What percentage of your eggs hatch AFTER 21 days?

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
A small maglight and a dark room is all you need.

 

[sumi]

Had a broody hatch eggs last week. I put some eggs under her in the afternoon and more the next morning. The hatch went as follow:

Day 21/22 - 2 chicks
Day 22/23 - 2 chicks
Day 23/24 - 2 chicks
Day 24/25 - 1 chick

The last chick was very strong and healthy and is now running around with Mom and the others after I had it under a warm light for a day. (Mom was up and about by the time the last one arrived.)

 

[yinepu]

my chicken eggs pretty much all hatch by day 21.. been a while since I had any late hatchers..
but in all honesty it's been hot here.. so not very likely that my incubator will be hit by cold air any time soon!

 

[jason180sx]

hi i have 10 eggs one hatched on the 21st day and it died the evening and it is the 23th day and no chicks i canled them and there is no beaks in the air cell i am getting worried now
help

 

[kimberly35042]

Quote:
x2

Pekin eggs take 28 days

Also, sometimes other hens/ducks will lay eggs in an already started nest which greatly staggers the hatch.

 

[Chickybabe2012]

New to keeping chickens, when my aracuna/ new hampshire cross hens went clucky I went with the flow, left them in laying boxes, together, in contact with the other chickens, added eggs after they were sitting, etc, lots of novice not best practice activities... anyway, I did eventually start looking things up on the internet and marked the eggs and made an estimate of the starting dates. I do know that all eggs were marked prior to xmas. My first three chicks hatched on the 9th Jan and each couple of days came another 1 or 2 chicks over a week, then nothing for 3/4 days. I knew that it was now well over 21 days, but being a hopeless romantic, I waited. After all, the hens hadn't abandoned the eggs. So glad I did! Beyond all possibility, on 21 Jan another egg hatched! A real cutie. With the hens still sitting and some remaining eggs looking and feeling heavy, I'll leave it to the hens to know best.

 

[AllenWMiller]

21 Days is a standard commercial hatchery rule in part due to a need to empty the hatchers in time to receive the next batch from the incubator to the hatcher. It is also a hatchery rule of 21 days since more often than not any chick hatching after 21 days will be weak and not sturdy. There are a few exceptions such as Marans and Jersey Giants. Larger breeds tend to hatch a bit late while bantams tend to hatch a bit early.

For the hobbyist, often there is the temptation to keep on waiting past 21 days in hopes that more will hatch. This also holds true for heritage breeders who will wait and even assist the chick out if necessary to preserve the breed as much as possible.

Since I've gotten into heritage preservation I've even gotten a little crazy myself and let eggs go into 23 or even 24 days but I've seen little results.

As far as candling and hoping, you won't see much even with a high power candler at 21 days. A dark interior and big air cell doesn't indicate that the chick is still alive and can also represent a rotten egg. So to handle rare and endangered breeds and give them as much a chance as possible I've invested in a physician's stethoscope and I actually listen to the egg for heartbeat and movement and this insures that I don't throw away a living chick.

You can get a stethoscope at any drugstore for under $20 dollars and it is great fun for kids to hear a chick in the egg too.

Cheers!

 

[mandycarlo]

Help !! My first clutch of eggs my silkie hen is sitting on its past 21 days she kicked one egg out yesterday that was rotten but is still sitting in the rest.. Yesterday and today she has been coming out of the nesting box she has not came out in weeks is this a sign that they are about to hatch ?? If any of the other eggs are bad she would get rid of them too?? Ugh

 

[steampunkchick]

i have the same problem, its day 24, and mine are still- no movement at all!

 

[steampunkchick]

and i have silkie eggs!!