my first hatch is taking forever! help

[Singlemaple]

Okay so i have collected eggs for my hatch built an incubator placed the eggs in there ( i started collecting eggs the 8th of april and collected them till the 14th of april and they went in the incubator on the 14.. the only eggs that did not rot and have chicks in them where laid on the 11th of april ) and i read like 40 different pages on what to do for humidity and so i had my humidity at 55% for the first 15 days and then i found out if was only supposed to be 35-40% so i changed it to 40% and i had the humidity running at 95 for the first 15 days and i was told it was supposed to be 99 so i fixed that it. my eggs where not developing well at least very fast.. they where developing tho. so they told me to leave them in for 28 days if they don't hatch by then then just ditch them it ended up that 12 of my 14 eggs where rotten and had only a blood ring in them i had put them on lock down cause i was told to cause i normally candle them nightly but i didn't so i now have 2 eggs in my incubator that where supposed to hatch on the 7 or 8 im not sure cause i believe i put the right date on them so idk if i put the right date on or not and i have not candled them for 4 days now and every once in awhile i will catch one rocking but very very very slightly you can see it rocking but it is not rocking fast but it is rocking and when i put them on lock down they looked like 17 days of growth there was almost the entire egg black and then i could see the feet and beaks on both of them, but you could still see a little bit of veins... what do you guys think i should do cause im going insane here waiting!


i also have a broody hen idk what date she got broody but we left 7 eggs under her and marked them today we went out there and she was not in the coop we found her and checked her box and one of the eggs had broken i think it might have been the porous one cause when we relised she was broody we candled the eggs and i had told my dad and he said it wouldn't hurt to leave it out there any way today one egg was broken open the shell was kinda soft it was weird but like not soft but easily broken idk what but the chick was like a 1/4 the size of the egg ( we get like extra large eggs they don't even fit in most egg cartons ) but it had a beak and feathers and feet and everything but it had alot of yolk and veins so idk how far along that was but i would like to know so i can guess how far till the other 6 hatch...


anyway i just need help or opinions or something.


Do you think they wont hatch?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

So if I understand you correctly, you are on day 17 out of 21?

It's ok that they are rocking. Keep your humidity up. They could start hatching soon. The temp should be around 99.5. For hatching I recommend a humidity greater than 65% I think I have read, but that would be starting in a day or so- unless they pip sooner than that. Since you are not sure of the dates, if it were me, I would just raise the humidity now.

You need to keep it very humid once they pip (make a hole in the egg) so the membrane doesn't shrink wrap them and they die.

Here is a website where you can click on the day to see what has developed:
http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/explore/embryology/

 

[Singlemaple]

Quote:
no the chicks looked developed to day 17 when i put them in lockdown ( they had been in the incubator 21 days but have been laid for 24 days at the point of lockdown)

sorry if i'm confusing people idk what to write.

 

[pete55]

I think the problem has been too low a temperature coupled with too high a humidity. You need to give them more time to compensate for the lower incubation temperatures.

If you click below my Avatar on 'View MY BYC Page' you'll find links for detailed incubation.

Good luck.

Pete

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491421&p=1
It appears that the shrinkwrapping occurs before pipping due to low humidity...great thread to read!

But definitely after they pip they need that humidity up or they might not be able to get out.

Sorry I have no more advice, as I have hit the bottom of my knowledge on this...but www.brinsea.com has a great free downloadable hatching manual with specific recommendations on temperature and humidity. That is where I got my 'bator.

 

[Singlemaple]

I ended up cracking the eggs open and they had chicks in them but it looks like the chicks had like scrambled yolk and stuff on them and it smelled really really bad the eggs have been in the incubator for 30 days so i started to assume they where bad or dead cause 12 of the other eggs in my incubator stopped maturing and started rotting about a week ago.