Egg I was SURE was dead... isn't. What do I do with the giant hole in the eggshell?!

[JDCampbell73]

I’m so sorry
I’m waiting for my lone chick to hatch also. I’m worried she may not make it, so I understand the anxiety and sadness.

 

[LynnaePB]

I'm so sorry your little one didn't make it and you're having to cope with so much right now.

I agree it's not your fault. I really doubt she would have been able to hatch, she looks much younger than a chick due to hatch, more like 14-16 days. Even if you miscalculated the dates her chances would still have been very slim with all the other eggs having already quit.

I'm sure with some good local eggs and a reliable incubator you can turn those hatch rates around!

 

[chickens really]

What happens if you assist before they internally pip is they drown or just die because they are premature. Don't beat yourself up but waiting longer is always recommended..

 

[Lizzy733]

It's a shame to hear the little one didn't make it, but hatching, especially with an incubator is difficult even for experienced owners. It's kinda one of those higher tier husbandry things with a learning curve; lots of trial and error. I've left the work up to a broody so far and even she made mistakes the first time around and tried to throw out viable eggs, so it happens.
Chickens are both hardy and fragile creatures; these things happen and there's no use playing the blame game with yourself as other factors out of your hands like shipment handling or parent stock quality will have contributed as well.

 

[Tatuana]

It's not your fault. If it was meant to hatch, it would have done so already. Odds are, it was not strong enough to survive. And in any case, it's hard to raise a lone chick. They need friends!

Don't give up just yet. Incubating is tricky business under the best of circumstances. Which incubator are you using? Some brands are more successful than others. And as previously posted, odds are much much better with local eggs rather than shipped ones.

I have a Janoel. I can't find any 'fancy breed' local mixes I can drive to get. I've had to resort to buying online. I did try local eggs once. I think I got... four? out of that batch. my first hatch was 3, then I THINK 3 or 4. Three other batches failed. Then this batch failed. I don't get how chickens do it. This batch I had over eight blood rings and three early quitters. Lots of non viable ones as well.


Thanks all for the support. I feel better knowing she might not have made it anyway. She was pretty darn sluggish in her egg. When I've candled the other ones they're usually VERY active. She hardly moved around.


I think this time it may have been the heat. I had one incubator that was running slightly low due to it being DIY in a panic, and another that I found to be running slightly high. It was running about 101. Very frustrating for such a large batch of eggs. I did eventually get everything fixed and even, though.

 

[BloomBunny]

So, what happened. She was alive and I got impatient.

We always feel guilty when things go wrong. If you had waited and she died, you would say you should have checked on her sooner. Thanks for fighting so hard for her. Sometimes we lose anyway. Breathe, give yourself time. It's not always like this.