hello ..im new

[si mon]

Hello...I'm a new member..my name is Simon. I have a question /problem I need help with if thats ok. I ordered 10 fertilised bantam eggs off the internet for my daughter's birthday. I bought an incubator. I set everything up correctly and it's now 22 days since I started the incubation ....and nothing !! No noise...no movement...nothing. I got a bit worried so jumped onto YouTube where I discovered candling. So I candled all the eggs ....only 1 looks like it has a small black shape inside but it isn't moving.All the rest are just a light colour all the way through. No air sacks no ....no nothing really. We're these eggs ever fertile or have I made an error somewhere. Please can someone help ...thank you !!

 

[BYCforlife]

Shipped eggs have no promises of hatching. Is your incubator at about 98.5 degrees? what is your humidity? Also, on day 18 did you stop turning the eggs and decrease temp by 1 degree?

If the eggs don't hatch, you can't do anything to make them hatch.

 

[si mon]

I followed the instructions with the incubator....I had temp at 37.5 c and humidity at 55 ....I have turned the eggs all the way through till day 22. I didn't know to stop turning them. The incubator also told me to decrease temp by 1 degree for the later stages ....and to increase humidity. The eggs don't look like they have ever had an embryo inside....although im no expert.

 

[BYCforlife]

Yes, there is a chance that the eggs were "dead" before you even started. How long did you wait to put them into the incubator after they were delivered to you?

 

[BYCforlife]

Yes, sorry, I mean't to say decrease. I will edit that! Don't want false information on here!

 

[si mon]

I took them straight out the packaging and into the incubator immediately. I'm a bit gutted really...I hope they were dead before I started.....I would hate it if I've done something wrong. Plus I have to tell my 10 year old that her chickens arnt gonna hatch. Im gonna get some more but I could do with a breakdown of what temps to use and what humidity on which days. Just so that it doesn't happen again !! Thanks for your replies

 

[BYCforlife]

Okay. Next time, let your eggs sit pointy end down in an empty egg carton for about 24 hours. That way the air bubble will have a chance to move to its natrual spot, and the yolk can settle. Also, when they are in the incubator they need to go pointy end down if you have a turner.

 

[BYCforlife]

Also, if you don't see any dark spots in the eggs they most likely never started to form, so don't worry. That one dark one, though.... If you are absolutely sure it will not hatch, you could open it and take a picture of the result. I know, sad to think about....

 

[si mon]

Ok thanks....i don't have a turner though ....they just lay on their sides and i was turning them 3 times a day. Its funny how 1 has the embryo but the others don't. Would it be better to try and sit the eggs pointy side down then .. what humidity levels are correct for the incubation period . Thanks

 

[BYCforlife]

If you are turning them by hand, laying them on their sides is fine. You only need to have the pointy ends down when using a turner. Were you staggering nights? Every night, you should have the egg sitting on a different side. E.g. One side has a "I" on it and other has an "O" in it: night#1: side O. Night#2: side I. You will want 40-45% humidity. If you have no way of measuring this, I would recommend you buy a hydrometer. It is important to let the eggs settle before incubating.