Here are nearly the final numbers:
Day: 24 RIR and 22 Ameraucana eggs.
Day 18: Removed 4 RIR & 3 Ameraucana Dead Germs; 8 Ameraucana infertiles, leaving 20 RIR and 11 Ameraucana
Day 21: 11 RIR hatched.
Day 22: 11 birds hatched. Since I saw what I thought where three more pips and one trying to hatch, I left them till this morning.
Day 23: 5 RIR dead germs found, including one that appeared to pip (on candling, though it\'s not a pip/die -- it\'s a dead germ that probably exploded); Ameraucana: 1 pipped/die; 1 more dead germ.
There are two birds I\'m concerned about now -- one is still live, but could not break the shell. I did something controversial -- removed the shell gently and sprayed the membrane with water and put back in the incubator. This bird is just rocking in the incubator and peeping, but that\'s it. The second bird of concern has a right leg with the toes all curled. Can\'t walk. I have a bad feeling I may have to put one or these two birds down.
RIR: 15/24 = 62.5% (Fail -- the incubator manufacturer says 70% is a successful hatch).
Ameraucana: 9/22 = 40.91% or if I have to put the two birds down (the very late hatch and the bad leg)) it\'s 7/22 or 32%.
Total: 24 birds (22 if I have to put the two down).
Finally....I put the thermometer down at the height equivalent to the top of the eggs as they lay on the wire mesh as opposed to being in the turner. Yep....the temperature is one or two degrees lower down there. That explains the late hatch, the pip/alive and the bad leg, as well as possibly the pip/dead.
Had I adjusted the thermometer\'s height and then raised the temperature accordingly, the outcome might have been a lot different.