Hatch not half done and Im afraid of pollution! Help!?

[SarahFair]

I just come home from camping and ran inside to see if anything hatched. I knew some had hatched friday becaues my SO said 'Six of your chicks hatched' when he came up.
Well 3 of them were dead and all 3 didnt have fully absorbed eggs and there is this goo in the bottom of the incubator. There is lots and lots of green poop too and the water has this gross film on it. I am afraid the rest of the eggs will not hatch because it is SO dirty in there.
The water had dropped in the wells and the sponge had dried but humidity was at 60%. I took the top off (I know...

) and pulled the hatched eggs out and the dried chicks out and refilled the wells. Im hoping some fresh air is now in there.

The incubator is NASTY! ...will this affect my hatch?

 

[Mahonri]

I'd monitor it, but you are probably done.

 

[SarahFair]

But today is only day 21..
Or really the end of today would be day 21

 

[SarahFair]

Well I was naughty again and put the rest of the eggs in an egg carton and put them on the table. I put a dish of water in there and set the incubator lid on top to keep them warm. I rushed to the sink and did a quick clean out..
3 of them are in the middle of hatching and one was rolling

 

[SuziQ991]

It sounds like you did a great job! Keep us posted! Pics are good too!

 

[FenDruadin]

Sounds like you did the right thing. If I had seen this thread earlier, it's exactly what I would have suggested.

I'm so sorry about your dead chicks. I find that I have best success by removing the babies every few hours as they hatch--they get themselves into so many bad situations in the incubator, putting their faces on the heating element, getting trapped in corners, and sleeping on top of eggs that are trying to hatch. I just raise the humidity way up, grab the babies out (and any trash that has accumulated), and close it back. I've never had a problem doing it this way.

It does get awfully dirty in there. I hatch in cartons, which helps contain some of the mess because most of the gunk stays in the bottom of each egg shell after the baby hatches.

Good luck on the rest of your hatch. If you don't have any pips, there's a fair chance you really are done. But unless you're anxious to start a new hatch, there's no harm in waiting another day or two.

 

[SarahFair]

I will be doing another hatch after this weekend so I can wait..
And like I said.. tonight about 8 PM will be day 21
Just a lot of early hatchers this hatch

 

[SarahFair]

As of about 5 pm yesterday nothing else has hatched. I seen some moving but nothing.
My humidity was at 85% at some points so I soaked up some water in the wells a few times and after a couple hrs got it back down to 70%. The temp has been fine. The chicks that are in there have the hard dried feathers

I cant tell if anything is moving or peeping now with the other ones jumping around.
Dont know if I should just give up all hope

 

[FenDruadin]

If you are still seeing movement, then there is hope! I would go ahead and move the chicks into a brooder--if you don't have any pips, then you won't do any harm by opening the incubator. Good luck on the rest of the hatch--I hope some of them pull through for you.

 

[SarahFair]

Havent heard a peep or seen any movement