Two batches of eggs alive at lockdown, never hatched?!?!?

[cindyschicks]

Temp/humidity good. What am I possibly doing wrong. One more batch, due on Monday 5/10, my Sebbies. I don't want to loose them too. Candled last night, they are still alive and moving.

HELP

 

[wegotchickens]

Don't know what could be happening.
Are these your eggs or shipped eggs?
What kind of bator?
Do you really trust your hygrometer?

 

[cindyschicks]

It is driving me crazy. I have two hygrometers and three thermometers.

I am using two separate Little Giant 9600. I lost my first batch (18 turkens) after moving it to the newer LG for lock down, that incubator has given me the most trouble.

So for the second batch I left it in the more reliable of the two. Had an automatic egg turner going, then at lock down removed it, candled the eggs, everything fine and still no hatch. I had the humidity at 60 - 70 percent for 6 buff orp and 6 silkie eggs.

Now I am ready to go into lockdown (Friday) with my Sebbies and I really REALLY don't want to lose them.

I am a failure as a Chicken momma so far, but hoping I can survive as a goose momma.

These were my first ever hatches, so really not happy with my skills for incubating.

They have all been shipped eggs.

 

[darbella]

I have a dilema regarding shipped eggs that I candled. When I got the eggs, I candled them before putting in the bator to see if any breaks or cracks were present. All looked great! So here is it day 23 and not a pip yet. These are naked necks and a larger egg than the bantams I usually try to hatch. Temp is on the higher end of 98 the last 3 days and humidity is fluxuating at 29-34. My question is that when I first candled the eggs on day one before setting, I noticed that there "appeared" to be a watery liquid swishing above the air cell. Not a lot, but definitelry there. I still set the egs and when I candled for the first time on day 10, I saw chicks moving for sure. I candled on day 19 and also saw moving chicks and some eggs still had the swishy water and some did not. Any ideas on what to do and how long should I wait. I have access to extremely fine dental drill bits and was thinking if there was a danger of the chicks drowning upon entering the air sack that perhaps I could drill in the top center of the eggs to allow the water to evaporate and add to the humidity? Then plug the hole with soft wax?? Any help or suggestions please!

 

[wegotchickens]

98 is too low, darbella. You'll have a late hatch and other issues if the temp is too low. There is a really good instruction page on incubation in the BYC how-to's. Everyone should read it.


cindyschicks, I don't know what to tell you. Shipped eggs are fragile. Hatching is subject to a lot of variables. Read everything you can on incubating, and then distill it for your area (humidity, stability of temps). And it's still a toss of the dice! After more than a year of hatching, I can tell you it does get easier. But I've learned that it's not good for me to have eggs shipped from more than a couple of states away from me. The longer the trip, the lower the % to hatch.

Geese are definitely different than chickens, so I'd go to the BYC search and look up hatching info for geese. I've never hatched them (don't want any geese).

I'm about to research turkeys. I'll be trying my hand at those soon. Good luck with your little geese!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might look through these two sites to see if they can help.

Mississippi State Incubation Troubleshooting
http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/troubleshooting_incubation.pdf

Florida Incubation Troubleshooting
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa204

 

[darbella]

Quote:
It has been on the high end of 98 (98.7-98.8) and I remember reading that it was beter to be in the 98's for hacthing someplace on these boards. I am concerned about the water in the air sacks more than the temp though at this point. I have ahd several OEGB's hatch out in the same bator at these temps over the last 3 days. Do the larger eggs take more time?

 

[darbella]

Quote:
It has been on the high end of 98 (98.7-98.8) and I remember reading that it was beter to be in the 98's for hacthing someplace on these boards. I am concerned about the water in the air sacks more than the temp though at this point. I have ahd several OEGB's hatch out in the same bator at these temps over the last 3 days. Do the larger eggs take more time?

I posted on this thread by accident so have opened my own thread with the qyestion. Sorry for the confusion! Oooops!