# Day 22 and still no hatch.



## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

I guess we did something wrong but I don't know what. This is our first time using a incubator and I thought we followed the direction as close as possible. My eggs came from two different sources. I will crack a few open tomorrow and see what's inside. 

Any suggestions on what might have happened?


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I'd give them a couple of more days.
If temps were a little low, they can be delayed

You could try to candle them instead of breaking them open


----------



## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

I ended up with 1 chick out of a possible 34. 4 tried to break out very late but didn't make it. I'm pretty sure my temps were too low despite Herculean efforts to regulate conditions. (Thermometers aren't perfect and neither am I.) IRS is growing well but lonely; I found chicks for $1 each that are her age so I'm buying her some friends on Saturday--a couple of Delawares, White Rocks and Orps.


----------



## Marysgoats (Oct 9, 2007)

Oldcountryboy, you need to try the dry hatch method. You drowned your babys in the shell. You will have great hatches if you dry hatch.


----------



## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Oldcountryboy said:


> I guess we did something wrong but I don't know what. This is our first time using a incubator and I thought we followed the direction as close as possible. My eggs came from two different sources. I will crack a few open tomorrow and see what's inside.
> 
> Any suggestions on what might have happened?


First - were the eggs local or were they shipped in? Shipped eggs can be problematic, it's very stressful on them.

Second - do you know what your temps and humidity ran during the incubation? Cooler incubators tend to run late. As mentioned, too much humidity will cause them to drown - as an aside I always find it fascinating to realize they breathe through the shells and also take in moisture, it is almost like the placenta. 

Be aware that thermometers can be inaccurate, it's useful to have more than one of them and to be sure to place them so they read about where the top of the egg is. Lower they will read colder, higher will read hotter. If your incubator spiked high temps at one point for any length of time, that can do your eggs in too. 

If you don't know how, learn how to candle the eggs so you can monitor their development and know where things went wrong. If they never develop, you know you just have infertile eggs. If they start and stop halfway through, you can look to see what was going on halfway through. If they develop and fail to hatch at the end, you can look at the conditions at hatching time. 

For example, I put too much water in the trays of my Hovabator at the end (not used to the incubator) and didn't notice that a few of my eggs were sitting in the water in the back of the incubator. It was just a bit on the bottom of the egg, but none of those hatched, though they were good until then. I'm afraid I drowned them.  Now I know to really watch that when I hatch this time.


----------



## mommagoose_99 (Jan 25, 2005)

If you have a Walmart near you , buy one of their indoor /outdoor thermometers. They are very accurate. My $10 Walmart thermometer reads exactly the same as my $26 +shipping Brinsea thermometer and takes cheap AA batteries. Before cracking your eggs, take them somewhere dark and carefully candle them. If the eggs are clear , they were not fertile. If you can see a dark blob filling up the shell they are still growing. If the aircell has gotten very big the egg is on the dry side if the air cell is tiny the eggs are too wet. If you can find a humidity guage at a thrift store buy it and keep your eggs around 45-50% humidity, otherwise candle your eggs frequently to keep an eye on the aircell. It needs to gradually get bigger over time. By the day of hatch it should take up about 1/4 of the egg on the rounded end.
Linda


----------



## mommagoose_99 (Jan 25, 2005)

Use caution candleing chicken eggs after the 18 day. Do not jar them or turn them and replace them exactly in the same position that you picked them up. Candle with the light shining through the round end of the egg not the pointy end. You would be surprised how many times people call me to say the eggs I sold them were black. You need to be in a dark place to candle and you need to shine the light through the aircell at the round end of the egg not the pointy end  Just had another call about that a minute ago.
Linda


----------



## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

Thanks for all the info everyone. Suprisingly they are hatching right now as I type. It's like day 23 now and they are finally hatching. There is one chick out completely and it seems to be doing fine. Another one almost out. 

As far as the temperature guage goes, I'm using the one they provided and it so small I have a hard time seeing the 100 degree mark with my tired old eyes. One set of eggs came from a nearby fellar I happen to know. He's got lots of hens and plenty of roosters to fertilize them. The other set of eggs came from a poultry swap/auction. They are green eggs and I'm hoping they were fertilized as they are suppose to be. But you never know what your getting at a auction. Last year I won the bid on some RIR chicks. Turns out they were mixed breeds with some RIR. Some were ugly! 

As far as humidity goes. The directions says to make sure there's plenty of water in the bottom of the incubator. Theres this little circular tray that you fill with water and then a screen is set up on top with some distance to keep the eggs out of the water. If you overfill, the water will run out and to the bottom of the incubator. But there is no humidifier device to tell you the amount of humidity inside the incubator. I guess I need to buy one along with a more readable temperatue guage. Have no ideal of how I will increase or decrease the humidity with the way the incubator is set up. 

Probably really need a better incubator if I really want to get serious about hatching chicks all the time. But I bought this little incubator so my children could watch the eggs hatch. Right now they got there faces glued to the little windows on the incubator, watching the eggs hatch with lots of excitement. Being so late tonight and the eggs just now hatching, I don't think my kids are going to get to bed very early and will probably skip school tomorrow.


----------



## mommagoose_99 (Jan 25, 2005)

I always tell everyone THROW OUT the crummy tiny thermometers they are not any good. If you are going to spend money on eggs buy a good thermometer first, one with a sensor on a wire works the best. Stick the sensor in the incubator at the height of the top of the egg and leave the readout on the outside where you can see it without opening the incubator.
After your chicks hatch, leave them in the incubator for half a day to dry off and rest . Still no turkeys for me tonight but I candled two of the 30 eggs and the babies are in the aircell. Our power went out twice so far tonight so I put two soda bottles full of warm water inside with the eggs just incase I fall asleep and don't get the blankets on top.
Linda


----------



## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

Well we only had 4 eggs hatch out so far and one don't look too healthy. The last two took a long time to get hatched out. In fact we started helping them out by peeling a peice off about every 30 minutes or so, till they could make it out on their own. So far their doesn't seem to be anymore trying to hatch out. Curious of why it's taking them so long when they are trying to hatch out. Last night I went to bed while one had pecked a hole in the shell and had a crack running from the hole. This morning when I got up to go to work, it still hadn't completely hatched out. So while I was getting ready for work I would peel a little bit of shell off every so often and by the time I was leaving out the door, it finally finished itself out. Just seems like the egg shells are too tough for the little guys. 

Daughter just informed me that we now have a 5th one trying to hatch out.


----------



## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

I find my duck eggs hatch late when the temp is a bit low and the late hatchers tend to be slow to hatch. Glad you got some babies!


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> I guess I need to buy one along with a more readable temperatue guage. Have no ideal of how I will increase or decrease the humidity with the way the incubator is set up


. 

You can get a combination thermometer/hygrometer at WalMart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Springfield-Digital-Indoor-Thermometer-with-Hygrometer/10671021

You can raise humidity by putting a sponge in the water tray to increase the surface area


----------



## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

One thing I've done, since we live in a very dry climate (about 20% humidity usually), is to just humidify the room the incubator is in. Also, humidity is generated not by the amount of water you have, but by the surface area. I made little trays out of plastic tops to tinfoil bread tins (the really little ones, 3 for $1) and use those to hold sponges under the wire and keep them damp. 

Someone else mentioned once that they cover their eggs with a moist paper towel for hatching, being careful to be sure there's good air flow, but trapping a bit of moisture right around the egg itself. Mostly you'll need to know what your humidity is before you mess with it. I bought a couple of cute little hygrometers at www.eggcartons.com which work great. I got this one, they have others: 

https://www.eggcartons.com/product-exec/product_id/13/nm/Mini_Incubator_Hygrometer_HYGRO_2

It fits right into one of the holders on the turner for the one incubator and I just lay it on the wire of the other one. Although my eyesight isn't too great, I can read them pretty easily.


----------



## gold'nchocolate (Jun 24, 2006)

Here are a few links explaining "dry incubation". 

http://www.courtneypoultry.co.uk/id17.html

http://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html

If you filled the water spaces in your incubator and kept them filled throughout the whole hatch then it's possible your chicks drowned in the shell. 

I was nervous to try the dry hatch method but I had 20 chicks hatch this weekend, using this method. I kept the humidity at around 25% (day 1 through day 18) and then on day 18 I took the eggs out of the turner and added water to the water wells in the incubator to bring the humidity up to approx 65%, shut the cover, opened the vent hole and didn't open it again until after they hatched. This is called "Lockdown". Sit on your hands if you have to  but don't be tempted to open the incubator for any reason.

It's very important to *never* open the incubator while the chicks are hatching. It will affect the humidity enough to cause the egg membrane to "shrink wrap" the chicks that have already pipped. When I needed to add water (after day 18) I stuck a drinking straw in through the vent hole and added water with a small syringe through the straw directly into the water wells at the bottom of the incubator.

Good luck with your new chicks. How are they doing today?


----------

