Help, Lockdown trouble!?

[sevenchickens]

I put my seven barnyard chickens into lockdown this evening and I can't get my temp back up. It's staying right at 98.5, it's a Hovabator Genesis, what should I do?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Stay calm, and don't panic. Give it a bit of time to see if it will regulate on it's own before you tinker with it. It takes a while to go back up if the bator has been opened. If it hasn't after an hour, adjust it a bit and wait again to see if it will rise. Just take your time, that is not a terribly low temp. The high temp spikes are what are more likely to kill chicks.

 

[sevenchickens]

It's been an hour and a half.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
Check to make sure it is closed good. I say that because I have pulled that stupid myself

If it is, go ahead and adjust it just a little bit, and wait to see if it starts to rise. You don't need it to go up much. That's very close to a good temp.

 

[sevenchickens]

Ok...I'll take a deep breath and take a look, I hope I left it open. I haven't had to adjust the temp on this thing and I don't want to do it so close to the end.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
I learned something new today from Speckledhen. Each egg you put in the bator makes the temp drop until the eggs are up to the same temp as the bator. Don't worry!!!!

 

[sevenchickens]

Would they have cooled off enough to affect the temp of the bator, they were out for maybe 5-7 minutes, just long enough to take a quick look, take out the turner, etc...

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Did you add water to the bator too? When I added cold water it took about 4 hours to come up to 100.4. The combo of taking them out and adding water could do it.

 

[sevenchickens]

It was warm, but it did sit for a bit, perhaps it was not warm enough, it's been running spot on since I plugged it in. It must be something like that. I think I'll give it some time before I mess with it. 4 hours you say, hmmm, who need sleep?

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Tell me about it. I was up til midnight that night just to make sure. I did wind up having to turn the temp up a smidge, but just a VERY little bit. Lockdown is funny! All that water in there messes with the temp.