Help please!!

[DelR]

Hi! I am in the process of hatching(hopefully) 7 Silkie eggs! I had put them in lockdown on day 18 and candled them to make sure they looked good, and they looked great! They took up about 80% of the egg with the air sack gradually getting larger. My incubator does not have a humidity sensor. But my temp has been at 37.5°C for lockdown and I’m kind of winging the humidity. I feel like it’s okay but of course I’m here to get advice. I see water droplets along the sides but it isn’t foggy in there or anything. I don’t have a temp calibrator or anything to measure humidity. I am on day 23 right now with no signs of hatching. No rolling, pipping, chirping, anything. So, letting my stress get to me, I slightly opened the incubator and took an egg out. I know this is a big no no but I wanted to make sure they were okay. The chick was taking up what the air sack wasn’t which I feel like is a good thing. I’m worried if I should give up on these babies or try to hang on.

 

[nuthatched]

If your humidity was too high, opening it up did them a favor. Did you open the air vents ( if present) for lock down?

 

[Trisseh]

I would say you’re within your reasonable bounds to investigate, if you’re wanting to interfere. If not, leave them in, decrease your humidity a bit, and wait at least a few more days. Some prefer to leave them for up to an additional week.
If you’re going to investigate, pull out a couple eggs at a time and candle them. Any movement, or peeping? Any internal pips that you can see? Any external “wrong end” pips? If you didn’t have the temp confirmed with a calibrated thermometer, they could just be a little behind if the temp was slightly low. Concerns with humidity can include not enough moisture loss, where some of the chicks drown in shell, or too big chicks that can’t orient themselves properly to hatch.
What incubator are you using? They’re all a little different and it may help us help you, based on what model it is.

 

[DelR]

If your humidity was too high, opening it up did them a favor. Did you open the air vents ( if present) for lock down?

It just has a hole at the top for ventilation so that does it by itself

 

[DelR]

I would say you’re within your reasonable bounds to investigate, if you’re wanting to interfere. If not, leave them in, decrease your humidity a bit, and wait at least a few more days. Some prefer to leave them for up to an additional week.
If you’re going to investigate, pull out a couple eggs at a time and candle them. Any movement, or peeping? Any internal pips that you can see? Any external “wrong end” pips? If you didn’t have the temp confirmed with a calibrated thermometer, they could just be a little behind if the temp was slightly low. Concerns with humidity can include not enough moisture loss, where some of the chicks drown in shell, or too big chicks that can’t orient themselves properly to hatch.
What incubator are you using? They’re all a little different and it may help us help you, based on what model it is.

Thank you! I will investigate and let you guys know what I saw. Thanks for the help!

 

[Trisseh]

You’re welcome to share pics as well, sometimes that helps us get a better handle on what you’re seeing too!

 

[nuthatched]

It just has a hole at the top for ventilation so that does it by itself

OK, what brand is your Bator? This will help a lot and I should have thought of it earlier.

 

[DelR]

You’re welcome to share pics as well, sometimes that helps us get a better handle on what you’re seeing too!

There was movement!!! Slightly concerned that 1-2 of them are quite behind on developing, but all of them were moving. I’m going to leave them for the last stretch and let them do their thing. But I’m a happy momma that they’re all moving!!!