Day 12. Confusion? I’m guessing most not viable?

[Sloane Chickens]

Were they fertile when you candled them before putting them in the incubator ?

Yes. And all had veins and growth on day 6-7. I didn’t candle day 7-11 so day 12 I did and only one is viable.

 

[Down Under]

That is interesting. What incubator are you using, some of them have locating tabs for the lid that can leave a gap if not wiggled when the lid is put back on? Also did you map your incubator with a mercury thermometer?

 

[Sloane Chickens]

That is interesting. What incubator are you using, some of them have locating tabs for the lid that can leave a gap if not wiggled when the lid is put back on? Also did you map your incubator with a mercury thermometer?

We are just using a cheaper one. See if I liked incubating before spending hundreds more. Not sure on the brand but it had some ok reviews in the Aussie poultry group I’m in.

But we did nothing different this time except not candle as often - our first hatch I was obsessed with candling. And felt I over candled.. Temp and humidity were correct though minus one dip which didn’t last long (added water to fix.)

 

[Down Under]

That could be your issue, if it is a fan forced cheapie then the wrong placement of 1 egg in the air flow can cause inconsistent temperatures in the rest of the incubator and on the day 6-7 candle one egg might have been replace in just the wrong spot. I found this out with some wooden eggs when mapping the cheapie that I originally bought, it was giving me varied results too and it took me weeks to figure out the what was causing the issue.

I agree with cscigu in your other thread about the MaticoopX being a good incubator, I have been using one for years now with good results so if you are going to continue with hatching your own it might be worthwhile to have a look at it. It is called the MaticoopX 30 egg incubator, I got mine from Amazon Australia and an AU cord from Jcar, the only thing with it is that it will only fit 1-24 eggs (more if they are bantam or quail) because the 4 corners run colder than desired (I just put some foam in those spots that I got from Clark Rubber to lock them out). So with the foam it will fit 6 eggs in each of the middle baskets and 3 in each of the outside baskets.

 

[Sic]

Were they fertile when you candled them before putting them in the incubator ?

News to me, how can you tell if an egg is fertilized before incubation?

 

[Down Under]

News to me, how can you tell if an egg is fertilized before incubation?

They have a tiny red spot in them, well all the eggs that I have incubated do but that could be because breeding season is so warm here