I'm probably crazy but I'm going to try hatching a egg with my body heat. Hatch-Along

[LavenderDaFlerf]

I don't know why it is that way, but as long as the embryo seems to be doing well, I would continue with that egg.

I've seen a few eggs that seemed to have no air cell, and later the air cell was there and the right size, so with my eggs it might have just been something about the shell or the angle I was looking at. (I decided my air cells must have been their all along, but I sometimes failed to see them.)

If the air cell really is too small (or absent), lower humidity might help. The usual way to lower humidity is to quit adding water to the incubator, and maybe increase ventilation to the incubator-- but considering the way you are incubating this egg, I'm not sure what to suggest!

Thanks, I guess I could leave it in my bedroom when I shower instead of in the bathroom with me.

 

[NatJ]

Thanks, I guess I could leave it in my bedroom when I shower instead of in the bathroom with me.

That sounds like a good idea for now, and then you can see how it progresses as time goes on.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

On the twentieth day I plan to poke a safety hole in any air cell there is just in case.

 

[Lovely Lettie]

No, the embryo is still moving.

YAY
Good luck!

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

YAY
Good luck!

Thanks!

 

[NatJ]

On the twentieth day I plan to poke a safety hole in any air cell there is just in case.

Why?

I would at least wait to see how big the air cell is.

But poking a hole will make it easier for the membranes to dry out and shrink-wrap the chick. Yes, chicks need air-- but most of them do just fine with the holes they make when they are ready.

I have almost no experience with assisting chicks to hatch, so I'm going by what I've read on this forum, especially this article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
This article recommends putting in a safety hole 18 to 24 hours AFTER the internal pip, if the chick has not made an external pip by that time.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

Why?

I would at least wait to see how big the air cell is.

But poking a hole will make it easier for the membranes to dry out and shrink-wrap the chick. Yes, chicks need air-- but most of them do just fine with the holes they make when they are ready.

I have almost no experience with assisting chicks to hatch, so I'm going by what I've read on this forum, especially this article:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
This article recommends putting in a safety hole 18 to 24 hours AFTER the internal pip, if the chick has not made an external pip by that time.

Okay, I'll wait for internal pip if I decide to do it .

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

Officially 8 days in, 13 to go!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I may have missed it because I didn't read the whole thread but where on your body are you keeping this egg? Have you placed a reliable thermometer there to check the temperature?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

On the twentieth day I plan to poke a safety hole in any air cell there is just in case.

I don't see a need to deviate from a normal approach to hatching. In other words, the chick needs to do the work.
Have you been turning the egg several times a day? That's as important as temperature.