Setting a new batch of eggs with an old

[Proud E Z]

Oh no!! And he was just dancing in there a few days ago! What could have happened? It was only 3 days ago I know he was alive!
Well, there is just a few thin veins at the very bottom below his feet. Could he still be alive somehow? Or he's definitely gone? There isn't a blood ring or anything like that...

 

[JaeG]

Oh no!! And he was just dancing in there a few days ago! What could have happened? It was only 3 days ago I know he was alive!
Well, there is just a few thin veins at the very bottom below his feet. Could he still be alive somehow? Or he's definitely gone? There isn't a blood ring or anything like that...

You see blood rings if they die in the early stages, but once they are a bit older they are just a dead little body in there. It's most likely that something didn't form properly and it's easier to lose them before they even hatch than to have to make the decision to cull them because they have a deformity of some kind.

This is an excellent article that tracks an egg through incubation and it has daily candling photos you can compare your eggs to: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/development-of-a-chicken-embryo-day-by-day.72537/

You'll see that on day 17 you can't see much more than darkness and a bit of veining under the air cell.

My first time incubating chicken eggs didn't go well at all. I'd hatched quail for years with no issues so it was a real blow to my confidence to lose the first chicken chicks I ever tried to incubate. The eggs were shipped which didn't help and I had one make it to lockdown, but the chick was malpositioned with its head between its thighs and beak pointing downward so there was absolutely no way it could have managed to pip. It was a beautiful chick too.

Do try again - you will have more success the next time.

 

[Proud E Z]

Oh, he doesn't look at all like that! Or the ones before. I can see the details in him still, and even the feathers I think. He was such a good little guy! Poor thing...
Thank you so much. I really appreciate your help with this little guy, you've been absolutely great!! Your help meant a lot to me, I will try again and I hope it goes much better. At least I have a good thermometer now! That at least has to make a difference.