I'm on day 14 and worried/losing eggs

[HeatherKellyB]

I am following this thread closely. I am experiencing the same, probably worse hatch rates, actually much much worse. I purchased some incubators that received high praise on here and have followed all of the advice that I can find. I don't even want to say how many eggs (and money) I have lost, and then add in the price of incubators. At this point, I feel like it's the rough shipping that is going against me. I'm close to giving up, at least until USPS gets everything together and can ship eggs efficiently again. It's really depressing. I am wishing you the best with your remaining eggs and if you pick up more to hatch. I can relate to having kids involved. My daughter is 8 years old and heavily invested. Breaking the news to her makes this even more heartbreaking and frustrating. I'm hoping you end up with a lot of beautiful and healthy chicks before too long

 

[Tonyroo]

I am following this thread closely. I am experiencing the same, probably worse hatch rates, actually much much worse. I purchased some incubators that received high praise on here and have followed all of the advice that I can find. I don't even want to say how many eggs (and money) I have lost, and then add in the price of incubators. At this point, I feel like it's the rough shipping that is going against me. I'm close to giving up, at least until USPS gets everything together and can ship eggs efficiently again. It's really depressing. I am wishing you the best with your remaining eggs and if you pick up more to hatch. I can relate to having kids involved. My daughter is 8 years old and heavily invested. Breaking the news to her makes this even more heartbreaking and frustrating. I'm hoping you end up with a lot of beautiful and healthy chicks before too long

Is your incubator a still air machine?

 

[EarlJ]

For what it's worth...

I use a Nuture Right 360 incubator, and I didn't realize until I cleaned them how many holes there are in the thing. There are small holes in the base - presumably to prevent people from adding too much water. There's a hole in the lid about as big as the tip of my pinkie finger. And there's the obvious ventilation hole you can control the size of.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Is your incubator a still air machine?

No. I have a Nuture Right 360, and a Brinsea Maxi Advance, and recently added an Incuview

 

[Tonyroo]

You shouldn't have hatching problems, but if your getting shipped eggs you have to settle them in an egg carton 1 to 3 days depending on how the egg content looks. And also not to turn them in the incubator for the first 2 days. Try not to candle them so much.

 

[Tonyroo]

Hatching eggs require fresh air circulating around them to develop properly. I don't have any holes in my DIY incubator forced air made out of wood shelving. I have a 1/8th gap on the top of the front panel with the window. So my incubator can exchange air constantly even during lockdown.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Almost all of my eggs have taken 5-6 days to arrive at my post office once they leave the sellers hands. I've had a few broken eggs and they were packed well by the sellers. The postal service is just not operating at its expected standard. From what I'm hearing, they're being overwhelmed with packages and lots of workers aren't going in because of Covid19 fears, etc. Etc. I am up watching over a Day 20 egg that's been busy rocking today and chirping tonight. No external pip yet though. Now I'm trying to figure out if I should lower temp. I am reading that I should, for shipped eggs, for the very first time ever. I haven't had hardly any make it to lock down and of course I am overly worried. I should be used to losing them by now, but I just can't give up hope. I'm going to leave everything as is for now. Temp at 99.6°F and Humidity at 69

 

[Tonyroo]

Don't ever lower the temps, your doing good with what your doing, Patience plays a big role in lockdown. Just leave it alone and just watch. If it hatches make sure it dries out completely before removing it.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Don't ever lower the temps, your doing good with what your doing, Patience plays a big role in lockdown. Just leave it alone and just watch. If it hatches make sure it dries out completely before removing it.

Thank you. Honestly, I really needed the reassurance and I am so grateful to you for that.

 

[Tonyroo]

I learned a lot on BYC from other peoples experiences. But at the end of the day you have to adapt what you learn to your personal situation and experiences with incubating, caring for chickens in your own setting.