Disaster, incubator temp flared to 39c

[sharonp53]

Temp flared to 39c. I think it was a fault somewhere because I managed to get it back down and it is holding now, but will it have killed my babies? I am at day 17 and was planning to lock down tomorrow.

I am so upset. I feel like I am letting them down with my lack of experience

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Sad....

 

[Pyxis]

You should be fine. 39 C / 102.2 F is a little hot, but not hot enough to kill. Depending on how long it was that high, they may hatch a little early, but otherwise I would bet they will be fine.

 

[bobbi-j]

How long was it up that high? Remember that it takes some time for the inside temperature of the egg to adjust, so if it wasn't that high for very long, it may not have affected them. As far as what you can do... I'd just go ahead with lockdown. There's really nothing you can do to change the outcome at this point if it did get too hot inside the eggs. They'll hatch or they won't.

Don't beat yourself up over it. Chicken keeping is a forever learning experience. Once you think you've got it all figured out, something comes along to teach you that you haven't. for a good hatch. Please let us know how it went.

 

[sharonp53]

You should be fine. 39 C / 102.2 F is a little hot, but not hot enough to kill. Depending on how long it was that high, they may hatch a little early, but otherwise I would bet they will be fine.

Oh wow! That is wonderful, thank you....I don't know for how long because I was working, but it is back to 38.2 now and stable.

I will lockdown tomorrow. Any suggestions before I do please? And how do I do it?

Thank you

 

[Pyxis]

Oh wow! That is wonderful, thank you....I don't know for how long because I was working, but it is back to 38.2 now and stable.

I will lockdown tomorrow. Any suggestions before I do please? And how do I do it?

Thank you

Tomorrow before you lock down, candle all the eggs. If they are alive (and they probably will be) you should be able to see slight movement, especially if you gently tap the shell. Then just put them in lockdown as usual, laying them on their sides and getting the humidity high enough.

 

[Birdinhand]

they should be OK! I've had that happen and still had a good hatch. the most common reason I've seen such spikes comes from the humidity level dropping too much from running out of water. depending on the egg color, it might be stressful for you to candle them at this point, it could be very hard to see movement even if all is going well.

 

[sharonp53]

they should be OK! I've had that happen and still had a good hatch. the most common reason I've seen such spikes comes from the humidity level dropping too much from running out of water. depending on the egg color, it might be stressful for you to candle them at this point, it could be very hard to see movement even if all is going well.

So right, these are mainly dark eggs (Black Marans, Barnevelder and two light ones, Red Anconas) so most are hard to check.

 

[GwenT]

So right, these are mainly dark eggs (Black Marans, Barnevelder and two light ones, Red Anconas) so most are hard to check.

I’m having the same problem, did they hatch for you?