Eggs are not hatching - first timer

[AlleysChicks]

Harder to lose weight= harder for the air cell to increase in size basically. I had some large brown eggs that even with a normal range of humidity had a hard time gaining a larger air cell. I had to run my incubator dry the first 2 weeks to get normal development of the AC then I added a tiny bit of water and went from there.

 

[Cadey Charfen]

Is your daughter awake yet lol? xx its 18:55 pm here! lol

One of them is awake, but going to wait for my older daughter too. 8am here so she should be up any minute. I put an external thermometer in the incubator to see if our incubator thermometer has been off.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Something else I forgot to add. Does your incubator have a running fan in it?

 

[Hybridchucks]

Good, I can't wait to see if some are still alive....xx

 

[Cadey Charfen]

Something else I forgot to add. Does your incubator have a running fan in it?

Yes, it does.

 

[Cadey Charfen]

Good, I can't wait to see if some are still alive....xx

How can I tell if they are still alive when candling? I looked through some posts of the process and the photo that I saw of Day 18 (before lockdown) looks like the one I candled this morning. We put them in the incubator on 5/3 in the afternoon.

 

[Hybridchucks]

Maybe if you hold it still and watch....patiently......it might move....

 

[Hybridchucks]

That may because it died on day 18 and didn't grow anymore.....

 

[Ridgerunner]

If an egg is smelling bad carefully get rid of it. Bacteria has gotten inside and multiplied. It's producing gas which puts pressure on the egg. It could start leaking a really stinky fluid that can infect the other eggs or it can explode and create a horrible mess. With that bacteria inside any chick that might have been growing has been killed. Remember handle them carefully, you don't want that exploding in your house.

About the last thing a hen does when she lays an egg is to put a layer on the egg called bloom. This is why an egg looks wet when it is first laid but it very quickly dries off. This layer of bloom helps stop bacteria from getting inside the egg through the porous shell. As long as that bloom is intact it is very effective, but if you remove some of it by washing or sandpapering the egg to clean it bacteria can get in. A dirty egg can let bacteria in too. I don't mean a light dried streak but a clump of poop or dirt. So don't clean your eggs and don't set dirty eggs.

It's also important to have a very clean incubator before you start. You want it sterile so there is no bacteria in there to start with. And only handle the eggs with clean dry hands.

I consider the float test a last ditch emergency test you can do before you toss the eggs. As long as the chick inside has not external pipped it won't harm the chick inside, but it cleans off the bloom which can allow bacteria inside so I save the test for emergencies. If you put the egg at that stage of incubation in a basin of calm water it should float, if it sinks at that stage it is no good. If it wiggles on its own there is a live chick in it, put it back in the incubator. If it does not wiggle there is no live chick in there. it should only take a few seconds to be able to tell.

I assume you are talking about chicken eggs. It's not unusual for them to be a couple of days early or late, there are many different things that can affect the exact time of hatch. But if they are all that late, it's likely your incubation temperature is low. I never trust any thermometer unless it has been calibrated, they often don't read right. One way to calibrate it is to put the thermometer in a glass of warm water along with a medical thermometer that has been calibrated. An oral or rectal thermometer works but those can be challenging to find anymore.

it's also possible something happened that killed all the developing chicks, a prolonged temperature spike for example. If you open the unhatched eggs (not one that stinks, too dangerous and foul) you might get an idea of when that happened. Since you had some develop many were fertile to start with. With that many eggs you should have had some that hatched or at least pipped. Something did go wrong.

I would immediately do a smell test on each individual egg, that's important. You can give the other eggs another day if you wish, there is always hope, but I'd then consider the float test. If they have not hatched by 25 days they won't.

Before you try again, calibrate your thermometer and make sure your incubation temperature is correct. And sterilize your incubator. If an egg is stinking in there consider your incubator contaminated.

I also use a Hovabator to hatch, mine is an old style model 1588. it took a couple of tries to get the temperature right, mine was set too warm from the factory, but once I got it adjusted it's been really reliable.

 

[Hybridchucks]

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