Is it safe to candle on day 23? Will the chicks live?

[Jackson55]

So it's day 23 of incubation, humidity, heat and everything are fine but there's no hatch yet or peeping. I'm getting slight bursts of wobbling since yesterday but I want to candle them to be 100% sure they're ok. Since I did everything for lockdown and they're still in lockdown I want to make sure they'll be ok if I candled them. Any help is appreciated at this point

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you are having wobbling I would not risk decreasing the humidity at this point. They can get shrinkwrapped in there even before they pip. Then they might not be able to pip.

If you smell one that is rotten or if one is weeping, I'd remove it though. Give them 3 days past the 21 day mark and then I'd toss them if none hatch (unless of course they are still wobbling or chirping).

I don't candle them when in lockdown.

 

[Jackson55]

Ok thanks. I kicked up the heat and humidity and I occasionally hear noises from the eggs (not peeping though). They don't smell all that bad. Even if they were shrink wrapped could they hatch? I still see shaking and now it's day 24. I'm expecting a hatch today.

 

[Becci]

Welcome to BYC

"Shrink wrapped" is when the inside of the egg becomes so dry that the chick cannot move around the egg to zip, thus the chick will not be able to hatch without assistance, which is no good and NOT fun. I wait 5 days after the 21 day mark, then, unless I have pips or are hearing peeps I either candle or float test (or both) and toss the eggs if they're bad. I've learned recently that there's a lot of things that can cause late hatches, and often times the cause is low temperatures. If you've had issues with your temperatures being too low, the development of the chicks may be drawn out quite a bit, resulting in a late hatch. What has both temperature and humidity been at?

You probably are hearing peeps, they're just not very prominent. If you're seeing wobbling and hearing noises, don't open the incubator at all. Sit on your hands and be patient. And I know, that's easier said than done!

 

[Jackson55]

Well I took some other peoples advice and helped the chicken out only to find a dead fetus. 1 egg left and no pipping. Im tapping it to see if it will pip. Im supprised it was a fetus though because of what day I was on.