My failed attempt at incubating. Opened eggs up at day 22.

[CogburnIsMyRoo]

So it was my first try at incubating and I was very anxious to meet my little chicks that I candled them almost every night. Then it was almost time for hatching and I was very excited and just couldn't keep my hands off of the eggs. By day 20 there was no sign of piping. Then day 21 still no sign and by day 22 I was done and I look back now and shouldn't have been because I ended up open up 2 egg which both had chicks that were just doing their internal pip. This has left me very depressed because of my stupidity.

 

[Hholly]

If you've been candling them a lot, maybe the heat was not consistent so they are just late. I've read a lot of stories of hatches that happened after day21. Good luck.

 

[MeepBeep]

Unless you were spending multiple hours a day candling them, that likely had no effect on the incubation period as hens regularly leave the nest during the day to eat and drink so the temporary cool down periods are normal...

21 days is just an estimate, it's by no means a hard fast rule... Also overall incubation temps can effect that time as well, a degree or two up/down can shorten/extend the incubation period by days...

If I have any post 21 day eggs, I candle them while tapping on them with my finger nails, with patience you can generally see if there is still movement in the egg or if it's quit... If I'm unsure I give it another day and candle again...

Most of the time mine hatch on day 21 like clock work, but I have had different types of eggs hatch from day 19-23 in the same incubator at the same time and temp...

I just hatched out three clutches of Cream Legbar eggs over the last few months, all three clutches from 3 different sources hatched on day 20, you just never know...

Chances are you incubation temps were slightly low and they just needed a little more time, or else they were just taking a little longer as some eggs do...

 

[CogburnIsMyRoo]

One more reason that they weren't hatching is that I left the eggs out for almost 3 weeks before putting them into the incubator.

 

[hodor]

Seems like you know a bunch of things you can improve for next time. Give it another go. I'm on my second try and an about to go into lock down and feeling confident I'll have some luck this time! (I cooked my first batch using only one thermometer which was faulty, now I know better)

 

[murgamurgi]

hatching eggs is hard and frustrating. I'm just going to order chicks next time.

 

[CGilbert]

My first hatch, I got 5 out of 11... And my hatch rate went down every time since. Come to find out, my thermometer in the incubator now reads 5 degrees lower than what it shows. I checked it before my first hatch and it was dead on, so somewhere along the way, it started reading wrong. I lost 45 eggs the last time. I'm very nervous, but I'm Going to do the New years hatch-along. Hope I know what all the issues were. The up side this time around is that the eggs I'll be incubating, I didn't have to pay for. My girls are finally old enough and started laying.

Don't give up, just learn from what you've done and change it up as needed.

 

[Hholly]

This article is a great resource of information. Better luck next time.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101