Incubating and development issues

[ChickenCanoe]

 Ah man I really hope the others will be OK?! Not really enjoying this anymore, it's very stressful and nerve-wracking! I think if I lose more (as I have another batch of bantam eggs on the go now) I will give up and just run to find someone local selling hens

It is very stressful. Since your incubator is fairly automatic (turning and fan), I recommend setting and forgetting with occasional temp checking. I keep mine in the basement or a spare room we don't use so I can go long periods without thinking about it.
I have a count down/count up timer (from incubator warehouse) sitting below my computer monitor so I keep track of what day they are on.
I also have a 2 channel thermometer with alarm for the incubator and hatcher. You can set it to go off if it gets a couple degrees high or low.
That truly takes the stress out of it.
I use the RT8100 right now. It isn't extremely accurate but close enough to use as an alarm.
https://www.thermoworks.com/Alarms/...250.679681765.1517168179-637663749.1515338172

 

[ChickenCanoe]

OK, so I opened the egg (heartbreaking!) and the chick is well formed but with a small part of the yolk still outside the body... I got a picture of it but not sure you guys would like to see that... it's incredible how it fits in the egg but boy do I wanna cry!! what did I do wrong?

You may have done nothing wrong.
If you looked at the link I gave you 'Hatchability Problem Analysis', it will tell you what all the possibilities are at each stage of failure.

 

[Cornishbutterfly]

You may have done nothing wrong.
If you looked at the link I gave you 'Hatchability Problem Analysis', it will tell you what all the possibilities are at each stage of failure.

Thank you. That link was really useful. The other two eggs were dead aswell. One didn't look past day 12 development and the other was just gooey and stank so bad!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm curious if there was any odor in the incubator.
My eggs are usually too dark to candle so I don't remove any eggs unless they are completely clear, leak or stink.
Always be on the alert for any off smells. That is a candidate for explosion and would make a mess of the incubator and the other eggs.

 

[rita2paul]

sorry to hear that, i found it stressful the first time i hatched some, don't give up, try again some times it might take a couple of attempts for everything to go right. but when it does it's brilliant.

 

[Cornishbutterfly]

I'm curious if there was any odor in the incubator.
My eggs are usually too dark to candle so I don't remove any eggs unless they are completely clear, leak or stink.
Always be on the alert for any off smells. That is a candidate for explosion and would make a mess of the incubator and the other eggs.

Yeah I've heard to sniff out for smells, but there never was a bad smell! The egg was dark so we thought it was the chicky, but when it didn't hatch and we candled it more thoroughly, we noticed it wasn't right. So made the decision to open it and it stank! I'm surprised it didn't explode!

 

[Cornishbutterfly]

sorry to hear that, i found it stressful the first time i hatched some, don't give up, try again some times it might take a couple of attempts for everything to go right. but when it does it's brilliant.

Ah thank you! I'm currently incubating another batch of eggs and so far they're going well so really hoping we have a better result! My 7 year old is counting on it so I'm really hoping this time will be a success!

 

[Bryam]

They are dead. Remove them before they explode.

 

[Cornishbutterfly]

They are dead. Remove them before they explode.

Yes thank you, I have established that...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Yeah I've heard to sniff out for smells, but there never was a bad smell! The egg was dark so we thought it was the chicky, but when it didn't hatch and we candled it more thoroughly, we noticed it wasn't right. So made the decision to open it and it stank! I'm surprised it didn't explode!

I have seen some people put them inside a sandwich bag before opening. Though I don't know if that contains the smell or just the grossness.

I'm currently incubating another batch of eggs

When your hatch date?!