NEED HELP PLEASE!!!! day 24 and no chicks!!!!

[juelz1380]

this is my 2nd time hatching... we went into lock down this passed monday which was 18 days after i initially put the eggs in the incubator. they were "due" on weds... its now 3 days after and nothing!!!!! I did the float test and all but 1 floated correctly to make me believe they are all viable eggs! 1 sank.... my first hatch, when i went into lockdown, i heard peeps from inside the eggs... and honestly i didnt know what the heck i was doing the first time around.... i hadnt checked the humidity the entire incubation period till lockdown the last hatch... where this time i made sure the humidity was correct the entire time and upped in on monday when i went into lockdown! I am sooo frustrated! when i had candled them on day 10ish most looked good... Is there something else i should b doing? could having too many eggs in the incubator be an issue with the hatch??? HELLLPPPPP

 

[HHandbasket]

What kind of incubator are you using? I recently discovered that the temperature my incubator's digital readout was showing was actually about 2 degrees above what the actual temperature was. I had a lot of eggs that I paid a lot of money for NOT hatch as a result. They grew, slowly, then just kinda petered out at the end in lockdown. I don't think they were mature enough yet or something, but it happened twice before we decided to put a freshly-calibrated digital hygrometer/thermometer in the unit and test the temp & humidity. I thought I was incubating these eggs at 99 degrees, and it was right around 97 the whole time. I thought the humidity was up to 60% at lockdown, and it was actually maybe about 40%. Bad on me for not putting in a separate hygrometer/thermometer (i.e., I ignored everybody's advice... seriously, listen to the long-timers here, they know of which they speak). Now we are having a good incubation period in that bator. We candled last night, day 13, and out of 32 eggs originally in there, we still have 27 (had already taken 2 out on day 5 because they were completely not developing). That's a LOT better rate than the last clutch of eggs we hatched in this unit. Out of 16 eggs, we had 3 hatch. Two of those had not fully absorbed their yolk at hatch and died within 4 days of hatching. The third, a barnevelder, is healthy and spunky. So we had 1 healthy egg hatch out of 16 due to low temps, and that was a *real* expensive experiment.

My point is (didn't mean to hijack your thread) to make sure you get a separate thermometer/hygrometer and calibrate it, then put that in your incubator to confirm the accuracy of your current readings. It takes some time and a couple of failed hatches to get it down, so don't beat yourself up too badly (easier said than done... just don't let yourself get discouraged while you're going through the learning process).

Your chicks may still hatch, even though it's day 24. If you still have nothing on day 25, do another float test to see if they're still alive, or peep at them and listen to see if they peep back.

Here's sending you good hatching vibes and wishing you all the best!

 

[juelz1380]

i have the reptipro 5000... i have the seperate thermometer and hydrometer in the baator... one on the top shelf and 1 on the bottom.... usually the bator runs about 5 degrees off from what the digital readout on the front of the bator says.... which is why i got the extra thermometers from the 2st hatch... last time i had a 50% hatch rate doing it blind!!!! at what point should i call it a day and get new eggs??? although i am soooo angry that i may not do another hatch this spring......

 

[juelz1380]

Quote:
Thank you sooo much!!!!!

 

[HHandbasket]

Welp, there you have it. My incubator in question is also a Reptipro 5000. Wouldn'tcha know it!

I think it runs a little low. Give yourself a couple of days. If nothing hatches this round, crank your temp up an extra degree or 2 for your next hatch.

 

[perolane]

Do a search here for "Reptipro"....we had a thread going not long ago & there's lots of info there for using this unit sucessfully. I've hatched LOTS of eggs in mine & had great hatch rates...you just have to learn how to use it! Happy hatching!

 

[juelz1380]

i just cant get over the the last hatch i had, without doing any homework on it and going in blind was amazing!!!! and this one NOTHING!!!! all the eggs from both hatches were shipped... but the first batch that i had a wonderful hatch rate came thru 2 huge snowstorms and this one, the eggs were shipped in better weather and nothing!!! sooo angry!