late hatching?

[vampedout]

OK, soo soo far all my chicks have hatched on the 21 day mark.... not this month.... I have a bunch of eggs and I put them in on 3/2-3/3.... one has hatched the rest have been candled and appear to be alive, but not hatching ready. Im sure you guys know what I mean. what I notice is when a chick is about to hatch you can see air pocket and thats it, mine I can still see a little bit of veins, but not much. SOOOO is this normal and how much longer do I keep them in?

 

[vampedout]

any suggestions?

 

[ChucktheChick]

What day are you on? I would wait a few more days. And what was ur temp.?

 

[vampedout]

they were at day 23-24, and they FINALLY hatched. the incubator is at a steady 99 during hatch. Well not all hatched, I did loose quite a few that never did anything. Out of the years of hatching ive never had this problem. Any suggestions

 

[minihorse927]

What breed were they? Is there any chance the power went out for a few hours while you were not home?

 

[vampedout]

Not that i remember. Soo obviously the temp can slow down their growing rate? Weird. And they are rhode bar, sussex, favoralle and marans.

 

[minihorse927]

Yes, if the temp is to low they will either be deformed, not hatch/grow, or hatch late. If the temp is to high they can hatch deformed, not hatch/grow due to being cooked, or hatch early. I know some breeds have a tendency to make a late entrance but none of those are any I have heard stories of being late bloomers. I do not know for sure. Maybe the thermometer is out of calibration and is reading 99 but it isn't really 99? I am just taking a shot in the dark here.

 

[cmfarm]

It seems like the temp was too low. Maybe your thermometer is not working properly.

 

[vampedout]

I have two thermometers. One on the incubator itself and one that i place in there with brand new batteries that tells me temp and humidity. Idk. That batch is done and over. Out of 10 eggs id say 7 hatched just fine, the rest didnt make it. We will see how the next batch goes thats due in 4 days. 20+ eggs. Cross ur fingers! Thabks for ur help guys, im just as stumped!!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Congrats! Had you kept close eye on your air cell growth? your welcome to my notes. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101