Left the lid off the incubator....HELP!

[callduck14]

I've got 12 Call Duck eggs in an incubator at the moment, on day 18 and they were all doing well. Have been cooling them everyday for approx 15 mins....and then tonight I took the lid off and forgot to put it back on!! I remembered 1.5 - 2 hours later and the eggs felt pretty cold. I'm so worried about them now.

Is there any hope for these eggs still? First time hatching so not sure what to expect. Lid is back on the incubator and it is back up to temperature...just hoping this won't have killed them all?? The room they are in is probably just below average room temp, but the incubator has been at a pretty constant 37.5C

 

[Amiga]

I am not a hatcher - I wish I had a quick answer for you. I would not give up at this point, though. See if Marty1876 or yinepu have some ideas. There are other hatchers on here, too, I apologize for not listing them all - I am on my way out the door.

 

[TLWR]

Keep going and candle them.

 

[charlindabob]

Don't worry about it, and continue on with incubation. The worst that can happen is you'll have a zero hatch.......but then again, you may hatch 100%. I would say your chances are still pretty good.

 

[Amiga]

Ya know, on my way out the door I thought of three or four other hatchers. Sigh. Brain cramp. Thanks TLWR and charlindabob.

 

[Ellaluvsbirds]

Don't give up hope. You can candle them and look for movement.

 

[callduck14]

Thank you everyone, I will candle them as soon as it gets dark. Got the brooder set up already so really hope to still get some at least

 

[subhanalah]

Thank you everyone, I will candle them as soon as it gets dark. Got the brooder set up already so really hope to still get some at least

I would leave them be and make sure your humidity is high enough to keep the incubator closed for another 2-3 days

 

[callduck14]

Was too worried to leave them for 2-3 days, but waited about 24 hours and have just candled them, as quickly as I could so as not to leave the lid off for too long. All the eggs still seem to have their veins, and although I only candled each egg for a few seconds, it was long enough to see movement in a few of them. Does this mean all have survived and are ok? How long would it take for the veins to go down if they had died?

Also, would this period of cooling have affected the growth of the air sack? Or is that unrelated?