Hatching Chicks

[krbowman56]

HELP. We are hatching eggs in my classroom using a incubator from Tractor Supply. The temperature has stayed consistent at 100 degrees. The eggs are scheduled to hatch on October 4th (21 days). We are keeping water in the water supply as instructed. Today when I came in the class the eggs were stinking really bag. What is wrong? Is this normal? Please help.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

No I'm afraid it's not normal. You have a bad egg the incubator that's what will be causing the smell. I would have a look in and try to identify which are bad and remove them. Sometimes bad eggs can explode in the incubator therefore contaminating other eggs which could jeopardise your hatch.

 

[Percheron chick]

Eggs should not stink. Did you candle them to see if they were fertile and developing properly? More than likely you have some dead embryos that are fouling up the incubator. You need to identify those eggs and get them out before they explode and potentially contaminate the good eggs

 

[krbowman56]

This is my first time. How do I candle the eggs?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

You need a very bright flashlight. You put it up to the egg so that you can see what is going in the egg. You should be able to see the size of your air cell veins and any movements the chick is making here is a good link on how to make a candler. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-egg-candler-using-common-household-materials

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=230 Also this link is good for comparing what your eggs look like it has good candling pics.

 

[krbowman56]

Our eggs will be in the incubator 21 days Saturday evening.. Should we be seeing our eggs moving?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Yes sometimes you can see movement from the eggs and hear peeping from them when the chicks have pipped into the air cell. If you don't see any thing though by day 21 don't panic, 21 is just a guideline some hatch a little later. Good luck. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
This is a good read for all you need to know about incubating and hatching

 

[krbowman56]

Sunday was day 21 for our eggs in the incubator. One of the chicks hatched Saturday morning. I know the incubator is on lockdown but how long can the new chick stay in the incubator with no food or water?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Congratulations on your hatched chick :cd
They can survive after hatching for up to 72 hours without food and water. I usually wait for 48 hours before transferring hatched chicks into the brooder. I just do it quickly if I have any u hatched left.

 

[catiescarlett]

This is our first try at inbating eggs. Two are out and another is pipping! I'm so excited!