Please help - Day 24, not hatching still

[ChickenChickVA]

Only 5 appear to still be alive and I have opened the very top where the air cell is to check whether they are to dry but everyone seems to be in "working order" as far as that is concerned. I'm not sure to proceed - I have not made a hole into the actual sack yet as the veining appears to be very thick. None of the chickens had pipped through to the aircell even when I checked this morning.
They all appear too big to be able to move to make any further progress.
I followed the advice on another thread, which is why I opened the top of the egg so I can at least see what's "going on".

I would appreciate any advice - I know that their chances are probably very slim at this point to survive but since they are still alive at this point I want to at least give them a chance.

Thank you so much in advance for any suggestions/advice!

 

[Megan Amber]

It's hard to know what to do at this point. How high is the humidity level? And if you candle them can you see movement? Sorry to answer with more questions but I just need more info to help figure out what's wrong.

 

[ChickenChickVA]

Thank you so much for replying MeganAmbers. I had trouble finding this post again since I'm new here but got it figured out finally.

I went ahead and opened them (first the top of the aircell to get a look inside to see what's going on). After I waited an additional day and nothing was happening I opened the one that appeared to be dead and unfortunately I was right. It still had an entire yolk sack attached. After there was no progress on the others either (none whatsoever), I figured they would die either way and sure enough the remaning 2 at that point had not absorbed yolk sacks and intestines.
I had a lot of trouble with keeping a steady temperature in the incubator during this hatch, plus I found out the eggs were rather old (older than 3 weeks).

Just bad luck I guess Thanks so much again for replying and I hope any hatches you have planned will go well

 

[Megan Amber]

Awww, I am sorry that didn't work out. En-even temp and especially old eggs will lead to that. I do so hope you have better luck in the future. You did good in investigating why they didn't hatch as well. Hope you enjoy your night!

Megan

 

[ChickenChickVA]

We live and learn I guess and learning is always good I was so sad over this failed hatch that the only thing I could think of to do was to get new eggs to hatch (maybe I need incubators anonymous? lol). I made sure to get fresh eggs, let them settle 24 hours, made sure the incubator was keeping steady temp (employed ducked tape lol) and so here we go again!

 

[Megan Amber]

Well then that is actually wonderful news! A lot of people just quit! Feel free to throw out any questions anytime and either myself or another will be sure to answer you!