubator) and I counted three weeks as opposed to 21 days... Stupid me.... Three weeks has us at Friday so I thought we were overdue. I float tested them, and only two of the seven were viable, so we started cracking open the dead ones. After three obviously undeveloped fetuses, I got a fully formed chick with feathers -- obviously it was too small and not developed quite enough to make it. It wasn't moving but it looked so perfect, I don't know if I mistook the pulse in my thumb for a heartbeat when I felt... So I counted and realized we are on day 17. Was it already dead?? It would have been moving etc if it was alive right?? I feel like an idiot. Does the float test work this early? I put the last remaining 'dead' egg back in the incubator for now...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This is my first time incubating (with a homemade incubator) and I counted three weeks as opposed to 21 days... Stupid me.... Three weeks has us at Friday so I thought we were overdue. I float tested them, and only two of the seven were viable, so we started cracking open the dead ones. After three obviously undeveloped fetuses, I got a fully formed chick with feathers -- obviously it was too small and not developed quite enough to make it. It wasn't moving but it looked so perfect, I don't know if I mistook the pulse in my thumb for a heartbeat when I felt... So I counted and realized we are on day 17. Was it already dead?? It would have been moving etc if it was alive right?? I feel like an idiot. Does the float test work this early? I put the last remaining 'dead' egg back in the incubator for now...

Float tests in my opinion are fairly useless. For one, the only certainty with the float test is that if an egg floats and wiggles on it's own it is a viable chick. However, an egg that floats and doesn't move is not for certain dead nor is a sinker. People have reported eggtopsying sinkers to find a still alive chick. Second, float tests should only be done after the day 21 mark as a fully developed chick is going to have a higher probability of showing movement in the water. (Of course this same movement should be noticeable during candling and handling, at least to a small degree.)

 

[LongRanch]

So do you think this one was dead because it wasn't moving? God I hope so

I thought we were two days overdue...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So do you think this one was dead because it wasn't moving? God I hope so

I thought we were two days overdue...

Well. It's possible. But here's a secret, almost all of us at one time have made the mistake of opening an egg that we thought was a quitter to find that we were wrong. I did it myself in my very first hatch 2 years ago. I felt like crap. There's nothing you can do, but move on. I considered it a learning experience (albeit a hard one) because that stopped me from pulling eggs after day 10 of incubation until after hatch unless it stinks or leaks.

When you set eggs, you consider day 21 the same day 3 weeks ahead. So if I set on a Friday I count ahead three Fridays (or count 21 days starting 24 hours after set) and that should be the prospective hatch day if temps are good. Set on a Friday, they should hatch on a Friday.

Sorry you had that experience. It's a hard one to go through.

 

[LongRanch]

Thanks, we did set on a Friday, so they should have hatched Fri? This makes me feel better... That chick was not full term... So how many days should I wait for my overdue ones to hatch? We went camping for two days and I wasn't able to monitor temp, I left the lid open a bit more on purpose so they'd be too cool as opposed to getting too hot while we were gone, so I knew there'd be a chance we'd go over... I don't see movement but I didn't leave them in the water long enough to see, I was too paranoid lol

 

[LongRanch]

Wait, once again I'm counting the first fri.. So if I count ahead three weeks, they'd be due this upcoming fri... Crap...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks, we did set on a Friday, so they should have hatched Fri? This makes me feel better... That chick was not full term... So how many days should I wait for my overdue ones to hatch? We went camping for two days and I wasn't able to monitor temp, I left the lid open a bit more on purpose so they'd be too cool as opposed to getting too hot while we were gone, so I knew there'd be a chance we'd go over... I don't see movement but I didn't leave them in the water long enough to see, I was too paranoid lol

Past day 24 and the chances of having healthy chicks hatch is significantly lower. The farther you get away from that day 21 the less probability you are looking at. If you set on Friday then your expected hatch day would be three Fridays after. I couldn't pull the plug if I saw any signs of life, but I wouldn't hold out much hope after day 23. How long you want to wait is up to you.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Wait, once again I'm counting the first fri.. So if I count ahead three weeks, they'd be due this upcoming fri... Crap...

If you set June 10th- hatch day would be July 1st
If you set June 3rd hatch day would have been the 24th.

 

[LongRanch]

I probably killed it then

Ugh I feel so bad. It wasn't moving at all though... Wouldn't it move at 5 days premature? I can't believe I miscounted by a week... Guess I will know better next time....

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I probably killed it then

Ugh I feel so bad. It wasn't moving at all though... Wouldn't it move at 5 days premature? I can't believe I miscounted by a week... Guess I will know better next time....

Hard to say. If there was still thick veining, it's a good possibility. Sorry. Hope things go better next time.