What are my chances these bad boys are actually gonna hatch?

[Heather8183]

Hey, chicken gurus! I'm on pins and needles..so I thought hat better way to pass the time than to see what all of your opinions are.

Soooo...we kinds just threw ourselves into this without enough research (we're figuring out quickly). We have 2 sets of Buckeye eggs. One set of 14 in lockdown now, and a set of 20 due on Sunday. When we started the bator, the directions said 97* and nothing about monitoring humidity. So, we set it at 97 and filled the wells with water when it got low. Did I drown my chicks???? Was the temp too low for them to even develop? Around day 12 or so, we figured out that they needed to be higher, so we got them up to 99*. The humidity in there is about 65* right now.

Now, the other set (20 eggs) last night when we went to bed it was running. When DH got up at 6 this morning, the plug was loose and the temp was at 75*

We have no idea how long it was thar low...praying for only a short time!

I feel like such a loser right now. Out of 34 eggs, I'm seriously doubting we'll have any chicks.

So bummed! Any thoughts on if I'll get lucky and actually get a few chicks? My luck if I get any they'll only be roosters, lol

Thanks in advance!

 

[easttxchick]

I certainly wouldn't give up-have you candled yet?
I bet you get SOMETHING out of your hatch! I have seen on here (and had myself) some pretty crummy hatching conditions produce good results.
Good luck to you!
ETA: Until lockdown, I would lower the humidity to about 55%.

 

[Heather8183]

Quote:
No we didn't candle...DH swears he saw some movement the other day..is that possible?? Thanks for your quick reply...makes me feel a little better!

 

[easttxchick]

Did your DH see actual rocking of an egg(I'm assuming since you didn't candle that's what you mean)? And in which of the batches did he think he saw movement?

 

[Heather8183]

Quote:
Yeah, he thinks he saw rocking (but he's crazy, so who knows! LMBO) It was a few days ago, and it was the Sunday batch of 20.

If we candled the Sunday batch right now, it wouldn't show much right? I assume it would be almost completely black IF there were chicks?

 

[easttxchick]

Probably didn't see rocking if they aren't due to hatch until Sunday. Sure you can see veining and maybe more. They are at day 15 right?

 

[Heather8183]

Squeee! Just got up the nerve to candle 2 of the 20 due Sunday! They look just like they should according to the candling pics!!!

 

[Heather8183]

Well, today's D day. No pips and I'm not seeing any movement at all. Gonna wait it out a few extra days since their temps were low for the first few days

 

[Heather8183]

We ended up candling all of the second batch. I have I think 8 that are bad (never developed). 3 I definately saw movement and then the rest developed but I didnt see any movement in those.

As for the batch due today....I heard chirping an we have at least one pip!!! Woohoo!

 

[easttxchick]

for your peeping egg!