Hatching eggs..

[lancey]

Hello all this is my first time hatching eggs I have around 17 eggs in they were all fertile when checked day 7 I put them in on the 1st of May it's now the 18th I've stopped the turner and added more water now to it.. Most are all bantam eggs I've notice one started moving today is that a good sign? Could any hatch tomorrow day 19? On the instructions for the incubator it said to start with 150mils of water then from day 18 double to 300mils of watch I hope all goes well? I'm not in all the time will they be ok on there own?

 

[gander007]

Hello all this is my first time hatching eggs I have around 17 eggs in they were all fertile when checked day 7 I put them in on the 1st of May it's now the 18th I've stopped the turner and added more water now to it.. Most are all bantam eggs I've notice one started moving today is that a good sign? Could any hatch tomorrow day 19? On the instructions for the incubator it said to start with 150mils of water then from day 18 double to 300mils of watch I hope all goes well? I'm not in all the time will they be ok on there own?

They will do just fine if you have remover the turner and the chicks have a three day supply of food in their bellies so you should have time to finish anything you are doing ....

Good luck with your hatch

BYC has a very useful learning center

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! There is a really nice article on hatching eggs in the Learning Center you might want to check out https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 and if you have any questions during the hatch the Incubating / Hatching Eggs forum www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-amp-hatching-eggs should help

21 days is just an average, some eggs do hatch earlier and some later, so day 19 for a bantam wouldn't be that unusual, it is a good sign they are moving around already, but they can do that for a few days before hatching, so you might still have to be patient for that first chick! With humidity, do you have any way to measure it? Otherwise do what your incubator instructions tell you to.
The eggs/ chicks will be fine without you watching them all the time, once you lock them down (stop / take the eggs out of the turners and up the humidity) you should leave them alone anyhow unless there is some sort of problem with the incubator.
Good Luck with the hatch!!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Sounds like you are right on track with the eggs! Listen carefully to them as you may hear peeping from inside the eggs! Once they start to pip, (poke a hole in the shell), they can sit like this for 24+ hours doing nothing. So don't worry that they are stuck or dying. They are busy absorbing the last of the yolk and detaching themselves from the inside of the egg.

At this point today, keep your humidity up around 65% to 70% and open all your vents wide open. The chicks need as much oxygen as they can get. And just wait! They may not all hatch at 21 days either, so don't fret that one either. Sometimes they are a bit late.

Good luck with the hatch and keep us posted!!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us! I've had eggs hatch on day 18 before. Anything is possible with these things! lol Good luck with your hatch!