Candling day 22 - are they dead?

[sarochka]

I'm on day 22 of my first hatch. Out of a dozen eggs, I have eight chicks, the last two of which hatched this morning.

The four remaining eggs haven't pipped. I just candled them and they have HUGE air cells. I can't see any movement in the dark part. Do you think they're dead? I have my doubts about three of them especially because they were closest to the light bulb in the incubator. It was probably too much; I had removed the foil shield over the bulb because it was wreaking havoc on the temps. (Until lockdown I would rotate all the eggs when I turned them, so nobody would stay close to the bulb for too long.) The eight chickies are doing well.

 

[gamechickens]

oh i hope some answers this i have twn lust like it on day 21

 

[countrychix]

My last clutch of eggs had what appeared to be huge air cells also but they were actually partially detached membranes (shipped eggs). The chicks were up inside that area just like they were supposed to be; the light just makes it look like a huge air cell due to the partially detached membrane. Sorry, it's hard to explain, easier to see. I candled my eggs all along through the last hatch, so I knew what I was seeing and compared it to what hatched, and unfortunately what didn't. The air space had nothing to do with whether mine hatched or not as far as I could tell. This last clutch of mine never started to pip until day 21 and the final chick hatched out late on day 23.

Glad to hear your chicks are doing well. Good luck

By the way, 8 out of 12 is an excellent hatch in my book, hope a few more hatch for you though.

 

[Kedreeva]

Give it till Day 24, in my opinion. If they're dead it can't hurt them and if they're not they have a good chance of hatching in that time frame if they haven't yet. If they don't hatch by then, crack them open and take a visit to this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4407757#p4407757

 

[sarochka]

Thanks, countrychix! Mine really do have huge air cells, with no internal pip. The eggs are from my mom's farm; they were not shipped. Like you, I had been candling all along, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary (though it's so hard to see as time goes on).

I'm ready to accept that these guys didn't make it -- just debating whether to go ahead and unplug the incubator...

Honestly, I was flabbergasted that all 12 developed at all. I had set 6 fresh eggs that we collected just for incubating... but then 6 seemed like so few, so I threw in a half-dozen refrigerated eggs given to me for eating. Ironically, 5/6 fridge eggs hatched, versus 3/6 fresh ones.

 

[countrychix]

Give it another day or two; I know that the wait is frustrating but you never know. I never had any go past day 22 before this last hatch- 9 days ago. My temps and humidity were perfect this time around and yet the hatch dragged out for so long, only the good Lord knows why. But I'm very happy with my 7 little barnevelder chicks.

 

[kipper]

I would give them another day - what have you got to lose?

 

[sarochka]

Thanks, everyone! I will give them another couple of days.

 

[pkw]

I agree. Give it another day or two. I had 2 eggs that I couldn't see anything but darkness in when I candled Monday morning but guess what? They both hatched today so see there is hope for your other eggs. Even though you still have 4 to go, you have a great hatch already with 8 precious chickies

 

[sarochka]

So I candled once more this evening and decided to open them up. It looks like they died right before the pipped. They all had unabsorbed yolks. I had trouble regulating temperatures (and probably humidity) in my incubator after lockdown, so this is definitely something for me to work on. Will post pictures on the eggtopsies thread in a little while.