Has anyone ever had a hatch that was 4 days late and they finally start hatching. Ours was due to hatch on Thursday of last week and we got nothing. We checked the eggs and seen movement in some so we left them. Finally Monday morning we had 4 chicks. So my question is what could have happened that caused this delay and how much longer should I leave the eggs?
I've not had it happen personally but the most likely cause of a late hatch would be that the incubator is on the cool side. Lower temps during the incubation period can cause a delay in hatch. I would double check your thermometer and make sure it's reading the correct temp. It may require recalibration. Also sometimes how old the eggs were when you set can cause them to be delayed. Also did you count the day you set them as day 1? Day 1 should start 24 hours after they have been set. For example if you set on Monday 9am day 1 would be Tuesday 9am day 2 would be Wednesday 9am and so on. As for your other eggs with it being a late hatch already I would check them again for movement or peeping coming from the egg. If you see or hear nothing I would think they are not going to hatch. My own rule I have is 4 days past due date to remove them from the incubator. Best of luck to you and hope your others are just late.
My very first hatch was pretty much a loss. I had my first chick hatch at day 24 and the second hatch at day 25. The day 25 hatcher didn't even make it 24 hours before he died. My day 24 hatcher ended up being a loner and becoming our pet. I am finding that the delay in developement is effecting his growth and 'motor' skills. He is going on four months and he has never fully feathered out. He still has a significan amount of down feathers under his adult feathers. He also has poor balance. He walks fine, but he doesn't roost and if he picks up his foot to scratch himeself, he starts to fall.. But he is a sweetheart so we will baby him as long as we get to have him with us. Other than that he is seemingly healthy. My hatch was late because I depended on ONE brand new thermometer. I didn't check it against others or calibrate it because it was brand new. After that hatch I found that it was 6 degrees off. The whole time I thought my temp was perfect, it was actually 6 degrees cooler than it should have been. Thus the reason for my bad hatch and late hatchers. I now use three thermometers in my bator. And I agree with everything Yorkshire said....lol