110 spike. I'm in a panic!

[starkist72]

Hi all!

I was going back and forth about posting this, because I know I just have to wait it out and there's nothing I can do now.
I'm panicking, need some reassurance, and my hubby thinks I'm nuts for getting worked up over a bunch of eggs

My daycare kids did their chicken thing (egg observation, charting progress, countdown etc.) at 4:00 today. In hindsight my son was being a know it all in front of the new kid, telling her all about the incubator, and must have fiddled with the knob. Around 8:00 I noticed it was up to 110!

I haven't had much luck candling this batch anyway because of dark shells, but I tried candling while the incubator cooled off and I didn't see movement.

I'm praying for 1 or 2 to make it, but I'm feeling pretty rotten

ETA: I'm on day 17, lock down's tomorrow.

 

[red horse ranch]

I've had temporary spikes to 106 and most of the eggs still hatched. I think the only thing to do is candle them again tomorrow when you go into lockdown. And then wait and pray...........

 

[starkist72]

while you were replying i was up being a crazy lady candling my eggs again! 3 of the ones that have big chicks inside are too dark to see much and I think I probably lost them :/ But then in a lighter colored egg I saw some good solid movement! Thank god! That's good enough for me, I'll let them be and see what happens now!!! ((and maybe I'll actually be able to sleep!!!))

Prayers for that little guy! All i need is one and we'll have been successful, these kids don't see a difference between 1 and 24, but if nothing hatches they'll be so disappointed.

Of all the mis-matched eggs I have in there I wasn't expecting many to hatch anyway (only about 8 of them were handled with the intent of hatching, then I threw in some from a farmstand and some that had been in my fridge over a week!) Of course the one I saw movement in was a farm egg intended for eating! it was bonked around and thrown into the incubator to fill space. I'm glad I gave it a shot!

It's funny how in the beginning I say "eh, we'll give it a shot, what do we have to lose" and by the end I'm losing sleep, spending hour upon hour on backyard chicken!

 

[red horse ranch]

Been there, done that!

Don't give up on any of them yet.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A lot of small incubators are not very stable. Some of them can have spikes this high after they are opened then the heating element comes on and stays on until the thermostat (as opposed to thermometer) decides that the temperature is back up there where it should be. Don't blame your son.

go on like nothing has happened.
It's too late to eat these eggs anyway.

 

[Tatianna]

The closer you are to hatching, the more tolerant the chicks are.....so I have read! Good Luck!

 

[starkist72]

I'm committing to updating this for future searchers, since when I searched threads like these kind of trail off and you don't know how it ended

we're on hatch day! The incubator is loud with chirping. I have 1 pipped and starting to zip, one rocking like crazy and making lots of noise! either those two or talkers or there are more cheepers in there I haven't found yet.

This batch of eggs was from my son's farm school. I've incubated in the past and had 3 of 23 hatch. On the last batch I had a number of early quitters and many unfertilized. This batch I had a hard time candling, so I'm not sure how many even made it to the point where I had the spike. So I didn't have hopes for a 100% hatch or anything. I'll be VERY happy with one or two.

I also have another set of eggs donated by a family member and put in a week after the first batch was set. This is my first staggered hatch, and I was watching humidity extra closely because of that. I'm assuming the spike may have affected those eggs, which are still in the turner. With the temperature spike and the increased humidity during the first batch lock down I expect those eggs to have problems.
HOWEVER my daycare kids haven't been tracking, caring and waiting patiently for the second set of eggs. I'm keeping quiet about that hatch and looking at anything I might get as a bonus

Hopefully I'll get to update with pictures soon

 

[red horse ranch]

So exciting! I love stories with happy endings. Please do keep us posted.

 

[starkist72]

we ended up with 3 beautiful chicks!

I candled and learned that I probably lost about 10 around the time of that temp spike.

a little sad that those babies didn't make it but my kids and I can consider the hatch successful, and adore our 3 amazing hatchers

 

[red horse ranch]

Congrats on getting 3 chicks. It is sad to know there might have been 10 more. But this will give others hope when they have an unfortunate temp spike.
Thanks for letting all of us know how this turned out.