Hatch crisis?

[billw]

Well, it is day 28 + 6 hours on our first hatch.

They've been in a Hovabator the whole time, with constant temp at 99 degrees. Humidity has been about 70 all along. I expected to see some signs of hatching by now.

Having seen no external pips, I just opened the incubator for the first time in three days for a quick candling. All eggs have movement. None have pipped internally (or, if they have, my inexperienced eye can't detect it.)

So, now what?

Plan A is leave them alone, wait and see.

Is there a plan B when the eggs haven't even pipped internally?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well, it is day 28 + 6 hours on our first hatch.

They've been in a Hovabator the whole time, with constant temp at 99 degrees. Humidity has been about 70 all along. I expected to see some signs of hatching by now.

Having seen no external pips, I just opened the incubator for the first time in three days for a quick candling. All eggs have movement. None have pipped internally (or, if they have, my inexperienced eye can't detect it.)

So, now what?

Plan A is leave them alone, wait and see.

Is there a plan B when the eggs haven't even pipped internally?

Refer to plan A for plan B. waiting is hard but maybe your calculations are a little off, if your seeing movement then I'd just sit back and wait. you may want to visit this thread and pose your question also.. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...nown-as-hatch-day-is-today/33040#post_9108412 Good luck!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Ok, they aren't ready yet if you see movement and no internal pips. So it's time to wait and leave them be.

Now the humidity was very high, it is normal to run humidity 40% or less during incubation and then raise it to 70% or higher during lockdown (hatch). The reason for running it lower during incubation is to allow for proper moisture loss in the eggs. You can tell this has happened by monitoring the air cell growth as you get close to lock down.

Metzers farm has nice photos of candled eggs you can refer to.

 

[billw]

Thanks. There is no doubt about my calculations, unfortunately. When I looked at the eggs, the air cell looked much smaller than pictures and descriptions - they might by 1/6 of the volume of the egg.

I knew that humidity might be a problem, but I haven't been able to get it much lower.

I'll stick with Plan A. No change as of this morning. I can still see the eggs rocking on occasion, but no external signs of hatching.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks. There is no doubt about my calculations, unfortunately. When I looked at the eggs, the air cell looked much smaller than pictures and descriptions - they might by 1/6 of the volume of the egg.

I knew that humidity might be a problem, but I haven't been able to get it much lower.

I'll stick with Plan A. No change as of this morning. I can still see the eggs rocking on occasion, but no external signs of hatching.

 

[billw]

Just got home and there has been no change, except that the eggs are moving much less than before.

Could be that this hatch is going to be a bust.

Hopefully the ducks will do I better job than we have. They've been sitting consistently for a bit more than a week, so another 20 days or so to find out. If they do a better job, I'll be happy to let them do all the work in the future because tending eggs for a month to have them die at the last minute is the pits.

The only factor that was out of normal range was humidity. The eggs were fresh, the temp was constant, turned by hand three times a day, and didn't open the incubator during lockdown until they were past expected hatch. So, I'll have to find a way to lower the humidity next time.

Not calling it yet, but it is looking grim.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just got home and there has been no change, except that the eggs are moving much less than before.

Could be that this hatch is going to be a bust.

Hopefully the ducks will do I better job than we have. They've been sitting consistently for a bit more than a week, so another 20 days or so to find out. If they do a better job, I'll be happy to let them do all the work in the future because tending eggs for a month to have them die at the last minute is the pits.

The only factor that was out of normal range was humidity. The eggs were fresh, the temp was constant, turned by hand three times a day, and didn't open the incubator during lockdown until they were past expected hatch. So, I'll have to find a way to lower the humidity next time.

Not calling it yet, but it is looking grim.

So sorry, I was so hoping, for you. I just about gave up on an egg my Muscovy duck is sitting , she had 5 and last week 2 looked like they were rotten so i tossed them and 2 were clear, so it went bye bye, that meant she had 1 left and i wasn't sure about it, but let her keep it anyway, candled yesterday and couldn't see any movement at all so really wasn't getting my hopes up, then this morning I thought I am going to look again because she is a Muscovy and this is day 35. So I candled and saw movement,

I know this duckling has a lone way to go before it is safe to say yippee we got one but at least it's alive. Maybe do the same thing candle and see if you can see anything to give you hope.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

No water in the incubator is the quickest way to lower humidity.

 

[billw]

Maybe do the same thing candle and see if you can see anything to give you hope.

I figured I probably won't do any more harm investigating at this point, so I candled. 7 had no movement, 4 had some movement, and 1 has pipped internally.

So, maybe we'll at least get one.

 

[billw]

No water in the incubator is the quickest way to lower humidity.

It ranges from about 45% - 65% when dry.