I just set 5-21-11 in my home made incubator

[redonthehead]

Quote:
I hear ya on the conflicting information... good luck with it - that doesn't sound like a bad temp to me anyway... I'm sure they'll be fine. How far along in the hatch are you? Have you candled any of them yet?

 

[Time-Out]

Days 7 and 8. I'll candle three tonight. I had a quick sneak peak last night.... but I'm not saying anything cos it wasn't official

 

[chickenjoefan]

Quote:
Are you serious?! I've got mine running as close to 37.5 as possible! You've got me panicking now!

oops sorry yeah, it was running at 37.8 rather than 37.6 or 5. it usually fluctuates between 37.2 and 37.8. sorry must have been staring into the bator too long my brain is addled.

which ever it seems to ahve worked, cos i have 6 hatched and 3 pipped now.

 

[Time-Out]

To be honest, I think we're all addled lol. I'm making an appointment with a psychiatrist. I can't take the stress and suspense any more...

 

[chickenjoefan]

ok, so i have 9 out of 17 hatched successfully but it has gone really quiet now and i'm starting to worry.

i have no more pips and the last one hatched 8 hours ago. When i locked down I candled them all and they all looked really good. I have 8 left that are doing nothing and i'm starting to worry they are all dead so I cracked one and it is perfectly formed all yolk absorbed, no blood, hasn't pipped internally or externally but is dead. I have been searching on here to see what may have gone wrong and don't know what to do.

Do i open the others in the hope that something might still be alive? If i open the egg will i kill the chick, what makes them start to breathe? when do they start to breathe?
or should i just wait and see if they do it by themselves. How do i tell if they are dead already?

I have 9 beautiful babies but I am horrified at the thought that something i did (like open the bator or top up the water) killed 8 just as they were about to hatch.

 

[chicksntexas]

You can do a float test to see if they are still alive...if they wiggle around in the water, they are alive! If there is no movement...likely they are goners.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=383525

Of course, lots of people say wait til day 23 or 24 to do a float test. But it won't hurt to do it early if there are no pips or cracks in the egg. Just make sure the water temp is 37 or 38c before you put in the eggs.
I would float test before I broke any open.

 

[chickenjoefan]

thanks

will give it a try. pretty sure they're all dead. no movement, no cheeps nothing.

 

[matlock585]

I got home today and I had four of my cochin banties hatched, and 3 more pipped. Since then I had one more hatch. They are all still wet. So that's 5 of my 8 out and 2 more pips. I'm happy.
Got my golden lakenvelder eggs today and all 12 are intact, so soon as these get done hatching and fluff out, I'll be off and running again.
These are some very cute tiny little babies. I'll get some pics on after they fluff up.

all of them are pipped now. I just couldn't be happier!

 

[chicksntexas]

yay! congrats matlock!!

 

[matlock585]

All 8 eggs I put in lock down all hatched out healthy chicks! I couldn't be happier. I kept my humidity at about 60-65 for those last few days, I liked that much better. All the chicks hatched easily on their own. My first time I had too much humidity and made the last one to hatch stick... Here's a link to my Mid TN thread where I posted all the pics.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6864347#p6864347