Hands on hatching and help

[Pyxis]

I've got guineas pipping!

I've also also got pea eggs losing too much weight and Call eggs losing not enough in the same incubator, sigh. So the calls are getting booted into the hatching incubator as soon as the guineas hatch, which I will run as dry as possible. The humidity here has been killer, I hope I can get them to lose enough weight in the next five days before they're due. I started misting last night. It's also pouring here right now so hopefully that takes the humidity down some.

 

[AmberKnits]

Good luck @Pyxis!!!!

 

[Pyxis]

The parents are pearl grey. Here is a picture

Okay, so here are my guesses. The ones with the white on them look royal purple. The silver one you are calling silver is probably lavender or coral blue (lavender being much more likely). And, it's totally possible to get all of that out of pearl gray parents IF the parents are split to lavender and semi pearled. So that's probably what's going on.

 

[sisterchicken]

We have two hens who started laying earlier this year. 26 days ago one began 'sitting'. She only came out a short time every day for food and water (They are free range.) The second hen laid her egg on a daily basis and rolled it under the momma hen. Once momma had about 14-15 eggs under her, she began pushing one or two out from under her each day. We retrieved the rejected eggs and moved them to an incubator. The day before the 'due date' the second hen began sitting too and they somehow divided the 14 remaining eggs. The calendar showed that the first eggs should have hatched on Fathers' Day (5 days ago) To date, there are no chicks. If the eggs are not viable, how long will the hens continue to sit? The rooster is about 4 years old and he has had other chicks in years past. Grandpa says that he might have male fertility problems and a low sperm count LOL Any thoughts as to what has gone wrong?
(The 7 eggs in the incubator are rotated 4 times a day. Temp is set at 99.5)

 

[timon]

We have two hens who started laying earlier this year. 26 days ago one began 'sitting'. She only came out a short time every day for food and water (They are free range.)
...
Grandpa says that he might have male fertility problems and a low sperm count LOL Any thoughts as to what has gone wrong?
(The 7 eggs in the incubator are rotated 4 times a day. Temp is set at 99.5)

Oh - good luck with them!! What a dilemma.

Are the eggs you've recovered into the incubator fertile? What do you see when you candle them?

If they are fertile then the others will be.

Candling the eggs you've recovered will let you guess how far along they are if they've developed at all.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

We have two hens who started laying earlier this year. 26 days ago one began 'sitting'. She only came out a short time every day for food and water (They are free range.) The second hen laid her egg on a daily basis and rolled it under the momma hen. Once momma had about 14-15 eggs under her, she began pushing one or two out from under her each day. We retrieved the rejected eggs and moved them to an incubator. The day before the 'due date' the second hen began sitting too and they somehow divided the 14 remaining eggs. The calendar showed that the first eggs should have hatched on Fathers' Day (5 days ago) To date, there are no chicks. If the eggs are not viable, how long will the hens continue to sit? The rooster is about 4 years old and he has had other chicks in years past. Grandpa says that he might have male fertility problems and a low sperm count LOL Any thoughts as to what has gone wrong?
(The 7 eggs in the incubator are rotated 4 times a day. Temp is set at 99.5)

I would candle, starting with the ones in the incubator. Bright flashlight, shine down into the air cell end (fat end) of the egg. I'll share a candling link for you to help you judge how far they are if they are fertile. Then I'd candle the ones under the hens.
Yes, as roosters age fertility will drop. It is possible that if he is the only roo, fertility may be lower.
Is the incubator forced or still air? While forced should maintain 99.5, still air should be 101-102 near the top of the eggs and all thermometers should be checked for accuracy.

Candling link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-pics-progression-though-incubation.261876/

Also what the humidity has been in the incubator will greatly affect the hatchability, especially if they've been in there a significant portion of the incubation.

 

[newchickmama91]

Well all my polish eggs died in lockdown. 3 fully absorbed and 3 just abit left! I knew these eggs were abit dodgy but gave them a chance. Now have my mystery chicken eggs in lockdown so let's see what happens

 

[moomoodiddy]

Well all my polish eggs died in lockdown. 3 fully absorbed and 3 just abit left! I knew these eggs were abit dodgy but gave them a chance. Now have my mystery chicken eggs in lockdown so let's see what happens

I usually have the same problem... have yet to find the solution.

 

[newchickmama91]

I usually have the same problem... have yet to find the solution.

It's so frustrating when they make it all that way and then just die. Poor things

 

[FarmerJackie]

I've assisted in 4 hatches.
The first assisted was because the serama was shrink wrapped. He piped and never zipped. He has gone on to be very healthy.
The second assisted just needed a little bit of shell chipped away and within hour did rest by himself.
The third ended up having slightly curled toes but is thriving. That one probably is when I decided to stop helping because I blame myself it was hatched with slightly deformed feet.

I had devastating hatch where I refused to open incubator and watched a chick pip and was a chatterbox. I left it in the incubator and noticed no change but still chatty. But 24 hours later it got weaker and still hadn't zipped. He slowly died. Turned out he was real big and couldn't get the leverage to zip. It really bugged me witnessing it slowly die... so I panicked and helped another but it wasn't quite ready to receive help... and my worry lead to its early demise.