HELP! Need advice regarding shelf liner, on day 20

[katiek77]

I place them in the incubator around 11:00 a.m. and it is almost 6:30 p.m. my time. BTW, thanks so much for helping me!!!

I just wanted to make sure you did put another thermometer in there to check it against the machine. Most are dead on. Some have been noted .5 lower and I’ve seen a couple say theirs was one degree off. If it’s off any that would delay your hatch. You are only about 8 hours into day 21 so you still have time before you start to worry. How did your air cells look on day 18? You are more than welcome. I have never hatched silkies but I’m willing to help all that I can.

 

[dcorrell]

I just wanted to make sure you did put another thermometer in there to check it against the machine. Most are dead on. Some have been noted .5 lower and I’ve seen a couple say theirs was one degree off. If it’s off any that would delay your hatch. You are only about 8 hours into day 21 so you still have time before you start to worry. How did your air cells look on day 18? You are more than welcome. I have never hatched silkies but I’m willing to help all that I can.

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That's the first thing I did with my incubators with two different thermometers. Just trying so hard to be careful. The eggs cells were big and I had movement inside the eggs. I've been reading like mad all along and super appreciate this site! I don't know whether or not to raise the temp or take one out and candle it. Just trying to be patient and not jump the gun here with opening the bator, but I thought for sure I would see movement on the eggs or hear something. I find myself staring like a worried mother hen! I read somewhere on here that someone even started playing mother hen purring sounds to their bator so I thought, well, anything is worth a try, but nothing still...

 

[LynnaePB]

I have a Nurture Right 360 as well, are any of your eggs close enough to the window with the air cells facing out that you can candle through the window? I do this all the time with mine. I'm sure most would advise sitting on your hands and waiting, if you feel you can't wait and can't candle through the window the safest time to open the incubator is when none are externally pipped yet (I'm not advising one way or another with that though). I'm horrible about not sitting on my hands, I don't think I could wait and not candle if my eggs were on day 21 without any signs of hatching, but I am very bad about leaving my eggs be! Good luck and I hope you get some healthy babies hatching soon!

Oh and the picture is how I candle through the window without opening my incubator (it's just an example though, I wouldn't advise them being that close to the window or the babies might have a little difficulty pushing out).

 

[katiek77]

If you do not hear sounds of chirping they haven’t internally pipped. You should be able to hear that. I have a sound recording of my past babies chirping. I play that for them and they usually chirp back inside their shell. I wouldn’t lift the lid. I’ve heard and read that silkie eggs are temperamental. For that reason I bought chicks instead of eggs. I was scared I would kill the eggs. I do know eggs can hatch anywhere from day 18 to day 25. If you go to Facebook you could possibly find a silkies only group and they could tell you experiences they have with hatching silkies.

 

[katiek77]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/silkiechichensgroup/?ref=share

39,000 members

 

[dcorrell]

I have a Nurture Right 360 as well, are any of your eggs close enough to the window with the air cells facing out that you can candle through the window? I do this all the time with mine. I'm sure most would advise sitting on your hands and waiting, if you feel you can't wait and can't candle through the window the safest time to open the incubator is when none are externally pipped yet (I'm not advising one way or another with that though). I'm horrible about not sitting on my hands, I don't think I could wait and not candle if my eggs were on day 21 without any signs of hatching, but I am very bad about leaving my eggs be! Good luck and I hope you get some healthy babies hatching soon!

Oh and the picture is how I candle through the window without opening my incubator (it's just an example though, I wouldn't advise them being that close to the window or the babies might have a little difficulty pushing out).

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REPLY! I bought this incubator because it was the most consistently highly rated. And it does seem to really hold its temp and rebound quickly. I will try and use a light to do the same that you have done. How did you hatches go in this incubator and what kind of babies did you hatch? THANKS AGAIN for being so nice

 

[dcorrell]

If you do not hear sounds of chirping they haven’t internally pipped. You should be able to hear that. I have a sound recording of my past babies chirping. I play that for them and they usually chirp back inside their shell. I wouldn’t lift the lid. I’ve heard and read that silkie eggs are temperamental. For that reason I bought chicks instead of eggs. I was scared I would kill the eggs. I do know eggs can hatch anywhere from day 18 to day 25. If you go to Facebook you could possibly find a silkies only group and they could tell you experiences they have with hatching silkies.

You are soooo sweet to stay with me through this!!! I won't lift the lid even though I want to dive in and see if they are all okay! I worry so much about them drowning in their own eggs And I will take your advice again and look through silkie posts. Thank you so much for all your links!

 

[LynnaePB]

So far I've only hatched 3 times in that incubator all with shipped silkie eggs.

I used another incubator (a brinsea octagon eco 20) for part of the incubation because it had rails to hold the eggs upright which helped with the loose air cells (I'd use cut down cartons in the NR360 if I didn't have the other incubator). I hatched in the nurture right though, and I'm really pleased with it, I can't wait until I can hatch local eggs in it, it's been great at holding a steady temperature and I love that it has an automatic turner!

The first time I had 5 eggs make it to lockdown 4/5 hatched (the 5th looked a little iffy throughout and ended up being malpositioned).

The second time the eggs were in a lot worse shape when I got them and I tried not turning for the first 5 1/2 days and though I did get more to develop a lot died at lockdown (I've had better luck not turning for 2-3 days in regards to the babies being able to hatch well in shipped eggs). I had 11 make it to lockdown and then 4 hatch, 2 of which needed assistance.

The third time I had 7 make it to lockdown and 6 hatched (the 7th was malpositioned).

 

[dcorrell]

So far I've only hatched 3 times in that incubator all with shipped silkie eggs.

I used another incubator (a brinsea octagon eco 20) for part of the incubation because it had rails to hold the eggs upright which helped with the loose air cells (I'd use cut down cartons in the NR360 if I didn't have the other incubator). I hatched in the nurture right though, and I'm really pleased with it, I can't wait until I can hatch local eggs in it, it's been great at holding a steady temperature and I love that it has an automatic turner!

The first time I had 5 eggs make it to lockdown 4/5 hatched (the 5th looked a little iffy throughout and ended up being malpositioned).

The second time the eggs were in a lot worse shape when I got them and I tried not turning for the first 5 1/2 days and though I did get more to develop a lot died at lockdown (I've had better luck not turning for 2-3 days in regards to the babies being able to hatch well in shipped eggs). I had 11 make it to lockdown and then 4 hatch, 2 of which needed assistance.

The third time I had 7 make it to lockdown and 6 hatched (the 7th was malpositioned).

That sounds like a really good hatch rate with this incubator with more stable eggs! These are shipped eggs too. I waited 24 hours before putting them in the incubator. I had them slightly tipped in an egg carton one way, then part way through, the other way. I was wary of damaging their bloom, but some had poo on them so I very carefully dabbed with a soft paper towel dipped in a peroxide/water mixture just to spot clean them because I was worried about bacteria spreading. Only a small number of eggs didn't make it so far. How many days did your silkies take to hatch?

 

[dcorrell]

I marked these a tad above where their air cells were on day 16. I did that in case I had to assist in any way and didn't want to be anywhere near the actual "line".