AAhhh!!! My Incubator hit 77 Degrees!!!

[jktrahan]

Checked the incubator last night around 10 pm and right on the money at 100 degrees. I walk in my shed this am before leaving for work and can't believe my eyes: 77 degrees. I did a triple take and yes, it was 77 degrees. My thermostat had gone out and i figure it was probably out for maybe 3 hours our so and slowly loosing temp.

Has anyone ever had this happen. I'm wondering if I can expect any to hatch after this? the coturnix eggs were in there for 5 days as of today and they were shipped to me. 107 in all.

aahh man

 

[rittert3]

That really sucks. I'm ussually optimistic but I'd say those are probably lost. I had something similar happen but only had 3 barnyard chicken eggs in and that hatch was going back where they came from so I wasn't out anything. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote:
All may not be lost. Eggs can fall to room temperature during incubation for up to 24 hours before it is considered a total loss. So 3 hours is not much time. It is the long term temp issues that cause trouble. You may lose a few, but I don't think you will lose the entire batch. Get the incubator back up to temp and keep an eye on it. You might be surprised in a fair hatching! Good luck and keep us posted on the hatch.

 

[Stellar]

Consider it a hen leaving the nest and coming back

the eggs probably got dormant but some should hatch still. Hang in there!

 

[The Critter Place]

Yes, Hang in there!

I've read alot in the Hatching Threads of worse cases with the recent ice storms of bators without power for several days and some chicks still hatched! So there's always hope!

 

[jktrahan]

Thanks so much for the info. I've still got them in there and the temp is stable again. I picked up one of those Indoor/Outdoor temp/humidity sensors to keep an eye on things. I guess i need to pick up some fresh batteries for my flashlight and start candling, darn quail eggs are so dark. As soon as this hatch is done i'm changing to a wafer themorstat, probably 2 for redundancy, I already have 2 light bulbs for redundancy and will have the bator plugged into a ups to cover power outages...

 

[D3invertebrates]

Quail eggs seem to be tougher than chicken eggs when it comes to incubating them. I hatched out alot of quail before I ever had chickens and always got better hatch rates. The first couple of times I ran my incubator I didnt know anything about humidity levels or anything I just filled all the water things up and turned it on, I didnt have a good idea of how the thermastat worked at that point and it was very finicky, I would often find it way off from up to 109f down to 87, I just didnt have the hang of how touchy it was nor the time to constantly monitor it. Anyway I made alot of mistakes and never had a complete loss not even close really always above 50% even at the worst so I wouldnt give up hope on them yet, there tough little birds. Good idea using the battery backup I use one as well and its nice not having that to worry about. Goodluck!

 

[jktrahan]

I got movement! Candled a few eggs and found one with movement, so I know at least one is alive....

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[jktrahan]

11 hatched so far, and more on the way...

 

[TwoCrows]

Congrats on the new babies! I was hoping all went well for you.