first time wiith hatching eggs

Jan

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Hi
I was wondering if anyone can advise, I have a small 7 egg incubator eggs sit in like an a tray with holes facing up . I am on day 20 checked at 18 and saw chicks not shore if moving as wanted to get them back in the bator. Now i think i have lost them as none of the eggs seem to be doing anything. What have i done wrong?
 
Hi Jan and welcome to the forum.
Are these chicken eggs? If so, they are not due to hatch until Day 21 and may even be a day or two over this if the temperature in the inci is a bit low.
I wonder if you're using a Brinsea Mini Advance? They're brilliant little incubators, I have used one very successfully, but by
Day 20 you need to remove the turning ring and set the eggs on a soft surface such as a j- cloth or a piece of cotton fabric cut to size, so that when the eggs hatch the chicks have a suitable surface to grip on. If they encounter slippery plastic their little legs may splay sideways because their leg muscles aren't set, and this condition may be permanent.
By 20 days you will have set the timer to stop turning the eggs, I hope, because they need to be able to twitch themselves into the best position for hatching and can't do this if still in motion. I expect you've topped up the water pots to increase humidity for hatching. It won't hurt them to on the incubator to get them sorted out ready for hatching, but once all this is done, you must leave the incubator in lockdown and not open it until the hatch is complete and the last chick has had 24 hours to dry out, or the humidity and temperature will drop and the chicks will feel the chill. Gt the brooder set up and well warmed before you are ready to transfer them. What sort of brooder are you going to use, ie what heat source?
Sadly, there are reasons why eggs don't hatch - they may not be fertile, may be too old, or they may have got shaken up in the post, or they may have become infected through dirty shells, or it may have been too cold or too hot in the incubator (inci left in the sunshine during the day?) but probably the most common one is too much humidity in the early stages of development. Many experienced people actually incubate dry, ie add no water or very little until the eggs are due to pip, as if the atmosphere is too damp the chicks drown in their porous shells. But let's hope none of these things are going to happen to yours. Good luck - Be patient, sit on your hands - give them at least two more days - and let us know how they get on.
 
Thank You for the advice, The Incubator i have unfortunately is just a generic one. I have taken out the trey and put in a small cloth. I think if this doesn't work i will be looking for another incubator poss with auto turning. As the old saying goes you don't learn if you never make a mistake. Thanks once again.
 

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