Hatching silkie eggs

[LegbarMama]

I got some eggs to hatch and they are all different sizes. There are 5 silkie eggs in there. I've heard these eggs are harder to hatch so I am looking for any advice that could help. I've never been into silkies but my daughter really wants one so I am attempting to hatch these. I keep the incubator between 99.5 and 100.5 and humidity between 40 and 45%

 

[MysteryChicken]

Silkies aren't hard to hatch, & they actually do better on a lower temperature, between 98.5°F - 99.5°F.

For the first 17 days I use humidity of 35% - 45%, then increase to 55% - 65% on lockdown.

 

[Bigandlittles]

Mystery chicken is correct. The only thing about silkies is there incubation time is a day or two shorter than regular chickens. I put mine on lock down on day like 16.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My suggestion is to treat them like any other chicken egg. Last I heard they are chickens. And you have at least 16 eggs in there that are not Silkies. Why risk them for only 5 eggs?

I assume those are the smaller eggs in there as many Silkies are bantams. Smaller eggs sometimes, occasionally, maybe, might hatch early. It can happen. Heck, my full sized fowl eggs regularly hatch a day or even two early under a broody hen, not just in the incubator. I think that is because of heredity.

Be aware it can happen. If you want, go into lockdown a day early, that should not bother the other eggs. But please do not panic or do anything desperate if they don't hatch early. You may wind up feeling really bad if you do. And please let us know how it goes.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Mystery chicken is correct. The only thing about silkies is there incubation time is a day or two shorter than regular chickens. I put mine on lock down on day like 16.

All mine hatch day 21. Both bantam, & Largefowl silkies.

 

[LegbarMama]

Thank you all for the info. I suppose I will do what I normally do and if they don't hatch then I'll do a hatch just for silkie eggs! I didn't realize when i decided to get them that the eggs would be so much more tiny than the other eggs

 

[LegbarMama]

My suggestion is to treat them like any other chicken egg. Last I heard they are chickens. And you have at least 16 eggs in there that are not Silkies. Why risk them for only 5 eggs?

I assume those are the smaller eggs in there as many Silkies are bantams. Smaller eggs sometimes, occasionally, maybe, might hatch early. It can happen. Heck, my full sized fowl eggs regularly hatch a day or even two early under a broody hen, not just in the incubator. I think that is because of heredity.

Be aware it can happen. If you want, go into lockdown a day early, that should not bother the other eggs. But please do not panic or do anything desperate if they don't hatch early. You may wind up feeling really bad if you do. And please let us know how it goes.

I had a really bad experience where I didn't give some eggs enough time to hatch and I assisted. They didn't make it. I will never do that again. It's survival of the fittest around here.

 

[Pamv88]

I am having issues with silkies also and was going to make a post and saw this. I can hatch the heck out of quail tho lol. First time I got eggs I had 9, along the way day 8 7 of the 9 were fertile. Candling at lockdown day 5 made it into lockdown. 3 hatched, one was fully formed dead in shell the other less ready. Next time I had 6 eggs, 4 eggs bit the dust right away at 8th day candling, early deaths on 2, 2 not fertile maybe. 2 left to go into lockdown and nothing going on as of yet, waiting it out. But I run at 99.5-100.5, forced air, humidity dry hatch was about 35-45% the whole way to lockdown then raised to 65-75%.
Before I even try again, which I am kinda like hmm, am i doing anything wrong? would anyone change anything? i have govee sensors in there that were calibrated and i watch the bator like a hawk.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll answer you this way. There are a lot of different things that can cause eggs to not develop and to die during incubation. You might look through these and see if anything gives you a clue.

Incubation Troubleshooting - Incubation and Embryology - University of Illinois Extension

Trouble Shooting Failures with Egg Incubation | Mississippi State University Extension Service (msstate.edu)

 

[LegbarMama]

I am having issues with silkies also and was going to make a post and saw this. I can hatch the heck out of quail tho lol. First time I got eggs I had 9, along the way day 8 7 of the 9 were fertile. Candling at lockdown day 5 made it into lockdown. 3 hatched, one was fully formed dead in shell the other less ready. Next time I had 6 eggs, 4 eggs bit the dust right away at 8th day candling, early deaths on 2, 2 not fertile maybe. 2 left to go into lockdown and nothing going on as of yet, waiting it out. But I run at 99.5-100.5, forced air, humidity dry hatch was about 35-45% the whole way to lockdown then raised to 65-75%.
Before I even try again, which I am kinda like hmm, am i doing anything wrong? would anyone change anything? i have govee sensors in there that were calibrated and i watch the bator like a hawk.

I did 40-45% humidity, lockdown humidity was 60-65%. All the silkie eggs hatched but some of the others didn't. I don't really know any advice to give you bc that's the only experience I have. I really hope someone else can help you tho!