graphic pics of unborn chicks I have ?'s

[momofchicks]

Okay long story short.....we decided to do a home made incubator we gathered eggs for 2 days. Rotated eggs 3 times day, had heat lamp on etc. etc. Day 21 came and nothing so we waited day 26 came and still nothing. My husband turned off heat lamp on Saturday, day 26, we opened eggs today because tomorrow is garbage day. Out of 8 eggs we had 3 chicks, the difference is size is remarkable to me especially since at most they were a day apart in being layed. My question is, should we have waited 30 days? Look how far along chick on bottom was. What could have been the reason for these to stop growing? I candeled at day 14 and egg 1 (top black chick) looked empty to me. Obviously I don't know what I'm seeing when I candel LOL. Any suggestions or ideas for next time would be appreciated. The main thing we think could have been wrong was humidity the last few days, but not sure if that was it. The temp stayed around 98 and we didn't move eggs the last 3 days.

 

[wanda047]

Maybe higher temps would have worked. I try to keep mine between 100-102 degrees (still air).

 

[allaboutdemchicks]

This will only be a guess, but I would bump the temps up. I try very hard to keep mine at 100. Only allowing (praying for) a fluctuation of .5 either direction. Also, I learned the hard way to keep the hydrometer flat on top of my eggs. I taped mine to the side of the incubator once and it gave false readings of being higher than it actually was. I had a poor hatch very similar to the results you are seeing in yours.

And, no, 30 days wouldn't have helped.

Don't give up....it will take time!!!

 

[momofchicks]

so I'm new at this, why would the temp play that big of a role in whether they hatch. By the looks of them they are fully developed and on the bottom chick it was just about ready from the looks of the yolk. The yolk size is very different from chick to chick, would closeness to the heat source make a difference in developmental stages?

 

[MandyH]

The proximety of the eggs to the heat source is why you have 3 different sized chicks. The chick closest to the heat source was incubated faster because it got all the heat. Even a half a degree in temp difference will affect a chick hatching. The heat source needs to be in the middle or else when you turn the eggs, also rotate them in the bator.

 

[Farmer Gab]

I have been using a Hovabator as my incubator and a homemade bator for my hatcher. I have had several chicks like your largest dead one. I have hatched six successfully. I am not of much help on why this happens since I have no idea, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone!

 

[MandyH]

I made me a homemade bator one time and the temps in it fluctuated SOOO bad that I used it once and chunked it.

 

[Crystalchic]

Looks to me like they died at different stage of development.
with a still air you are gonna get hot pockets and cool pockets
even with my gennesses hova bator that is not still air but forced air i get hot pockets
i know this because i have 4 thermometers placed close to the four corners of the bator
if you got a few chicks to hatch and you built the bator then i would give you a thumbs up
great job, it is hard to get a 100% hatch anyway

great job