Hatching chicken eggs

[chickenboy60]

Okay, so ive had my eggs in the incubator for 22 days now, and i couldnt figure why they werent hatching. So i searched how to raise the humidity on it and if i do that on the 23rd day. Will they still hatch? I ordered them off ebay. So i was wondering i candled them on the 18th day 14 were great. But, would they still be good? Are they just waiting for the humidity to rise or arent they going to hatch? Please help me on this one.

 

[chicapee]

Are they chicken eggs?

 

[chickenboy60]

Yeah

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Okay, so ive had my eggs in the incubator for 22 days now, and i couldnt figure why they werent hatching. So i searched how to raise the humidity on it and if i do that on the 23rd day. Will they still hatch? I ordered them off ebay. So i was wondering i candled them on the 18th day 14 were great. But, would they still be good? Are they just waiting for the humidity to rise or arent they going to hatch? Please help me on this one.

Chances are if you are on day 22/23 and have had no pips and hear no chirping the hatch has been compromised or will be quite delayed signifying that your temps have been on the low side. What kind of incubator are you using, what has your temps been and what was your humidity the first 17 days?

Shipped eggs generally have a lower hatch rate.

 

[chickenboy60]

Temos were 100 and humidity was 50% thank you so much

 

[chickenboy60]

And i use a little giant still air incubator

 

[chicapee]

And i use a little giant still air incubator

You can learn alot from @AmyLynn2374 she knows the LG incubator inside out and back to front. I understand that you cannot rely on the thermometer and hygrometer that comes with it. You will need equipment that you can calibrate. Many people recommend the dry or low humidity incubation for days 1 to 18. It may be useful to try with local eggs before venturing to shipped eggs. Shipped eggs are very difficult to start. Still air wants to be 101 to 102

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You can learn alot from @AmyLynn2374 she knows the LG incubator inside out and back to front. I understand that you cannot rely on the thermometer and hygrometer that comes with it. You will need equipment that you can calibrate. Many people recommend the dry or low humidity incubation for days 1 to 18. It may be useful to try with local eggs before venturing to shipped eggs. Shipped eggs are very difficult to start. Still air wants to be 101 to 102

Awe thanks chicapee.

Yes, the most important thing is to make sure all your thermometers and the hygrometer is accurate. Even brand new ones. Never trust an unchecked thermometer and NEVER trust the thermometer built into the incubators especially the LG 9300 model. Once you are certain the thermometers are accurate then you need an average temp of 101-102 in the still air incubators. Now humidity. I personally feel anything higher than 45% in the styro bators is risky. The best bet when you are starting out is to run a low humidity incubation. I run completely dry if it holds 25% w/o water. If not I add a wet sponge to the bator and that usually holds it right around 30% which is what I find the most successful. Then I monitor my air cells to know if I need to adjust during the incubation. This is the method I use: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

I agree with using local eggs to start with so that you can figure out the incubator and what method works for you because depending on climate and alititude (I don't recommend the low humidity incubation in a high altitude.) as well as egg quality, different things work for different hatchers.

 

[chickenboy60]

It ranged between 100 and 102 and 14 out of 24 eggs were good so would they still hatch?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

It ranged between 100 and 102 and 14 out of 24 eggs were good so would they still hatch?

If they didn't die in shell. Average incubation for chicken eggs that were incubated at the right temps is 21 days. If I had no pips and no signs of internal pips (chirping, rocking egg) by the end of day 22 I would candle and check for internal pips or any signs of life-movement/veining. My first hatch was compromised by a bad thermometer. I had 17 viable active eggs go into lockdown I ended up with one hatcher at day 24 and one that hatched and died at day 25. My day 24 had development problems that became apparent later on. My temp in my bator was 6 degrees lower than what my thermometer read causing a delayed hatch and devlopment issues. So even though 17 went into lockdown 15 died after lockdown and before hatch. Day 22/23 and no signs of pipping either internally or externally is not a good sign.

For future hatches day 18 is when you want to go into lockdown. For most this means stop turning the eggs (some of us stop a little earlier,) and raising your humidity.