Worried about incubation disastor.

[GD91]

Hi everyone. Here's the story:

I was right in the middle of incubating 4 bantam eggs when a breeder got in touch with me over an order I'd made about 3 weeks ago. I'd got in touch previously by email 2 weeks before & not recieved a reply so assuming I had lost my money i ordered more eggs from somewhere else. Next thing she phoned & told me there was a mixup & my eggs had been dispatched that morning!

2 Days later the eggs arrive. I let them sit & put them in the bator.

The problem came when the older rocking eggs had to go in lockdown & with one incubator I had to make the decision to put the older eggs first (I now have 3 chicks thanks to that decision) & locked down the incubator with ALL the eggs in there. So those four eggs didn't get turned for 5 days & because the lockdown & hatch was taking so long I removed them & put them into a bodged homemade incubator which kept having drastic temp fluctuations for about 48 hours.

To cut a long story shorter when I last candled them after the others hatched the eggs were completely dark inside, but there was no sigh of any veins or movement.
Have I messed up that hatch? I think I have.

I'm not too upset, just glad the others made it into the world because I chose to lockdown.

Thanks

 

[Wyandottes7]

Well, if you can't see veins, your eggs are probably, and unfortunately, dead.

Don't lose hope for them yet, though. You might just not be seeing veins.

 

[GD91]

They have slightly darker shells than the last lot

But it shouldn't matter, its my 3rd time candling a clutch & I know what i'm looking for, I just don't see it.

They aren't THAT dark.

I opened the incubator & one of the eggs stinks, plus the whole incubator smells.

I don't know if its the smell left over from the hatch (I did wipe out the base etc) or the incubating eggs getting the smell from the incubator. Something stinks though

I don't know whether to just chuck them to be honest, somethings telling me they have had it & I would be better giving the incubator a decent clean & reordering more hatching eggs.

P.S my chicks are doing really well & have imprinted on me.