# Need help! !!!



## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

I had set eggs to hatch this Thursday one hatched I have some set to hatch Friday no pipping but candle and see chicks I also have some set to hatch Sunday I need help to know what an alive chick looks like while candling


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This close to hatch you probably won't see anything but an egg that is black on the inside with an air cell. All of Friday's chicks should fill the shell by the same amount, same with Thursday. You won't see movement. 

If it gets to Friday and nothing hatches, you can hold each egg to your ear and listen for scratching. Those should hatch.


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

You can lightly tap the shell with your fingernail and sometimes they tap back.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Don't chicks sometimes hatch a day late tho


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

When I turn the egg they move are they alive


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

I can see the air sac in them I may have miss counted


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Try to back away for the next couple of days. Taking them in and out is not going to help things.

Movement indicates a live chick. You can see the air cell right up until they pip so it might or might not mean anything. 

Yes, they can be late. It depends on the accuracy of your instruments, how stable the ambient temp is, where they are positioned in the incubator if using a styro type.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

One hatched and died trying but the others might hatch tomorrow


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Is this chick alive


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

That doesn't look like an egg from which a chick is trying to hatch. If you are seeing movement then there is a live embryo in there, but at the stage of the game suggested by that candling they are not due yet. If by your calculations they should have hatched Thursday, I think your incubator is running the temp lower than it should be.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Since the temp out side is up and down from 29 to 50 the temp goes up and with


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

So give them Monday


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

If the air sac is still there then is it alive and these chicks when I turn them they don't move


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

This chick was hatched early on Wednesday at 7


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Air cells exist in all eggs; fertilized or not, developing or not. It has nothing to do with the chick being alive. Anyway the egg you pictured looks more like it is on day 15 or so, not day 24. If you are turning it and can't see a chick wiggling around in there it is dead. I give the eggs a few days over the date they're due to make sure there's no stragglers but at this point you shouldn't have room in the eggs like that - the hick should completely fill everything but the air cell when they're about to hatch.

The temp in your incubator shouldn't be fluctuating that much unless it's outside. It is designed to keep the eggs at a set temp and it will heat up or shut off accordingly. If it's varying in temp that much it could be a very good reason why you have late deaths.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

This also my first time I also it's kinda hard when you open incubator to turn them by hand that also sets the hatching off I plan on buying a Turner another egg hatched


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Unless you really messed up with your hatch dates there is something more going on than the lack of a turner with that much time between hatches.

One other thing, you really should not be staggering hatches like that if you don't have a hatcher to put the eggs in that reach the last three days that need the higher humidity.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Opening the incubator to turn eggs won't mess up your hatch. The egg itself will maintain internal temperature for 20-30 minutes, which is more than enough time to turn the eggs, and the. The incubator will readjust the temp within a few minutes and the eggs won't even realize they've been disturbed. I hand turn as well, 3-5 times a day, and the only time I had late developing chicks was when my incubator was running consistently 2-3* colder than it should be (temps have to be higher for still air incubators than those with a fan). 

If the eggs are due to hatch, the chicks inside are still alive, and there is that much room in the egg, then the chicks are developing too slowly which points to the temperature being incorrect: usually too low or inconsistent.
If the eggs are due to hatch, the chicks inside are dead, and there's that much room left in the eggs, then something happened at that stage of incubation that caused a death. One or two eggs, whatever, this stuff happens. But a large number out of the hatch? Something went wrong. You can tell by how developed the chick is inside roughly which day they died, and en figure out what happened around that day.


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