ok...i think i might have a "eureka!" moment here!!

[Mrs MIA]

The only thing that I worry about with the setup as you have it now is ventilation. Even if you have a fan to circulate the air, you will need holes for fresh air or the eggs will just cook.

I have had my thermometer freak out on me when I accidentally got it wet in the incubator. Once it dried out, it was fine. Did you feel the eggs, or put your hand in the incubator to see if it felt hot?

As for opening the incubator to turn them... do it. Don't worry about them cooling off... they do that when the hen gets off the nest to eat, drink, poop... it's good for the eggs to have fresh air and cool a little. Besides, you won't have it open for more than 5 minutes, and my hen stays off the nest (in a 35-40F coop) for longer than that without any problems.

If it were me, I would candle the eggs to see what they look like. Make notes, number the eggs if you can so you can follow their progress. Then wait a few more days. By day 10 you should be seeing movement in there if they're still alive. But don't give up on them yet. It is what it is, now, and worrying about it isn't going to change anything now. Assume that they're fine... that's all you can do...

 

[mrsengeseth]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

The only thing that I worry about with the setup as you have it now is ventilation. Even if you have a fan to circulate the air, you will need holes for fresh air or the eggs will just cook.

I have had my thermometer freak out on me when I accidentally got it wet in the incubator. Once it dried out, it was fine. Did you feel the eggs, or put your hand in the incubator to see if it felt hot?

As for opening the incubator to turn them... do it. Don't worry about them cooling off... they do that when the hen gets off the nest to eat, drink, poop... it's good for the eggs to have fresh air and cool a little. Besides, you won't have it open for more than 5 minutes, and my hen stays off the nest (in a 35-40F coop) for longer than that without any problems.

If it were me, I would candle the eggs to see what they look like. Make notes, number the eggs if you can so you can follow their progress. Then wait a few more days. By day 10 you should be seeing movement in there if they're still alive. But don't give up on them yet. It is what it is, now, and worrying about it isn't going to change anything now. Assume that they're fine... that's all you can do...

I took your ventilation thoughts to my "experimental bator" I have drilled some holes and added in my fan. i really think this seems like a viable option. I am going to run it some more today. It seems it's holding humidity more reliably too! I drilled the holes large enough to use those wooden plugs (the kind for covering screw holes...) to fill. and the top "tray" thing I can lift up to allow heat to escape too.

the eggs seemed warm..like my body temperature or close to it when i saw the thermometer freaking out. but i didn't know whether to trust my thoughts gut instinct or not.

thanks!!!