Week 3 Expectations

[KimChick]

It is now "tomorrow", after 6pm and nothing has happened! And I'm positive I saw some growth while candling.

[WLLady]

Give it another 24 -36 hours. If the temp was a little low they will take longer....its not abnormal to have themhatch a little late or a little early if the temp is down or up even as little as a half degree

Also if you set in the afternoon then count the day you set as day 0....f you set in the morning count it as day 1....

[Giffen Farms]

@KimChick Chick how did your hatch go?

Tomorrow is Day 21, so it is imminent! I am sitting on the edge of my seat and going nowhere tomorrow! Also wondering if any will hatch tonight. Not knowing if the rooster gets around to all the hens, I have no idea how many of the eggs I chose were fertilized. But there have been no rotten smells. This is getting exciting!

I have a cabinet incubator and normally will leave eggs alone up to day 24-25 on a long hatch, eggs always go into the hatcher on day 18, a short quick hatch for me is 21-22 days.

My son who'll be 4 on the 4th of May always helps me candle eggs and he's learnt that when candling if it looks yellow it's a dud and if it looks red/orange it's a baby chick - hope this helps

[KimChick]

Hmmm.... good to know. So I'm thinking perhaps it might be a long incubation? Could it be that 45% humidity was too low in this old still air styrofoam incubator and the eggs dried out?
But I'm not sure what you mean when you say that your eggs go into the hatcher.

[KimChick]

Give it another 24 -36 hours. If the temp was a little low they will take longer....its not abnormal to have themhatch a little late or a little early if the temp is down or up even as little as a half degree

Also if you set in the afternoon then count the day you set as day 0....f you set in the morning count it as day 1....

Thanks WLLady, that is comforting. (I saw your post after responding to the Giffen Farms.)

[Colleen Kinzie]

It is now "tomorrow", after 6pm and nothing has happened! And I'm positive I saw some growth while candling.

Mine were the same! Ended up with 19 chicks
Patience is something I need to work on Lol

[WLLady]

so some of us have separate incubators for incubating and for hatching. it keeps all the mess of the egg shells in one place.....and if you do it right you can always have some incubating, and if you hatch separately in another cabinet you can keep the younger ones turning in the incubator while you are hatching (and not turning) in the hatcher. LOL.

fingers crossed for pipping soon!!!

[KimChick]

Having reread the Dry Incubation method posted by Ontario Chick, this morning, I covered 6/7 vent holes in the top of the incubator (in case I need to add a wee bit more water). The humidity is at about 44%.

[kenya]

Patience, sometimes they are late, good luck.

[Happy]

Fingers crossed for you @KimChick . I know what it's like to imagine seeing pips or hearing peeps every few seconds while you're waiting for the action to start!