Our first hatching! Help!

[Mackpeeps]

This is our first time hatching eggs. We did six, and so far only one has hatched. Today is the end of day 22. We believe we had movement from a couple of the other eggs, but so far no pips. And we aren't sure if the "peeping" is coming from the eggs or "Sheldon". It took "Sheldon" almost 36 hours from pip to hatch. When we candled the olive eggs at day 7 and 14 no light was able to penetrate the shell.
Any thoughts about the likelihood of any of the other eggs hatching? We'd feel bad putting Sheldon in the broader by him/her self. We are getting some Ameraucana chicks in 2 weeks.

 

[Willow2253]

I’m assuming you’re using an incubator and not a broody hen. You can take the one chick out of the incubator once it’s dry. This may help you listen for peeping from the other eggs. You can also try holding each egg up to your ear and listen for any tapping or peeping that would indicate an internal pip. Just be careful to put the eggs back the same way up as you found them. I would consider giving them a little longer before touching them, though. Watch them too, if they’re on a flat surface a chick moving inside while getting into position to hatch can cause them to wobble. Is your thermometer calibrated? If you were running your temps slightly low it can cause a late hatch.

 

[KCHenlover65]

My little Henrietta was also the first to hatch. After 2 days i needed to move her from the incubator to the brooder box. When i put her in alone she peeped and peeped so i rolled up a sock and stuck it under there with her. She instantly stopped peeping and when i looked she had her neck stretched out over the sock. Now she has 2 more chicks in with her and they all snuggle with the sock. I made sure the brooder plate isnt low enough or hot enough to cause a fire.

 

[KCHenlover65]

My little Henrietta was also the first to hatch. After 2 days i needed to move her from the incubator to the brooder box. When i put her in alone she peeped and peeped so i rolled up a sock and stuck it under there with her. She instantly stopped peeping and when i looked she had her neck stretched out over the sock. Now she has 2 more chicks in with her and they all snuggle with the sock. I made sure the brooder plate isnt low enough or hot enough to cause a fire.

 

[Mackpeeps]

I’m assuming you’re using an incubator and not a broody hen. You can take the one chick out of the incubator once it’s dry. This may help you listen for peeping from the other eggs. You can also try holding each egg up to your ear and listen for any tapping or peeping that would indicate an internal pip. Just be careful to put the eggs back the same way up as you found them. I would consider giving them a little longer before touching them, though. Watch them too, if they’re on a flat surface a chick moving inside while getting into position to hatch can cause them to wobble. Is your thermometer calibrated? If you were running your temps slightly low it can cause a late hatch.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, we are using an incubator. And we were keeping the eggs still, then the first egg hatched. I've been at work, but my wife told me this chick has bumped into the other 5 eggs and even pecked at one. I do have a pretty good thermometer in with the eggs. But the temp has come down 1 or 2 degrees since lockdown. So you might be righ, that might be causing the slow hatch.

 

[Mackpeeps]

My little Henrietta was also the first to hatch. After 2 days i needed to move her from the incubator to the brooder box. When i put her in alone she peeped and peeped so i rolled up a sock and stuck it under there with her. She instantly stopped peeping and when i looked she had her neck stretched out over the sock. Now she has 2 more chicks in with her and they all snuggle with the sock. I made sure the brooder plate isnt low enough or hot enough to cause a fire.

We might try that sock trick when we move her this morning to the broader.

 

[Mackpeeps]

I got home from work this morning and moved the chick to the brooder. Her down was dry and the broader is nice and warm. When I put her in the box to transport her I noticed her feet. So now we're worried that she injured herself in the incubator.

Any thoughts?

Also while she was in the incubator, she moved the other eggs around. And for some reason the temperature dropped to 93 at one point. Its now climbing and is at 96.

 

[Willow2253]

Looks like your chick has curled toes. I would search or post in the injury/disease and cures forum for advice on how to correct it.
It’s fine that she moved some of the other eggs around, it could even be a reason chicks are taking longer to get into position. What incubator do you have?

 

[Mackpeeps]

Looks like your chick has curled toes. I would search or post in the injury/disease and cures forum for advice on how to correct it.
It’s fine that she moved some of the other eggs around, it could even be a reason chicks are taking longer to get into position. What incubator do you have?

We have a HHD 12 egg incubator. But I've seen it sold by other "companies".
What is frustrating is that it came preset to 38° Celsius. But when I put my hydrometer from my humidor in it, that temp reading said 93° Fahrenheit. So I turned up the temperature of the incubator until I got a reading of 100° F. It stayed constant for the first 20 days of this batch. Then on day 21, while I was at work, the temperature dropped tp 93°F.
I got home today and put my, of all things meat temperature probe in the incubator. 104°!!!!!
Hoping and praying that I didn't overheat any chicks that might have been waiting to hatch.

 

[Willow2253]

Hopefully it wasn’t at that high temp for too long. Chicks can handle brief lows better than they can brief highs in the late stages of incubation.