Incubating and hatching eggs

[anonymouusxo]

Hi,

It’s my first time trying to hatch chicken eggs for my daughter. It's only been 10 days since incubation. Are the eggs good or bad. All I mostly see is solid black inside. I do see veins and the air sac did get larger. I also do see movement. But what throws me off is how the eggs look like it’s day 16-18 instead of day 10 of incubation. Is it really day 10 or do you guys think it’s older than that?If they are good, what day do you guys think the eggs are on in the following pics since I know day 18 is lockdown day and need to increase humidity.

Thank you!

 

[AMURPHY227]

Whats the humidity been in the incubator with the eggs shown?

If this is day 10 of incubation, these eggs are no good.
You should see veins and a shadow at this point, and should still see the yolk. I'm sorry!

You count the days of incubation starting the day after you set the eggs. Ex- if you set eggs today 7/15/25, tomorrow would be considered day 1 making hatch day 8/5/25.

If eggs have been in the incubator for 10 days and look comparable to day 18 eggs, then you are still on day 10 of incubation, and your eggs are not good.
Sometimes too high humidity can make them develop too fast, but that is also dangerous because you risk the baby drowning in the egg, or shrink wrapping when the incubator is opened.

These eggs however both look rotten to me, and I would glove up and very carefully remove them, place them in a ziplock bag, then in the outside garbage.
Eggs will explode and well, it's a mess and smell you never forget lol

 

[anonymouusxo]

Whats the humidity been in the incubator with the eggs shown?

If this is day 10 of incubation, these eggs are no good.
You should see veins and a shadow at this point, and should still see the yolk. I'm sorry!

You count the days of incubation starting the day after you set the eggs. Ex- if you set eggs today 7/15/25, tomorrow would be considered day 1 making hatch day 8/5/25.

If eggs have been in the incubator for 10 days and look comparable to day 18 eggs, then you are still on day 10 of incubation, and your eggs are not good.
Sometimes too high humidity can make them develop too fast, but that is also dangerous because you risk the baby drowning in the egg, or shrink wrapping when the incubator is opened.

These eggs however both look rotten to me, and I would glove up and very carefully remove them, place them in a ziplock bag, then in the outside garbage.
Eggs will explode and well, it's a mess and smell you never forget lol

Humidity has been at around 48. I will go ahead and toss them all. Thank you!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Could you try candling with a phone light or something, those aren’t great pics! Don’t worry about rotten exploding eggs, if one is bad you’ll know! If the eggs are dark shelled they can be hard to see too, if you have definite movement please don’t toss because the pics are bad! It won’t hurt anything to keep them in longer if you are unsure, a rotten egg will smell awful even when unopened, old non rotten eggs don’t stink even when opened. The main thing is a stable temp, don’t worry too much about humidity but rather keep an average level, I’ve hatched successfully at 20 and 80%, not that those are ideal but please don’t get intimidated by things on the internet that one little humidity dip will kill your eggs. A temp crash or spike can be catastrophic but not humidity.

 

[anonymouusxo]

Could you try candling with a phone light or something, those aren’t great pics! Don’t worry about rotten exploding eggs, if one is bad you’ll know! If the eggs are dark shelled they can be hard to see too, if you have definite movement please don’t toss because the pics are bad! It won’t hurt anything to keep them in longer if you are unsure, a rotten egg will smell awful even when unopened, old non rotten eggs don’t stink even when opened. The main thing is a stable temp, don’t worry too much about humidity but rather keep an average level, I’ve hatched successfully at 20 and 80%, not that those are ideal but please don’t get intimidated by things on the internet that one little humidity dip will kill your eggs. A temp crash or spike can be catastrophic but not humidity.

No smell coming from any of them. I am able to see veins when candling and rotating the eggs myself, but it is hard to see when trying to take pics with my phone. It’s been 10 days of incubation, but when candling the eggs they look like they are actually day 16-18. So when do you recommend I put them on lockdown and increase humidity? I have had the temp at 100 consistently and humidity fluctuating between 45-50. It’s been 10 days of incubation but looks nowhere like the progress pics I have seen online. It more of looks like day 16-18.

 

[AMURPHY227]

I am able to see veins when candling and rotating the eggs myself, but it is hard to see when trying to take pics with my phone. Since I do not know the approximate age of the eggs, when do you recommend I put them on lockdown and increase humidity? I have had the temp at 100 consistently and humidity fluctuating between 45-50. It’s been 10 days of incubation but looks nowhere like the progress pics I have seen online. It more of looks like day 16-18.

Lockdown should be 18 days from the day you put them in the incubator

 

[anonymouusxo]

Lockdown should be 18 days from the day you put them in the incubator

Should I be worried that the eggs look more developed than day 10? Do I put them on lockdown right down?

 

[AMURPHY227]

Could you try candling with a phone light or something, those aren’t great pics! Don’t worry about rotten exploding eggs, if one is bad you’ll know! If the eggs are dark shelled they can be hard to see too, if you have definite movement please don’t toss because the pics are bad! It won’t hurt anything to keep them in longer if you are unsure, a rotten egg will smell awful even when unopened, old non rotten eggs don’t stink even when opened. The main thing is a stable temp, don’t worry too much about humidity but rather keep an average level, I’ve hatched successfully at 20 and 80%, not that those are ideal but please don’t get intimidated by things on the internet that one little humidity dip will kill your eggs. A temp crash or spike can be catastrophic but not humidity.

The information about seeing movement and veins was just added a few minutes ago. Please do not think I gave bad advice!! lol I would NOT have told her to toss them had she said there was movement and veins, that should have been added in another comment as an update to avoid confusion.

 

[AMURPHY227]

Should I be worried that the eggs look more developed than day 10? Do I put them on lockdown right down?

No they take 21 days to develop properly. Lockdown wouldn’t do them any good bc they will not pip until that certain time frame. I wouldn’t mess with the temp and humidity until they are on day 18 of incubation.

 

[AMURPHY227]

Did you candle the eggs before setting them? Is it possible they were left in or near a warm area and began developing prior to setting