Need Help Please! Incubator starting to smell on day 8?

[JPHorvath]

Has anyone experienced smell coming from incubator while in use? I hope I have not cooked these little guys!

Ok this is the second time using our LG incubator. I purchased 12 eggs from Ebay seller before setting them in incubator they were much dirtier then our eggs at that point they had a mild stinky smell. Today we are on day 8 of incubation and they are really starting to smell bad. I’m not sure if incubator has been set too high due to trying new ACU-RITE Model # 592W Thermometer / Hygrometer.

I posted this question earlier, but did not receive much response that was helpful.

Does anyone have any experience with using ACU-RITE Model # 592W Thermometer / Hygrometer? The remote Thermometer / Hygrometer for outdoor readings does not seem to provide exactly same temperature and humidity reading as base unit even with them in the same space on same surface at approximately 2 feet apart. Only 1 degree lower in temp and 4 to 5% difference in humidity. Has anyone else experienced this same issue? Finally the outdoor remote sensor seems to take much longer to provide readings. I am using the wireless remote sensor inside my LG still air incubator. The remote sensor fits perfectly on egg turner takes up two egg spaces.

We have had one successful hatching just this past Easter; I used the thermometers that came with the LG incubator but we only hatched 7 out of 32 eggs. Couple people that I have spoken to tell me I did well for my first time. Considerably less success than I anticipated, but it was my first attempt at using an incubator. From what I have been reading in the forms it appears there is difficulty maintaining good consistent temperature using the LG incubators. I am more concerned that the remote thermometer is not accurate.

This time I am gauging temperature based on the reading from the ACU-RITE Thermometer / Hygrometer. I have been diligently observing the LG temperature trying to maintain between 100.5 to 101.5 degrees. I also placed the thermometers that came with the LG in the incubator comparatively they are reading between 104 to 106 degrees. Hopefully the ACU-RITE reading is correct it would be terrible to be cooking theses eggs.

Fifteen of these eggs are rare breed chickens I purchased for hatching the other nineteen are my flock of various breed chickens those eggs are certainly going to be back yard mutts. Regardless they will be cute little “Back Yard Mutts”. I still should end up with a couple pure breed Araucana chicks; we have a very handsome Araucana rooster and really pretty Araucana hens.

 

[greenfingers]

Have you tried candling any of the eggs? At day 8 you should be able to tell if they are developing or dead.

 

[Denninmi]

Well, healthy incubating eggs have a peculiar and not too pleasant, but subtle, odor IMHO, but closer to hatch -- kind of a wet bird sort of smell. A rotten foul odor means you have at least one dead egg. But, it could be just one or two that have gone bad, no reason to assume they all have gone bad. You do need to carefully candle and see which ones are bad, and do the "sniff" test if necessary. Get the bad ones out ASAP.

 

[BarefootMom]

did you clean the dirty eggs?

if not it is probably because of the dirty eggs--- they can cause bacteria to grow. I know- this has happened to me. You really need to remove the eggs that smell the worst because you do not want them to EXPLODE--that is the worse foul smell you will ever ever smell in your life!

you should be able to tell which eggs are causing the smell by smelling each egg individually- and then candle it to make sure it is not developing any more.

 

[autsie]

Hi there. I am on day 13 in my current hatch in our LG forced air. I had a bad smell around day 7 or 8 and upon candeling and looking, I found one egg that had a little liquid that had seeped and dried. I sniffed it and sure enough! That was the stinker. Upon candling that egg, it was full of black UGH! Didn't open it to see, but I'm sure it was rotten. You may want to try candling and see how everything looks. Other than that, I agree that once hatching is close, there is an odor, but NOT rotten odor! There is definitely a difference. Good luck with your hatch this time.

 

[mlward]

I had a couple go bad this last hatch. One on day 10 and then again on day 14. You can tell when you first open the incubator to turn them. And then I just sniff each of them until I week out the culprit.

 

[JPHorvath]

Everyone Thank you for the response and help. I will candle all the eggs tonight to check them again, checked a couple earlier prior to posting this question but room too bright couldn’t see much. Does anyone know if it is safe to rinse off the 12 eggs I bought from Ebay with water temperature around 100 degrees? Wondering if maybe I am a growing bacterium and that is the problem. Once rinse off eggs I should be able to pinpoint which eggs smell.

If incubator temperature has been too high for the past 8 days would this have started to rot the eggs, could this be the problem? I am still concerned the ACU-RITE thermometer is not giving me accurate readings.

 

[Elite Silkies]

I've never had an egg go bad that early, but considering you ordered them from Ebay, we really are not sure how old these eggs were when they were shipped. You can get oxine to wash your hatching eggs in, and that will kill bacteria. You can also add it to the water in the bators, or mist with oxine. You have to dilute the oxine, do not use it full strength.

 

[JPHorvath]

Quote:
Oxine AH? Just looked it up on Google, never used it or seen it before can I find it at TSC or will I need to go to special animal vet supply?

 

[JPHorvath]

Well lesson learned maybe I should never purchased eggs from Ebay