Higher Bator Temp = Sooner hatch date?

[idispatch4911]

I made a DIY bator and this is my first time using it. I tested it and it was holding steady right at 100 degrees for several days. Now that I'm actually incubating, it's reading higher pretty consistently. I'm on day 4 right now and the temp in my still air has been 101-105 for the last few days. I'm using a dry hatch method. I know that temp spikes can be a problem, but a consistent 101-105 temp...? When temps are a little on the low side, the hatch is sometimes late. So if the temps are a little on the high side, (hopefully without cooking the kiddos) would the hatch be a little early? Or maybe just cause some birth defects or something with too high of temps? I've finally got it down to 100 with a few quick mod's. We'll see what happens.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Sphinx]

I am not an expert, so if someone with more experience comes along and says I'm full of it, believe them!

It's my understanding that a tiny high can make them hatch early, but defects are more common. I'd worry a bit about the 105 range, that could be fatal.

I have two incubators going right now- a brinsea mini advance, and an old (unreliable) brower. The eggs in the brower were going along ok, even though the temperature was fluctuating a bit. Unfortunately, a couple days ago, it jumped to 105 for who knows how long (I didn't check temps for 3-4 hours), and I'm pretty sure that all of the chicks in there were cooked.

My brinsea eggs are all alive and kicking.

 

[Me & Jack]

105 is definitely too high, although having a dry incubation is better than if you were keeping things humid. Still, I wouldn't let those temps go higher than 100 for more than an hour or so at a time or you're likely to end up with a lot of dead chicks late in incubation or early hatches that dry out and get stuck in the shell.

 

[cmom]

105 is too high. If it was 105 for a short while you should be ok and yes if they hatch they could start hatching 2/3 days early. It is better to incubate at 99 to 102. Do you have a fan in you incubator and vent holes?

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Keep the faith... One of my incubators went down to 93 the one day because of a power outage. When the power came back on the incubator went up to 115. Another time on our coldest night We lost power, I was 2 weeks into incubation. The temp in the incubator was 78 degrees when I discovered it. I put the incubator on a battery pack with an inverter and brought the temp back up. I was really worried but I still had good hatches.

 

[tmoore8595]

If your temp. got to 105 for more than a few minutes they may not have survived.
I would wait until day 7 and candle them to see if there are any survivors.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Starting at around 104 degrees F, proteins that support life begin to break down. Chicks that hatch too early have leg and foot deformities and often haven't absorbed all the yolk sac and will not survive. The higher temps cause a larger air cell which may crowd a developing chick often leading to small babies with deformed feet/legs.

 

[cmom]

It takes hours for the internal temperature of the eggs to raise or fall.

 

[Sphinx]

Quote:
Well, I guess I haven't completely given up hope yet, as I'm continuing to incubate. But, I saw great veining in one egg before, and after the jumpy temps, the interior of that egg looked completely different. We're now around 11 days in, and there's a marked difference in the two batches of eggs.

 

[idispatch4911]

Quote:
Thanks for the responses! I know that 105 is too high. My question was what effect it would have. I broke down and candled last night, saw some very small evidence of veining, but will candle again on day 7 or 8. Don't know that I've totally killed them all, but we'll just wait and see.

I do not have a fan - my heat source is actually a string of Christmas lights. So to lower my temps I pulled a few lights out until my temp got down to about 101 (I've read that still air / dry hatch needs to be about 101). I do have a few vent holes and I think I've got it all stabilized.