First time incubator questions.

[chant]

Awe Roo, so sorry to hear that. I'm no expert and hopefully you'll get an answer that will help you. But, being new to anything is almost always going require some latitude. Try not to be hard on yourself. It's disappointing to be sure, but you are not a murder. Sometimes even the best of them won't have a 100%. I hope you get the answers you need and all the best to you.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

im a first time incubator hatcher and my chicks aren't hatching or pipping. I cracked a few that were several days past due and they had yolk on their bottom and no blood the fluid was clear. What am I doing wrong. They are Silkie eggs. HELP!!!! I feel like a murderer.

Temp? Humidity days 1-18? Lockdown humidity? What type of incubator? Did you calibrate your thermometer(s) and hygrometer(s)? Any dips or spikes in temp? Is your incubator still or forced air? Auto turner or hand turned? How old were the eggs when you set them? How were they stored prior to being set? What's the condition of the breeding flock the eggs came from?

As you can see, there are quite a few things that could potentially mess up a hatch. A lot more information is needed before we can help you

 

[Roo92]

Temp 101.5 humidity stays around 40% I usually take them from coop to incubator, one chick started pipping then died. Fully developed. I have a little giant incubator with egg turner no fan when I open them on day 25-30 fluid is clear and belly sometimes looks like yolk. I don't know what lockdown is and my flock is young. Hope this is what you need.

 

[DesertBrahma]

I just hit day 4 today. I want to candle them but know I probably won't see anything. Our weather has been crazy here. 1 day we're hitting low 60s then we dip down to the 40s. Give me the warm weather any day and I'm happy. The blanket wrapping didn't work. The incubator tried to dip below 98. I caught it just as it was dipping and turned it up a little. Now it's back up to 100 and staying. The humidity is down to 61, and I turned them already early morning. I'm already collecting eggs for a second try because I don't think this batch is going to hatch. I just have a feeling. Now with the weather turning nasty again I really don't know if they're going to work. I have a Little Giant still air incubator I'm doing hand turning on. I'm trying my hardest to wait until day 10 to candle but darn my hands are itching to see what's going on inside these eggs. Good luck everyone. Keep giving me some advice please. Thanks again for all the advice already given.

 

[beagleman77]

I've only incubated 3 times for me I candled on day 4 every time I would see blood vessels in them I always got exited but my first hatch was beginners luck I put 21 eggs in when I thought I put 20 in but I used a egg turner I hatched all 21 that was my first time incubating

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Temp 101.5 humidity stays around 40% I usually take them from coop to incubator, one chick started pipping then died. Fully developed. I have a little giant incubator with egg turner no fan when I open them on day 25-30 fluid is clear and belly sometimes looks like yolk. I don't know what lockdown is and my flock is young. Hope this is what you need.

Temp sounds good, but are you sure that temp is right? Did you calibrate your thermometer to check? 40% humidity is okay too (for the first 18 days, anyway). Again, did you calibrate your hygrometer to make sure its accurate?
Lockdown is when you stop turning the eggs on day 18, crank up the humidity (I aim for 60-70%) and leave the eggs alone until the hatch. Are you locking down at all? Your chicks are quitting just before theyre ready to hatch for some reason. One more question, I promise. Your one chick that managed to pip, what day did it pip on?

 

[DesertBrahma]

I've made it to day 4 and I'm really getting itchy hands to candle these eggs. I haven't but I really want to. I have a second batch getting ready to go in when I find out if these are not going to do anything. My humidity has finally gotten to 60% and temp has been 100 to 101 all day. I have a weird feeling this batch probably won't hatch. I don't know why but I just have that feeling. Might just pull them and start completely fresh. I saw some cool looking mods that won't mess up my incubator I'm interested in trying.

 

[kissofcrimson]

You sound like me lol it's been only 2 days since I put my eggs in (silkies) and I'm already wanting to candle them. I found some really good guides on here for dry incubating and I'm hoping that it works for me. This is also my first time incubating.

 

[Roo92]

I did not Calibrate my thermometer or hygrometer. Didn't know I needed to. The chick that pipped was between day 23-25. I have an incubator full of eggs. I have eggs in there with all different dates. I took out the two red plugs to see if that would help.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Its best not to stagger hatches unless you've got a second incubator to move the eggs that are going to hatch into.

Sounds like your temps are too low to me...