HELP! Incubator is smelling bad in lockdown stage!!

[CluckNDoodle]

Here's one
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

 

[Anonymous12345]

Here's one
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

I had a read through, however I don’t have a food or incubator thermometer. Regardless is there a way that my eggs will still hatch? Do I need to assist them or will they eventually hatch themselves? When I candled them earlier it was still daylight so I couldn’t see the eggs too well. Now that it’s dark I might hop out and check again for the internal piping and movement.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I had a read through, however I don’t have a food or incubator thermometer. Regardless is there a way that my eggs will still hatch? Do I need to assist them or will they eventually hatch themselves? When I candled them earlier it was still daylight so I couldn’t see the eggs too well. Now that it’s dark I might hop out and check again for the internal piping and movement.

That isn't really something I can say without knowing exactly what you're dealing with in the incubator. Sometimes it's the issues we encounter during a hatch that reveal what the problem was and yes, sometimes it's too late to fix it, especially this late in incubation.

If you're able to get the appropriate supplies to check the temperature that would be a good start. You would at least be able to verify if that's the problem, possibly adjust the temp up to where it should have been and see if some still hatch. This is all based on guessing what your issue is though.

You can't assist a chick that isn't ready to hatch because low temps would also mean the chick is underdeveloped. The blood vessels and yolk sac will not be absorbed.

Low temperature is just one of the most common reasons for delayed hatches, it's not the only one. If your chicks pipped internally but the humidity was too high at lockdown the water can actually accumulate inside of the air cell and drown the chick before they externally pip. If the humidity was too high throughout the entire incubation this can cause what's called sticky chicks where there's a thick substance around them preventing them from being able to rotate properly in the shell to hatch. The chick can also be oversized from this or unable to absorb the yolk sac but I'm not trying to overwhelm you with information, lol.

With all of that said I'm still leaning towards the temperature because you would usually see some kind of activity from one of the eggs even when it's a poor hatch rate. How many eggs are in the incubator?

 

[Anonymous12345]

That isn't really something I can say without knowing exactly what you're dealing with in the incubator. Sometimes it's the issues we encounter during a hatch that reveal what the problem was and yes, sometimes it's too late to fix it, especially this late in incubation.

If you're able to get the appropriate supplies to check the temperature that would be a good start. You would at least be able to verify if that's the problem, possibly adjust the temp up to where it should have been and see if some still hatch. This is all based on guessing what your issue is though.

You can't assist a chick that isn't ready to hatch because low temps would also mean the chick is underdeveloped. The blood vessels and yolk sac will not be absorbed.

Low temperature is just one of the most common reasons for delayed hatches, it's not the only one. If your chicks pipped internally but the humidity was too high at lockdown the water can actually accumulate inside of the air cell and drown the chick before they externally pip. If the humidity was too high throughout the entire incubation this can cause what's called sticky chicks where there's a thick substance around them preventing them from being able to rotate properly in the shell to hatch. The chick can also be oversized from this or unable to absorb the yolk sac but I'm not trying to overwhelm you with information, lol.

With all of that said I'm still leaning towards the temperature because you would usually see some kind of activity from one of the eggs even when it's a poor hatch rate. How many eggs are in the incubator?

It’s all good you’re not overwhelming me. I originally had 12 to start with but 4 were infertile and two were the cause of the sink on day 18. So I have 6 left in the incubator now.

 

[Auntiejessi3]