Need help about incubation!

[Gladys_3]

I had a question about lockdown and my hatching eggs. I had one egg come early on the night of day 20. I left the chick in the incubator and pulled him out this morning on day 22 because I didn’t see any pipping. I’m getting worried because the incubator smelled horrible when I opened it quickly to pull out the baby but I assumed because of the chick hatching and small poops he left in the incubator. I haven’t seen any piping all day and tomorrow will be day 23. I candled all the eggs on day 18 and they all looked great. This is my first time incubating and I wonder if anyone has any suggestion or thoughts?
Thank you!

 

[hysop]

Smell each one individually.
If you’re already on day 23 and only one hatched then we need to see what temperature they were on all this time and if you had an extra thermometer to verify. Also the humidity the first 18 days then from lockdown til now.

 

[EmilyRobb]

@Gladys_3 Whenever I've incubated and the chicks end up leaving behind fecal matter, it never smells terrible. The only time I've smelled something terrible in the incubator is when a developing chick within an egg died and began to decompose, which is a smell somewhat worse than rotting eggs. You could probably "break" lockdown to check and see if the unhatched chicks are actually doing something, otherwise the eggs will eventually burst from a buildup of gas within the shell due to a rotting embryo, and bacteria will just contaminate the whole incubator. You could even pick up the unhatched eggs and smell them individually as one can make the whole incubator stink. The smelly eggs can be removed before they make a messy explosion. Hope this helps!

 

[Gladys_3]

@Gladys_3 Whenever I've incubated and the chicks end up leaving behind fecal matter, it never smells terrible. The only time I've smelled something terrible in the incubator is when a developing chick within an egg died and began to decompose, which is a smell somewhat worse than rotting eggs. You could probably "break" lockdown to check and see if the unhatched chicks are actually doing something, otherwise the eggs will eventually burst from a buildup of gas within the shell due to a rotting embryo, and bacteria will just contaminate the whole incubator. You could even pick up the unhatched eggs and smell them individually as one can make the whole incubator stink. The smelly eggs can be removed before they make a messy explosion. Hope this helps!

Yes it does thank you !

 

[Gladys_3]

Yes it does thank you !

One was dead after all, there is one that is 3/4 covered , is that good at day 22?

 

[EmilyRobb]

@Gladys_3 I've had chicks hatch as late as day 23, and I've heard of hatches on day 25 or 26. Maybe leave the others until then and see if anything happens further. If you want to track development on any remaining eggs, try outlining the air sac with a pencil when you're candling. When you candle to check again, an air sac that is no longer in line with the penciled outline (air sac is bigger) shows that the chick is developing still. An air sac that is the exact same in a day or 2 towards the end of incubation usually means that nothing is going to happen.

 

[Gladys_3]

@Gladys_3 I've had chicks hatch as late as day 23, and I've heard of hatches on day 25 or 26. Maybe leave the others until then and see if anything happens further. If you want to track development on any remaining eggs, try outlining the air sac with a pencil when you're candling. When you candle to check again, an air sac that is no longer in line with the penciled outline (air sac is bigger) shows that the chick is developing still. An air sac that is the exact same in a day or 2 towards the end of incubation usually means that nothing is going to happen.

Thank you this helps a lot!

 

[Gladys_3]

@Gladys_3 I've had chicks hatch as late as day 23, and I've heard of hatches on day 25 or 26. Maybe leave the others until then and see if anything happens further. If you want to track development on any remaining eggs, try outlining the air sac with a pencil when you're candling. When you candle to check again, an air sac that is no longer in line with the penciled outline (air sac is bigger) shows that the chick is developing still. An air sac that is the exact same in a day or 2 towards the end of incubation usually means that nothing is going to happen.

It’s my first incubation and I don’t have an egg candler but I use a strong flashlight that cups the egg perfectly. I only have 4 eggs left in there and the one that is about 3/4 and the other three are completely filled. Any suggestions on next candling to see more than a black egg inside?

 

[EmilyRobb]

@Gladys_3 all I use is the flashlight on my phone turned up to the highest setting. The light source is small so it makes a nice and concentrated ray of light. I always place my phone screen down on my washroom counter and then turn all the lights off so it's pitch black. I'll take my eggs of choice and place the air sac/not pointy end on the light source. The light will illuminate the empty space, and anything opaque is the chick. Early on in incubation you can usually get away with candling from any angle as there's only a vein network and not really a large embryo.

 

[TheMother]

@Gladys_3 I've had chicks hatch as late as day 23, and I've heard of hatches on day 25 or 26. Maybe leave the others until then and see if anything happens further. If you want to track development on any remaining eggs, try outlining the air sac with a pencil when you're candling. When you candle to check again, an air sac that is no longer in line with the penciled outline (air sac is bigger) shows that the chick is developing still. An air sac that is the exact same in a day or 2 towards the end of incubation usually means that nothing is going to happen.

I second leaving them for a bit longer. I had one chick hatch on day 27 this last incubation. She's now 5 weeks old.