I think I'm in bit of a rough spot

[Crystal 54]

I am trying to hatch chicks from a still air incubator, I've been turning the eggs once a day for eighteen days, the temperature has stayed around 99 & 101. Day 21 came and nothing happened. Here I am at day 40 & still nothing. I know there's something in them because I candled them and there's a black mass inside. I'm very anxious to know if they are going to hatch but also scared I did something. With this in mind this is my very first time trying to hatch eggs on my own. Are they just to weak to hatch? Or is it something I did?

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

You are on day 40?? I would say this hatch is not going to happen. You can try a float test on them. Fill up a pan of warm water and put the eggs in the water. If they are wiggling, this will indicate life. But at day 40, I would say it is time to give up. Low temps can delay a hatch, but not by 20 or so days.

I don't care for still air incubation as it can cause a lot of hot spots in the incubator. But some people swear by still air incubation. Here is a page of articles from our learning center that might help you in the future with incubation...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks

Good luck with your adventures. Sorry about this hatch. I hope your next hatch goes as planned.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your hatch, X2 at day 40 nothing is going to hatch. There are a lot of places where hatches can go wrong, check out the link that TwoCrows gave you, especially this article, it should help prepare you for your next attempt at hatching. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Crystal 54]

Okay. Thank you. I kept hoping and waiting that maybe I would see one trying to crack. I will discard these and try again. For my next hatch what incubator would you use? I thought about adding a electric turner to do my turning for me and only mess with opening when I added water.

 

[gander007]

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm sorry - please be careful removing them, I would expect them to have rotted inside the eggs.