Help with over due dates...

[JeanGenie]

Hi all

Does anyone know how long is advisable to wait after a hatch due date. I will explain by what I mean:...

Homemade Incubator...
8 Pekin Chicken Eggs
Date Set 9th May 2009
Due Date 30th May

First candled after 10 days with positive results on at least 6.

Power failure on day 14 - Temp dropped to around 80F for at least 2 hours...

Today is day 21... Temp is 100F and humidity is 83%

No peeps or movement at all....

Any ideas how long I should leave them inside hoping?????

Thanks

JG

 

[roche477]

I would leave them awhile, still early. I wouldn't have the humidity that high, but that is me. I'm sure others go that high and do fine. I see people post with hatches at 23-25 days. I had power failure for 11 hours on my last hatch, bator got down to 70 degrees for several hours and I hatched 16 out of the original 18 I set.

 

[JeanGenie]

HI

Thanks for the reply. On many sites they tell you to up the humidity to at least 80%, which I have managed to finally achieve. But based upon your answer and more than likely more expierence than many you feel its too high. What would you recommend for Pekin Chicken eggs. The supplier told us that they were some buff or lavender Pekin's tho' he was unsure of how many were of each.

This supplier who has been raising chicks for many years also told us to increase at day 18 to at least 80% and then fingers crossed. I know we are new to this and may well buy a proper incubator later, but this is how we thought we would learn.

We are now at the end of day 21 and still no peeps or movement, so I am assuming this was a failure. I am in the process of building another incubator but based upon what I have learned I hope a little better in design and productivity. I feel in my heart that I have messed up somewhere and have now killed both the chicks and any chance they will hatch.

Based upon this would another day or maybe 2 days be worth waiting for or should we just put this down to an attempt with no results.

Sorry to be a pain on this but even the timelapse camera has now taken over 200 pictures over the last 24 hours and putting them into a film show no movement from any of the eggs.

Would you say wait or just stop, dont want the eggs to explode of something....

Thanks

JG

 

[Dirt Road]

Give it another couple days. If the eggs were near the point of exploding, you would be able to smell something. How confident are you that your thermometer is accurate? If it's off a bit, that could slow the hatch, or speed it up depending on which way it's off. Don't beat yourself up if they don't make it, we've all lost eggs. It's a learning thing.

Jim

 

[JeanGenie]

Hi Jim

Well I can only go by what the thermo is telling me. It is not the digital kind its just a normal one you may well find in a greenhouse etc. In fact I have two in there one either side and they are both reading a steady 99 to 100F. I have had to open the unit a few times for manual turning etc but as we cam to the day 18 part I installed a water pipe so if a top was needed I could do it manually down the pipe.

The other big worry has been the humidity, the gauge I bought was or what seemed to be perfect for the first 18 days.... a steady 60 to 65%. But when it came time to increase I struggled to get it above the 70% mark. After many hours of toil I raced to the pet store and bought a digital one. As soon as it went in the reading shot up to 87%. But the other one still ready around the late 60's. So based upon that I have been pouring warmer that normal water in for no reason and may well have over compensated. This is what brings me to the conclusion I have screwed up. With hiensite maybe I should have purchased a digital from the get go, and maybe have cooked the poor little things.

I have learned a lot over the past few days, and this will be yet another sleepless night for me. The timelapse camera is still running as is the webcam direct to my website. I just like thousands of other just would like to see a sign of hope. A little movement maybe hear a peep, anything, but in my heart I feel that I have made some serious mistakes. Should anything hatch, which I dont believe it will it may well be deformed.

But thanks for the support and advice, maybe another day or two...

Dal
JG