on day 23... no chicks from 18 eggs, are they dead?

[annruger]

This is my first batch. I did candle them at the half way point, and I think they were developing. So, I am at day 23, and nothing... Thru the process, I have been trying to keep the temp (hovabator) at 98-101. Humidity at about 40%, and now up to 65%-80%...have an auto egg turner, which I took out at day 18.
So, do I throw these out?
thanks for any advice.

 

[CindyS]

Do you hear any peeping? dont give up yet. they could still hatch. IF the average temp was a little low they will hatch late.That sounds like an alright range for temps although you should not let it drop to 98, that lowers your average temp too much. What kind of thermometer are you using?

 

[neferset]

I'd let it go another day, though I read somewhere that chicks who hatch after day 23 tend to be very weak, but I'd give them all of day 23. Did you happen to candle when you took the turners out? Have you watched the temps afterward (I noticed a small difference in my hovabator temperatures when I take the turners out.) I always do.

I've had eggs that looked good at day 10 or so take a turn once in a while. If they don't look like they kept developing, on day 18 I discard them. But I learned to candle often so that you get a feel for how the chick is developing.

 

[annruger]

I have the thermometer that came with the bator, it is on a small plastic sheet that I placed on top of the eggs...I also have a Walmart humidity monitor, and it has a digital thermometer, and it sits in the corner of the bator,,,it always reads about 4 degrees lower, but I figured that I should use the one that sets on top of the eggs for best accuracy. I dont hear anything, no peeping..

 

[annruger]

At what point do you just throw them out? How hot can the temp be without killing them? I was so worried about the temp going over 102. I only candled them the one time, 1/2 way thru.

 

[CindyS]

uh oh, I was afraid you would say the one that comes with the incubator. There is no way of knowing what temps you were actually using. But still, I would wait a few more days and see what happens.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Give them a few more days, your temps could have been alittle low. I've had chicks hatch on day 25 before.

 

[annruger]

What thermometer should I use? The walmart thermometer/hygrometer that I put in the corner of the bator, I would estimate, read about 97-ish thru the last 3 weeks...if this doesnt work, i want to try again...what thermometer do I need, and where in the bator do I place it...(geez, if all of them died because of a crappy thermometer SUPPLIED BY THE BATOR, I will be really angry.

 

[Akane]

A still air with no fan? 98 is low for a forced air but quite low for a still air. They would be a day or 2 late at that temp. You want more like 101-102F for a still air to have them hatch on time. However every thermometer even digital ones are usually off by a degree. The thermometer that came with both my bators was no more off than every digital I've bought since and they sit on the eggs better so I was using those as my main thermometers until one got broken and the other the paper so covered in blood it wasn't worth trying to clean. It's really hard to know what temp to keep the bator at for a given thermometer until you hatch with it and see if they are early or late. Also humidity gauges are almost always off but luckily there is a way to test these. Just put them in a ziplock bag or air tight container that you can see into with damp salt (not saltwater just wet salt). The humidity in the container will reach 75%. The bigger the container and the less salt the longer it will take but it will eventually stop at 75%. When your humidity gauge stops going up you need to write down how far off it is from 75 and add or subtract every time to get the correct humidity.

Normally you would at least candle around day 10 to check for eggs that might go rotten (exploding eggs are bad) and then day 18 before you stop turning them so you know how many might hatch. Otherwise there's no way to know if the eggs were even alive when you stopped turning them.

At this point I'd candle and if the eggs are dark something grew in them and if they have large clear areas odds are they died awhile ago. You can break those if you want but large clear gaps with no movement or completely clear is a guranteed bad egg at this point. If there is no sign of movement or you can't candle the egg I take a pocket knife or similar and scrape a hole in the end with the air sac. Don't shove or you'll break the whole egg and possibly stab the chick. If you hear peeping stop, put it back, and wait. If you don't break little pieces of shell along the air sac until you can see or touch the membrane. Watch for movement and if nothing poke the chick. It should move or it's probably dead. If you see no veins with blood and no beak sticking out of the membrane it's definitely dead. I pull out another and keep going until I run out of eggs or find one alive. If at any point you see life put it back and if you made a rather large gap cover it with a bit of warm damp paper towel and again wait.

 

[annruger]

Hey! I just heard some peeps, and THREE egss have a very small hole!