Need advice! No chicks day 24!

[ZurcherFarms]

I'm on day 23-24 with a batch of Marans eggs I had shipped and I'm at a loss. I currently have about 12 eggs in a large gqf sportsman incubator of my father's. (I've recently ordered an incubator of my own but it hasn't arrived yet. I've hatched several small batches of eggs over the last 3 months, with about 45% hatch rate. It's also been freezing almost every day for the last month... But I've had a heater in the shed the incubator is in so the room temp is never below 60.)

My question is, I've had quite a bit of unplanned temperature fluctuations this batch. At one point multiple dog waterers were pulling too much juice from the same electric line, and caused the incubator to lose energy and drop to 95°, for I'm not sure how long, possibly overnight. While trying to correct the problem it also spiked to 105° for maybe 20 minutes.

It's day 24 and they haven't hatched nor pipped. I opened three and they were dead and dried out. (I increased humidity at lockdown, and haven't been opening the door, I'm not sure what the exact humidity level is though.) Another two were alive when I opened them, but the yolk sack still was showing and there was lots of veins in the membrane surrounding them. 1 chick was barely alive when I opened the shell, then died a few minutes later, I think it may have drowned, as it's head was at the wrong end, and there was quite a bit of fluid in the inner membrane. The chick was not fully developed though.

After that I stopped messing with them. In all my other batches, nothing lived past day 24. My question I guess is, how long should I leave them in there? At what point (relative to hatching day) do the veins recede and the yolk sack absorb? The day they should hatch? The day before? I'm a little wary of just leaving the eggs alone for a long time, because my first batch of eggs had almost dehydrated and the shells were rock hard at day 25, and I'm convinced if I would have helped them pip I could have probably saved some of them. With these I'm not so sure. They don't look "done".

Any advice appreciated!

 

[Pyxis]

If you had some that were still alive on day 24, then the temperature was low for awhile to make them that late. What temperature do you normally keep it at, and did you check to make sure the thermometer is accurate? Is it possible the temperature was low for longer or more times than you thought?

The one with its head in the wrong end of the egg is a malposition, could have been caused by the shipping or its positioning during incubation; do you have the eggs fat end up?

What humidity have you been using? Due to the thick layer of color pigment on marans shells, I have been told by marans breeders that they find they get better hatches when they keep the humidity lower than they would for other breeds.

 

[ZurcherFarms]

I've tried to keep the temp at 99.5, I calibrated my thermometers twice, so I'm pretty sure that was accurate.I don't know what my humidity was at, my hygrometer was broke. But I had the tray at the top full with two sponges, and two shallow trays of water, one in the floor, and the other on the shelf below the eggs.

Eggs were candled and fat end up until lockdown.

 

[Pyxis]

I've tried to keep the temp at 99.5, I calibrated my thermometers twice, so I'm pretty sure that was accurate.I don't know what my humidity was at, my hygrometer was broke. But I had the tray at the top full with two sponges, and two shallow trays of water, one in the floor, and the other on the shelf below the eggs.

Eggs were candled and fat end up until lockdown.

I would get a new hygrometer asap. I use this kind and find they are very accurate:

They cost about $6 at Walmart. Does your incubator have a fan?

 

[ZurcherFarms]

Yes there's a fan at the top by the heater, and one at the bottom.

 

[Pyxis]

Okay, so 99.5 is the correct temp then I would think possibly it has been having low swings, causing the chicks to be late. The humidity may also have been off without a way to measure it.

Are they too dark to candle?

 

[WVduckchick]

If they are too dark to see growth, I believe you should still be able to make out the air cell, with a good bright light. If it's still round like normal, by day 24, I would not expect them to hatch. The air cell should at least be drawn down by now.

 

[feedman77]

I've tried to keep the temp at 99.5, I calibrated my thermometers twice, so I'm pretty sure that was accurate.I don't know what my humidity was at, my hygrometer was broke. But I had the tray at the top full with two sponges, and two shallow trays of water, one in the floor, and the other on the shelf below the eggs.

Eggs were candled and fat end up until lockdown.

If I keep my water full with one sponge in my gqf, the humidity is over 70 percent. I never put water in the bottom.

Did you keep water this way thru incubation or just lockdown?

If so guessing humidity was way too high.

 

[ZurcherFarms]

They're hard to candle, but can make out the air sack. Last night I saw movement in 2 eggs, that's all.

My concern with the humidity has been that in the other batches it was too low, because they seemed so dried out, and there are so few eggs for such a large incubator. Could that affect them?

 

[feedman77]

I generally low humidity incubate. Keep it between 20 to 30 percent. Then raise to 70 plus for lockdown.

But there have been times I've had chicks hatch early. By me miss marking days. Where they had no humidity increase and they hatched ok.

So unless your humidity is extremely low. I'm not sure how they could be that dry.

I've incubated 1 tray before 24 eggs. Didn't notice any ill effects to it. As far as hatch rate.

I would have to find thread on here about incubating dark shelled eggs (marans) I was thinking they needed a lower humidity for a better hatch.