Did I mess up?

[Alleyoops25]

I had 42 eggs in a incubator, one hatched on the 19th day, and one on the 20th. Today is the 21st and there arent any eggs pipping. My 4 yr. old boy lifted the lid on the incubator. He couldn't really see in side of it and he lifted the lid, that happend last night. And it wasnt off for to long, the humidity did drop and I added more water to bring it back up to 75%. And Like I said no more chicks are pipping, (cracking) through the shell. Did this screw up the hatch? Is there any thing else I can do to help the hatch a long? And the one that hatched out on the 19th day really need to be moved to the brooder, where it or they can get some food and water, Is this safe to do with out hurting the eggs that I hope are starting to hatch? Any thoughts or words of wisdom would be great. Thanks

 

[justusnak]

I dont think you messed up.....some just take a few days longer to hatch! Fire up the brooder, and get those babies in there. Just be quick....trying not to let the heat and humidity drop too much. I would say let the eggs go for a few more days....maybe at day 24, candle them to make sure they are still alive. Good luck, and congrats on the 2 that hatched! Let us know what happens!

 

[BeckyLa]

Yep. What Deb said. I totally agree.

 

[Alleyoops25]

Thanks for the input justusnak and BeckyLA. I really hope that I hatch more than 2 out of 42 eggs that I have in there. This is the 4th or fifth time trying to hatch. The first time I hatched out a bunch of babies that had the guts on the out side of their bodies. YUCK. Then the next few times I didnt get any eggs to hatch at all. I figured out that where I had them the sun light would hit them in the morning hours. So I moved the incubator to a different place. That help and now I hope that the lid getting taklen off might have crewed things up this time. I will wait for a few days and see what happens.Thanks.

 

[justusnak]

With today being only day 21.....just have patience. With the lid being take off....it is likely they will hatch late...its hard, I know, to waite...but have faith!

 

[silkiechicken]

Often when I end up hatching, I open it tons of times... matter of fact, I dont add any water to the incubator and let it run dry for the last week of incubation! Works great for me. By opening it up once to get a better look and once to move the hatched chicks, no harm done. Just gotta do the waiting game.

Good luck! I hope more peeps make it out. When did you last candle?

 

[Alleyoops25]

SO how long do you think I need to wait. I moved the two that have hatched into the brooder. And I candled a few of the eggs here a few minutes ago. I see blood veins, but I cant tell wether or not they are alive. I thought I finally had this thing figured out when the first two hatched, now I am not so sure. How can I tell if any of the chicks that have not hatched yet are still alive?? And I dont think I could go with out any humidity,as where I live there is not any moisture, I guess I will wait a day or two and see. If nothing else hatches, I will start all over agian.

 

[silkiechicken]

Alrite, close it up and keep the humidity and temp up till day 25. Wait and see is all you can do now. If you just candeled and saw blood veins, it may still be alive and taking it's sweet time. Blood veins disappear if the chick has died because blood sinks to the bottom of the egg and embryo. Good luck!

 

[Alleyoops25]

Thanks silkiechicken, it seems you are always there answering my questions. Are YOu following me??

Just kidding. Anyway I will go ahead and wait and see what happens, it would be great to have more chcks. The two that hatched are wild little guys. Every time I put my hand in the brooder they chase it, and try to eat my wedding off. I dont know if it is because they are early or if they are a smaller breed (mixed chickens) but these poor little guys feet kept falling through the wire bottom of the brooder. So I ended up put a good deal of cedar bedding in with them. Anyway they seem to be doing good so far. I will keep you guys posted. Anyway its getting close to mid night here and I need to get to bed so we can go to a family 4th of july family tomarrow. When dealing with family I need all the rest I can get.

 

[silkiechicken]

Haha, I just follow the posts on the most recent post list! Good luck!