Exploding eggs

[nirvanamike06]

So I have incubated a pretty good amount of eggs in my nurture right and had good luck. I keep it and the brooder in my office in the house. I had a chick escape and in the process of catching it I bumped the incubator and a couple days later found out I cracked an egg and it was pretty rank in the incubator so I moved it to the garage.

Wife now wants it all outside the house since this happened. I did my normal wipe down of the incubator but it did have maggots and gnats all over it from the busted egg since I didn't realize it all dripped into the water reservoir. Pretty nasty. But I wasn't sure if bleach would be to harsh a cleaner.

Next hatch, still in the garage with daytime temps in the 90s outside likely hotter in the garage. I got about 8+ eggs busted and super low hatch rate. Is it the bacteria in the incubator from the last busted eggs making them explode? I didn't change anything else I was doing. Could it be the extra heat from being inside the garage?


I'm doing a bleach soak this time to try and disinfect it all but just wanna do whatever I need to prevent this from happening again. Thanks for any advice.

 

[BelovedBirds]

So I have incubated a pretty good amount of eggs in my nurture right and had good luck. I keep it and the brooder in my office in the house. I had a chick escape and in the process of catching it I bumped the incubator and a couple days later found out I cracked an egg and it was pretty rank in the incubator so I moved it to the garage.

Wife now wants it all outside the house since this happened. I did my normal wipe down of the incubator but it did have maggots and gnats all over it from the busted egg since I didn't realize it all dripped into the water reservoir. Pretty nasty. But I wasn't sure if bleach would be to harsh a cleaner.

Next hatch, still in the garage with daytime temps in the 90s outside likely hotter in the garage. I got about 8+ eggs busted and super low hatch rate. Is it the bacteria in the incubator from the last busted eggs making them explode? I didn't change anything else I was doing. Could it be the extra heat from being inside the garage?


I'm doing a bleach soak this time to try and disinfect it all but just wanna do whatever I need to prevent this from happening again. Thanks for any advice.

How many eggs did you set and did you candle them throughout incubation? Do you wash the eggs before setting them by any chance? Just asking as this would remove the bloom and allow bacteria to get in.
The exploding is likely due to them getting contaminated and rotting. If candled throughout incubation, you should be able to toss non starters or quitters before they have too much of a chance to rot.

 

[Kiki]

So I have incubated a pretty good amount of eggs in my nurture right and had good luck. I keep it and the brooder in my office in the house. I had a chick escape and in the process of catching it I bumped the incubator and a couple days later found out I cracked an egg and it was pretty rank in the incubator so I moved it to the garage.

Wife now wants it all outside the house since this happened. I did my normal wipe down of the incubator but it did have maggots and gnats all over it from the busted egg since I didn't realize it all dripped into the water reservoir. Pretty nasty. But I wasn't sure if bleach would be to harsh a cleaner.

Next hatch, still in the garage with daytime temps in the 90s outside likely hotter in the garage. I got about 8+ eggs busted and super low hatch rate. Is it the bacteria in the incubator from the last busted eggs making them explode? I didn't change anything else I was doing. Could it be the extra heat from being inside the garage?


I'm doing a bleach soak this time to try and disinfect it all but just wanna do whatever I need to prevent this from happening again. Thanks for any advice.

The temp fluctuation in the garage is a problem.
I bet your bator is overheating and killing the eggs early on and that is causing then nasties to start growing.

 

[Kiki]

Lysol is good to use but I am pretty sure you will continue to have problems unless you set your bator up in a more temp stable environment.


Invest in one of these and you will see just how crazy the temps are getting in your bator with it being outside.

Click here: Govee

 

[nirvanamike06]

How many eggs did you set and did you candle them throughout incubation? Do you wash the eggs before setting them by any chance? Just asking as this would remove the bloom and allow bacteria to get in.
The exploding is likely due to them getting contaminated and rotting. If candled throughout incubation, you should be able to toss non starters or quitters before they have too much of a chance to rot.

They are quail eggs. I set 48 eggs at a time. I haven't ever candled them because I'm not able to see through the different colors of the egg shells and theyre delicate eggs. Don't wash them either. Straight from the coop to the incubator generally.

 

[Kiki]

They are quail eggs. I set 48 eggs at a time. I haven't ever candled them because I'm not able to see through the different colors of the egg shells and theyre delicate eggs. Don't wash them either. Straight from the coop to the incubator generally.

I find that a phone flash light works pretty good on quail eggs.
I now use this Incu-Bright™ Ultra Bright LED Egg Candler, Incubator Warehouse Exclusive, Rubber Nesting Ring for Candling Seal, Poultry/Reptile, Easily Identify Developing & Non-Developing Eggs, Hatching Eggs, 1102 https://a.co/d/aV3fAUY



It helps if you candle while in a dark room.

 

[BelovedBirds]

They are quail eggs. I set 48 eggs at a time. I haven't ever candled them because I'm not able to see through the different colors of the egg shells and theyre delicate eggs. Don't wash them either. Straight from the coop to the incubator generally.

That makes sense, quail eggs are tricky to candle.
What kind of quail are these? Incubation 18 days?
I agree with Kiki that they may be overheating thus quitting and going bad. Do you use a calibrated thermometer?