Incubator issues — every egg non-viable???

[Just Rosie]

Hey guys,

I’ve set about 8 silkie eggs and 28 quail eggs on May 4th and May 8th respectively.

Today is the first day I decided to candle. Chicken eggs first. All clear. At first I thought maybe the hen (they’re all from one hen) was infertile, but then I candled my quail eggs which I KNOW are fertile. All clear.

I’m using an Incuview which I have not been impressed with as it seems to run high (as high as 102 once according to my 3rd party thermometer) and doesn’t hold humidity well.

What could have caused this?For every single egg to be clear? Like I said, I know my quail are fertile.

The only other thing is my mom said there have been 2 power outs recently, but I’ve been home and haven’t noticed any, and my chicks all downstairs are fine, so I can’t imagine they were for very long. Any explanation to this?

PS, the incubator is brand spanking new, this is the second clutch of eggs I’ve set. The last batch was successful, but results were not as great I’d hoped for a 200$ incubator

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Maybe they got overheated early in development? Defective incubator? Something systemic I think to cause all of them not to develop...

 

[333113]

A temperature spike early on would have killed all the eggs before they developed, and 102 degrees would definitely have done that.

Eggs can stand drops in temperature far better than spikes. (Hens do get off the nest occasionally to eat, drink, poop.) I recently lost two-thirds of a hatch due to an extended power outage during the first week. I covered the incubator with a folded blanket to keep the heat in until the light came back on and the incubator started up again. When I candled the eggs a few days later, all showed some development. However, only six of the fourteen went on to hatch.

If your incubator is electronically controlled, the controller can be damaged by power outages. But it can also go bad on its own. I just sent a new and expensive Brinsea incubator back for warranty repair. Since then I am using my old Brinsea, where I have to monitor the temperature and humidity and turn the eggs myself. This older incubator worked great for years, and the hatch I just finished was 100%, eighteen out of eighteen eggs. I shouldn't have tried to upgrade.