How long can my incubator temp drop?

[tankboss]

Hey all!

I'm new to the hobby and this forum and I have my first dozen button quail eggs in a diy incubator.

I bought an auto egg turner, not paying attention to the estimated delivery, and its arrival ended up being 4 days after the arrival of my eggs.

I made modifications to my cooler in order to fit a slightly larger egg turner but there may be more cutting needed. More cutting would mean having my incubator open and I just need an educated guess as to how long is too long. Would the eggs be better off if I were to continue turning them by hand or is it worth it to try and get the turner in as quickly as possible.

I was thinking that I could transfer the eggs into an empty cooler while i retro fit the turner? Any ideas? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

If I were in your situation, I would finish out this batch and then modify the incubator. If its doing everything it needs to do now, I wouldn't mess with it until it isn't needed.

That being said, a drop in temperature for a few hours will just delay your hatch. I've found eggs that my hens kicked out that were ice cold, stuck it back under her and it hatched just fine

 

[tankboss]

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for that. The longest this would take is 20 minutes and then I wouldn't have to disturb the incubator multiple times, daily.

I don't mind turning by hand but I did already crush one egg.

Thanks!