Should I be stressing at this point? Bator temps fell on day 19!

[walkswithdog]

What day is it now? If it's 24, or late day 24 candle them now for life - they may need help from the drop in humidity as much as the drop in temp. Have a look.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Today is day 22.
I'm not hearing peeps or anything in there. No signs of life at all!

The humidity dropped down to the low 70s but is back in the high 70s/low 80s.
How do I help at this point? No one has pipped.

If I need to just sit on my hands for a while I can do that too. The hatching of the first two has completely thrown me for a loop.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Get one of the eggs out and put it next to your ear. Tap the egg a little with your finger nail. If it is alive you should hear it peck a little. Or even chirp.

If you don't hear anything, candle it and see if you can see anything.

The temp drop should not affect them too badly, might just slow them down some.

When the humidity drops too low, the sacs will suck to them like saran wrap.

I had to help 2 out and they are doing fine. I don't intervene unless I feel I have no other choice.

I didn't intervene on one yesterday and I lost him. So, it's a question of wether to take the chance or not.

Maybe, someone will come along and tell us if they have waited until the 23rd day and how well that went for them.

I wouldn't do anything yet if they have not pipped. Mine had all pipped and still not out 24 hours, so I helped them.

I hope your babies are okay.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I have helped them out once they have pipped. I've just never helped them before they pipped.
Will it screw up my humidity more if I take one out? Should I try to pip one? Arg.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Did you check for any sign of life yet? I wouldn't pip it for them. They may not be ready yet, with the temps falling a little low. They might just need a few more hours.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The low temps shouldn't have bothered them, I had my incubator unplugged on hatch day (I assume by some little person

) when one of the eggs was pipped, and they all still hatched. They were eggs from my birds, so that might have made a difference.
You need to take one out and check it to see if it's still alive. I wouldn't worry about humidity at this point, you took the other chicks out, so that would have affected it then anyway. Just be quick, and snatch one out

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Okay, I scratched/ tapped on two of them. Nothing. It's too light in the house to candle them (windows everywhere). When I candled them on day 18 all of them in there were full of chick. They had veins, the whole nine yards. I know there were viable chicks before lockdown. I then had the temp fluctuations and now nothing.
I've had chicks die in the shell before, but never this many. Four of them are shipped eggs, but the others are hand delivered. I had already tossed the no-goes. I thought almost all of this lot should hatch. Grrrr....

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Should I crack one/pip one?

 

[shelleyd2008]

You don't have a closet or something you can go in to candle them?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Ummm... no. The house was built in 1937 and has exactly one closet. That's a whole other rant.

That closet is so darn full I'd never be able to get in there. I can wait and candle tonight. What will that show me though? The eggs were full enough that I wouldn't be able to see movement. What would I be trying to see?