Need advice.....gonna cry!!

[ASweetHeart]

Today is my day 24 of having my 19 silkie eggs in the incubator. No hatches.
Its killing me to wait. I candled the eggs, no visable movement. I did the float test on 3/4 of them. The air sac side was at water level, little side of egg down on most. Opened the iffy one - no development. Opened another, very dead - fully formed. Opened a third - it took 2 breaths, opened it's eyes, and died.

So now IDK if they are alive or not. How long do I give them? Where the one that opened it's eye barely moved, does that just mean they are all just about dead? I can't take this!!

I still want to try and get the hatching thing down. I bought these off ebay. Want to wait till I figure it out before investing $$ like this again. Anyone know where I can get fertile eggs in SW NC?

Wanna cry!!

 

[KandiandJerry]

I don't know what is going on...could we get an expert ....Please.....

So sorry you are having to go thru this...

 

[silkiechicken]

Sorry for the bad hatch. It's getting to be about too late for any survivors. Fully formed birds barely alive sounds like the temperature is too low over all. Just a degree too low can be devastating. Make sure your thermometer is reading right, and you have temps at 99.5 if you have a fan, or 101.5 if you do not have a fan, measured at the top of the egg.

That said, I usually tell people that they shouldn't try to hatch shipped eggs until they have learned how to use your incubator in the season/room/location you have chosen to use it in and have hatched out fresh fresh local eggs. Shipping adds a whole new dimension of potential issues and it is hard to trouble shoot hatching if you have too many variables.

 

[mstricer]

What was your temp and humidity set at? Bantams usually hatch early unless your temp was too low. Shipped eggs usually have harder time. There are a lot of folks here from NC. I'm sure if you look on the hatching eggs for sell forum on here you might be able to find eggs for sell in your area or close enough to pick up or even meet somewhere. Sorry about your hatch, my first few ended that way also.

Michele

 

[ASweetHeart]

No fan. Temp has varied between 99.5 and 100.5. Humidity was at 35-40 before lockdown, 69ish after.

This is my second attempt at hatching. My first was from my silkies's eggs. She laid about a doz and stopped. I tried to hatch 6, only 3 of them hatched. The first to pip made the hole, then after made no further attempt to get out. After 24 hours I helped it, and surprisingly it survived and is doing well. Just not sure what to do now/what I am doing wrong.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[suzeqf]

I feel your pain, I have a broody banty hen sitting on 5 eggs and on day 23 I had to assist one to hatch and she's doing great but the others aren't doing anything, I opened two last night one was a dud it was scrambled looks like it didn't get past 7 days or so and the other one was fully formed but tiny there was lots of blood and a huge air sac and it took one breath and died. I candled the other two and thought or wished i saw movement so i put them back under moma and i'll recheck them tomorrow if i don't see anything then i'll open them and see what happened. She's also got a reg size egg under her that a hen slipped in on me before i got her enclosed that should hatch next weekend.

 

[CapricornFarm]

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It sounds like you have not enough humidity if they are getting stuck. Are you opening the top a lot? You might try adding wet sponges during lockdown. Keep trying, none of my first few batches of eggs hatched. But you learn from it.

 

[silkiechicken]

No fan, so you'll have to incubate with "still air" temps and up your temperature about one degree (100.5-101.5). Like I said earlier... your lack of hatching is likely attributed to that one degree too low of incubation temp. The temps you are using is meant for incubators with a fan.

 

[Melissa Rose]

My incubator is a tall type and I did not realize that the bottom was three degrees colder than the top tray area. I set the shelf on the bottom so the chicks would not fall down and get hurt. They could not hatch they would pip and start to zip but not finish and several died in shell before I realized what was wrong!


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[nurse_turtle]

I blame it on the shipped eggs. Have you ever noticed how most USPS drivers drive? I have yet to hatch a shipped egg, except button quail. 1 degree here or there really doesn't make that much of a difference. Your humidity sounds perfectly fine. I use dry incubation which means I add no water at all until lockdown. Days 0-18 my humidity ranges 30-40% and during lockdown @ 70%. In my Hovabator still air, I keep temps around 100-101 degrees. What town are you in in NC? I'm in Wilkes and would be willing to maybe meet you half way to deliver hatching eggs. Are you wanting to hatch Silkies over other breeds? I strongly encourage you to try again with cheaper, non-shipped eggs. It really doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong.