Oh no.

[mrsbeez]

Well, things have been so up and down with our incubator that I didn't expect any to hatch. We started with 18, now down to 8 maybes. Day 20. So I decided to reach in and get one to candle and when I touched it, I could feel it moving! It was great! I thought that maybe by tomorrow we would have some action....then when I woke up this morning, the temp had spiked to 110.

Of course I took the lid off. I didn't feel anything in any of them.

"Am I blue? Yes, I'm blue."

 

[chicks for better health]

Thats awful! I am sorry for your loss

 

[Attack Chicken]

First mistake is to open the incubator at all. After day 18 you shouldn't open or it could mess up your humidity and temp. Especially if you have one of the LG's. Sorry about your hatch

Next time you try a hatch candle on day 17 or 18 to make sure they are alive and then put them back into the incubator and don't touch it. I use a tube to put water in there so I don't have to lift up the lid at all.

 

[geeperspeepers]

Hi there,

Just wondering if you are using a still-air incubator? I had one which would never really hold a proper temp so I installed a computer fan in the center of the top and its works great now. Sorry to hear about your chicks.

gp

 

[ginbart]

Did you open them? I had a spike of 110 and still had chicks and they were not on day 20. Where are they now? I hope you still have them. Let us know what you did.

 

[mrsbeez]

Well, this afternoon will be day 22. I tossed one of the eggs, but the rest are still in there. (forever the optimist?)
Thanks for your replies. It's lonely out here in failure land.

I do have a still air. and it is homemade. and we are totally rookies. I asked around for a fan, after they started incubating and I saw that the temps would not stay stable....but by the time I found one, we were too far down this road.
Thanks for explaining it so nicely, I understand about not opening the incubator once I stop turning them, but I never dreamed there was going to be anything growing in there with all the trouble we've had. I didn't think it would make any difference....so I was shocked when I felt one move! By then, it was too late....damage done.

Next time, if we do a next time, I will know to expect the unexpected.
My husband is getting into it now. And has ideas for what we can do differently. You would think he had been reading miss prissy's instructions

So, the eggs aren't doing anything right now. The temps and humidity were low during the first 18 days, so I figured they might be slow, so I am still giving them a few more days. Just in case.
Again, thanks for your replies. I needed them.