How long to leave an egg in lockdown?

[Susan Skylark]

Hi!

Have 7 coturnix eggs in lockdown, it is day 19 and 5 have hatched (4 today, one yesterday) and one is still hatching. I have one just sitting there but I water candled it and there is definitely movement so I put it back in the incubator. Tomorrow is day 20, how long do I give the laggardly one? These eggs spent 8 days in the mail so they had a rough start but the chicks are doing well, if a bit late! Thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

Water candled? If you meant a float test, that's a good way to kill a chick.

I would candle (with a flashlight or candler), and as long as the chick is still alive, let it have time.

It sounds like your incubator temperature is a bit low. Did you have a calibrated thermometer inside the incubator?

 

[007Sean]

I candled the egg (all dark except the air cell, no cracks or holes in the shell) before placing it in 99F water to watch for movement. There was a slight possibility of killing the chick but since I was going to stop incubating tomorrow if I saw no signs of life that would certainly kill it so worth the risk. I don’t have an auxiliary thermometer in the incubator but periodic checks with another thermometer agreed with the incubator’s temp.

Was the thermometer you used to check the incubator with, calibrated?

 

[Susan Skylark]

I candled the egg (all dark except the air cell, no cracks or holes in the shell) before placing it in 99F water to watch for movement. There was a slight possibility of killing the chick but since I was going to stop incubating tomorrow if I saw no signs of life that would certainly kill it so worth the risk. I don’t have an auxiliary thermometer in the incubator but periodic checks with another thermometer agreed with the incubator’s temp.